Shutter Sisters

What Must Be Given

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I don’t believe beauty can ever be won by force. A beautiful portrait either gives itself up willingly or consciously or it is captured delicately, breath held, finger poised, easy…easy…now!

“Photogenic” is nothing more or less than a measure of the soul’s aperture. Children are so photogenic (and so vulnerable) because theirs is open wide. The difference between a photogenic adult and one who is not, is a difference of consent. You cannot “take” a beautiful picture of someone, it must be given.

Like a naturalist in the wilderness with her subjects, I have let my children become so accustomed to my camera, they no longer notice it as a mechanical object. It is an extension of their mother’s eye, no more obtrusive to them than my eyeglasses. Just another tool Mom sometimes has to help her see. When its lens takes them in, it is my gaze they perceive and respond to, not the camera (and sometimes their response is to ignore).

Shooting them has become a form of caress, as natural as reaching out to brush bangs back from their eyes. I see my reach in the photos. There is nothing objective about them. “This is how I see you,” is the caption written invisibly on every one. “This is how love sees you.” It is how I think we all wish to be seen, all our lives, even when the aperture narrows or is jammed.

What about you? What portraits reveal an exchange between subject and photographer, the trajectory between the eye of the beholder and the one so carefully held?

 This guest post was written by the amazing Kyran Pittman of Notes to Self.

Comments

  1. wonderful post! so often i am just in my son’s world, and he in mine. he has grown accustomed to the lens before my eye as well.

    the other day i spent with good friends and got eye to eye with this sweetheart of a girlie. the first time i met her she was just six weeks old, and here she is three years old. i have often felt, through her life, that i have known her before and that is what drew her mom to me as friends. maybe this photo shows that. the old familiarity she revealed just for me to see.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerashymomma/2613352623/

  7. I love your post.

    On our recent vacation, we went to Charleston, SC for the day. When we passed this gate, I immediately saw the gorgeous color and told my son I wanted to take his photo. He’s only 22 months old, so I was surprised when he stopped and let me! He understands so much! I got a handful of photos of him in front of this gate, and I’ve already got a couple of them in frames!

    http://www.mamaofletters.com/Mama_of_Letters/Camera_Happy/Pages/Nikon_D60.html#9

  13. What a perfect post. I truly fall in love with each person or family I photograph. I want my photos to say "This is how lovely you truly are…this is how the whole world should see you".
    Here are two examples of what was given to my camera…
    http://slsmithphotgraphy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/07/grease-monkey.html

    and this one (from back in April) was truly giving me herself…it was her parents favorite shot
    http://slsmithphotgraphy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/04/silly-sweetie.html

  14. My children are the same. They are so used to me and my camera that it doesn’t seem strange at all for me to be constantly shooting them. With all the photographs I take of them I get some wonderful soulful gazes.

  23. The best portraits are when you can’t detect the camera between the photographer and the photographee in the photograph.

  26. Kyran, I hopped over to your blog. It’s wonderful. I tried to comment, but you have it set to only allow people with google/blogger accounts to comment. Hope you consider opening your comments up to everyone,–us non Blogger bloggers– you have a great blog.

  28. utterly poetic and moving post/image.

    I was just looking up quotes to use for my website as the eye to me is so powerful to capture in a photo.

    I love this quote:

    “I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart.”
    Pope John XXIII

  29. I love it that all photography-obsessed moms have this similarity!

    Unlike her to younger siblings, my daughter Iqa has not been photographed much. She always protests me following her steps with camera around my neck and she hardly co-operate. But this one is one shot I took while she was sweating after riding a bike. Her stare tells many stories and message to me..

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/hliza/2627612310/

  30. Wonderful comments and images. I am working my way through them.

    Kacey, I have chosen to not allow anonymous comments on my blog, realizing it probably costs me a few thoughtful comments. You do not have to have a blog to register for a blogger/google account, which is what many of my "regulars" have done. But you can email me anytime at kyranp(at)gmail(dot)com or simply nod your head quietly or shake it violently. Either way, I’m glad you popped by 🙂

  35. Great post and beautiful photo.

    My daughter, Bay, it’s a bit of a struggle between us right now. I feel that we keep missing each other’s point and there’s a lot of tension, but I love her so much. The other day, we had this wonderful break from that, just goofing around with the camera in front of the mirror. Then, I caught her as she was texting on her phone and …she is just so beautiful.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/26029966@N02/2616737743/

  36. Ah…another great post designed to make one say hmmmm. As always, I appreciate your insight and the way you use words.

  37. beautiful post. and maybe it’s a good reminder to those of us who are uncomfortable behind the camera – to be honored, and to view it as an expression of love from the photographer. I do not think I am photogenic, and perhaps it is because I *am* uncomfortable, and do not wish the photographer to capture me as I am. hmmm ..