LOCAL FACES
Jack, 2021
ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAIT SERIES
I have begun what will no doubt be a long term project photographing people from within my own local community of Maldon in Central Victoria, Australia.
Having lived in this community now for just over a year since September of 2019, I have come to know many of Maldon’s residents and to begin to peel away at the layers that a small country town of some 1,700 residents keeps secret.
I am passionate about portraiture and its ability to dig, scrape, shine, unearth and reveal what lies beneath the mask or ‘persona’ of each individual.
We see in so many of the great photographers the uncanny timing of the capture of something at once inexplicable masquerading itself as an ordinary human. Some of these like Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, Annie Liebovitz, Irving Penn, Yousuf Karsh, Dorothea Lange, Mary Ellen Mark and Nan Goldin if I dare name just a few here ( so many names left out ) have an uncanny ability to catch, probe and surprise with their approach to portraits.
In choosing subjects for my series of portraits it was elemental for me that I include these people in an environment. The great environmental portrait photographers include August Sander, Arnold Newman, Bill Brandt and so many other great artists find a way to situate and to reveal a person in both personal and unexpected ways.
When preparing for a portrait shoot I like to spend time with the person prior to the shooting day to ‘feel’ into the aspects of self that may seem hidden or diffused by the normalcy of conversation and sharing. I will almost always get a strong vision or sense of the potential structure of an image before the actual shoot as I like to plan aspects of a portrait only once I have really ‘felt’ the vision strongly. Sometimes this happens during the actual shoot and I will take an immediate right hand turn to follow the instinctual prompting that arises.
I am interested in seeing deeper than the surface, so often my images will hold elements of the person that are not obvious to the eye but rather to the heart and gut. The eye then is part of the arranging of the afore mentioned. Sometimes this is purely natural and sometimes more calculated as aspects of light, composition, exposure, framing, focus, aperture and such come into the equation. For me it is ALWAYS a ‘feel’ and this I have come to trust implicitly and with surrender.
The series will likely become a book and my sense is that there will be between one and two hundred portraits to choose from ultimately.
When beginning a project or series such as this one the first consideration is who to approach for portrait sessions. In a town of 1,700 there are so many people with fascinating stories, faces, bodies, backgrounds, energies and interests. Where to start? Part of shooting portraits is the ability to establish trust and particularly if you want to explore some surreal or revealing and intimate scenarios with the portrait subjects.
My first portrait shoot for this series was with someone I have had deep conversations with over time and this particular image I had envisioned felt like it spoke to me of this person. I perceive both a strength and a great vulnerability in this person so I wanted to tap into her primal and early childlike self as well as her strength. Beautifully so I had a vision of her with a dollhouse in nature. The week of the shoot I was walking my dogs and there on the curb was a larger than life dollhouse with a sign saying ‘free’ on it! Perfection! Struggling to get this into the back of the car was just the beginning of what would turn out to be a tremendously intimate, open and exciting shoot with this subject who was so wonderfully willing and open and honest. Two of the resulting pictures are below among many powerful images from that day.
Kathy from LOCAL FACES series (working title only)
I have now done six shoots with different locals by invitation at this stage and the series is beginning to take on a life of its own with people opening up wondrously to the adventure of exploration of the self.
I will post more as time goes on, but will not be making images public really until the time for putting together the book begins.
My town, Maldon, hosts a plethora of unimaginable locations for these portraits and I am so excited to see where this series leads.
If anyone has questions or would like to schedule a portrait shoot with me please contact me through this website, on insta as listed on the CONTACT page or give me a call.
I am also completely open to Maldon residents contacting to become part of this project.
