About 22 years ago, I was assisting a photographer by the name of Carl Fischer in New York City. I shared a loft in the flower district with two other roommates who worked as assistants for Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. At the end of the day we would gather at the loft with some beer in our hands talking about what happened that day. We would compare the strength of the garbage bags used in the three studios, and very often the left overs from the catering at the studio which we brought home. Avedon always had the best stuff, really he went first class all the way.
As students we were very curious about the technical aspect of the great photographers such as lighting, what equipment they used, and so on. But when we started working for these masters we realized that there wasn't anything special about that. What is it then? One day, my roommate Michael says "it's about life." It all seemed convincing at the time since it was all about the personality of these photographers that made them so special. They were very serious and demanding, but they were also wonderful human beings who treated us with respect. One moment that I remember vividly was the day I met Avedon and shook his hand. It was only for a few minutes but he made me feel good with his friendliness. There was magic there and I was under his spell. It felt as if he had been my old friend of many years. I felt very comfortable in his presence. Now that I think about it, that was the magic he held that allowed him to pose a wide range of subjects from transients to royalty in front of his lens. I will probably never have that kind of charisma but 22 years later I'm finding that I do bring in a little of myself to a photo session. I'm not so concerned with the lighting (well, to a certain degree I have to) or what camera I'm using anymore. I try to bring something into each photo session so that it would be a fun experience for everyone. Very often, my subjects walk into the photo session not thinking any different than they do with a drivers license photo. But when you take the time to explain what you're doing and show courtesy, most of them seem to appreciate the fact that you care about them. Recently I photographed 50 plus people for a company in one day. It's so easy to crank them out like an assembly line, but I wanted for each one of them to feel as if they had a fun experience, something which they can take home and talk about over dinner. The result ofcourse showed that extra bit of personality which made everyone happy, but the best part came when alot of these people walked up to shake my hand to tell me that I made their day. That felt really good.
