Katie languid
in dappled light
and me, camera aside,
arranging violet constellations
on the universe
of her silver hair.
“You are absolutely a master of light. I love your eye and the moments you told me to pause…You are a true artist.”- Katie
(session notes and working photographer musings below)
SESSION NOTES
Camera: Rolleiflex 6001
Film: Kodak Gold 200, a medium format film shot at box speed (200 ISO) pushed 1 stop (+1) in developing.
Development: Dev and scan at The Find Lab
MUSE MUSINGS
I set out to shoot 1 hour, 1 roll (12 frames). Of the 12 I’m happy with all exposures.
We had no preconceived ideas of the images we would make and, when we were in the moment with the violets, it was clear: this is the moment.
Notes on presence, time, and deprogramming from over-professionalism:
It’s tempting to take photos during the time between when the sessions starts and when inspiration arrives. Similarly, its tempting to want more of the gratifying, purposeful, flowy hyper-focus glee of being in the moment when the inspiration is really singing. All this can get a lil sticky when I’ve given a client a set time and frame count. We need time to reinforce the word and to create a so-called set and setting and yet, repeated experience is showing me that I’m the one setting these expectations. Time to find a new way to communicate the flowiness.
How about, “It takes as long as it takes”?
or
“We’ll make what we make when we make it”?
Truthfully Katie and I could have been done with photo making a few moments after she sat up from the grass.
Notes on the Rolleiflex
The fact that we’re able to make 2 dimensional images of infinite beings within 3 dimensional space is wild. I think the Rollei highlights that in that people always say looking through it, “It’s 3D! Working with this camera offers a meditative feeling that draws out the necessity of a jugglers presence (how is this composed? is this in focus? what’s the light doing? is my client comfy? am I in my body?). I love its slow beginner-mind wire walk initiation that invokes the moments when all that shit falls away and its just me, the client and what we’re doing.
A few minutes into the session I generally hand my camera to my client to give them an idea/experience of what I’m seeing/working with. The Rolleiflex camera is a very particular portal-like tech that offers a cool experience to anyone who gets to hold it. I was hooked the first time Cami Turpin let me take a photo with hers at a Find Lab walk in Salt Lake last summer.
Reminds me of when I used to hand over my digital camera to kids at the end of children’s/family portrait sessions. They were so eager and took the whole thing very seriously. I’d help them find the button, showed them how to look through the eye hole, and then, connection made I’d let them take my photo. They loved it, I loved it. Same energy here- everyone loves that psychedelic viewfinder and making photos is magic.