week seven: (still more) about interaction

This week we sat in a giant circle and talked about our experience on both sides of the lens. We talked about what we thought our photographer captured, what they missed, what made the experience good, and how hard it was to see ourselves as an 8" x 10". I thought it was difficult having my picture taken. Far more difficult was looking at that picture and being objective about the photographer's work. I'm still thinking about the difference between an authentic photograph of me (something that captures the me of me), and a photograph that I like (one that captures some brief moment in which I like the way I look).

It was fascinating to hear people talk about what they saw in themselves and what the experience of being photographed catalyzed for them.

Here's one shot I took while my friend A was photographing D. It seemed impossible for him to relax and be natural.

We stayed late into the night, talking and laughing about our thoughts about being both photographer and subject.

As I looked around the circle at the class, I realized that I'm dreading the end of the class (next week!) because I really look forward to seeing these people each week.

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In addition to thinking about our interaction with subjects (and how to defeat photo face in our portrait work!), this week we're also shooting assignment: 17 different angles. We're supposed to find an interesting object and, well, shoot it from 17 different angles, capturing various aspects of that thing.