soothing a tired little subject

 

I have a slew of images I’ve made during the inevitable periods of a shoot when things aren’t going well and we’ve had to abandon a plan and regroup. Much of the time these out-takes never make it into the clients proof selection, and those that do are rarely chosen as a print (this image wasn’t). And still I continue to go after these “break in the shoot” moments of a parent soothing their little one. Why would I bother knowing full well the resulting photographs won’t amount to much of anything at all?

The answer is easy: I am fascinated by intimacy and moments of interaction that are relatively free of ego. I am moved by these moments because I trust them to be real. I desire sincerity in the photographs I make, and sometimes the best route to sincerity is to have all our perfectly hatched plans fall to pieces at our feet. What remains in the crumbled aftermath is usually raw, often poignant, and to this portrait photographer, the real reason for showing up at work everyday.

~Cynthia