I've been working on building a number of portfolios for a while but keep getting stuck. I need to write a positioning statement. I know I want to do primarily portraits (I think that's where my strength lies) and events mostly, with some travel, street and live performance photography on the side.
But I'm stuck. I need help. I need YOUR help. I'm too close to it all, and I can't step back to get a broader perspective.
Please consider these questions, and respond in the comments. Please be gentle folks - keep it constructive and positive.
Do I have a well defined vision? If so, what do you perceive are the common elements in my photography?
What words, phrases, feelings would you use to describe my photography?
If you have the time, please tell me which do you think are my 3 best photos? And why?
OK, no way I can pick three best photos. That's like when someone asks you your favorite movie or book. Can't be done, right?
If there's anything that defines what you seem to be best at, especially when it comes to portraits, is that you want to capture people as humans, not just as models, people in their unguarded moments, when their humanity shines through. Right? It's why you prefer people's lines, or when they smile broadly and relax. Color seems to be very important, too. It's all about capturing the vibrancy of life.
I'd definitely second the colourful aspect! You love colour and vibrancy of life is a great phrase for your portraits. Well you know I'm biased but some of my favourite photos of yours are of our Jake just after he is born. They are so precious to me. They are amazing and you know I think they are that amazing because you CARE. That shines through and you can create a great connection with whoever you are shooting. People let down their guard with you because they trust you as a photographer. Thanks for being so amazing!!
(Q) what do you perceive are the common elements in my photography?
(A) A certain stillness that is defined by an essential, central human emotion or indeed an emotion that directly elicits an emotional response.
(Q) What words, phrases, feelings would you use to describe my photography?
(A) A vibrancy of life affirmed by myriad color, balance and intrinsic perception of the subject matter.
Hope that helps Marty...currently cramming for semester 1 exams...sorry i couldn't elaborate. Off to India on the 24th for a few weeks...destination Ley...yes...love always xo Sev
I think your strengths are colour and composition. And you seem to make your models very comfortable - they look unguarded and natural in your shots - which is a real talent.
This is really hard, so I am going to start and allow my consiounsness to stream.
Integrity
I think that your photos have a definite integrity and an utter lack of pretence. You have a talent and a natural humbleness that is clear in the pictures. And when you work with people too. The work isn't overly polished. It is quite raw and real. It isn't over produced. Even after having been treated.
There is a certain quiet and gentleness even with the pictures that are vibrant.
You are very open to suggestion and in developing you skill and technical expertise, yet still, your pictures maintain a certain 'Cotton' quality.
Texture, gritty, original, real, depth, light, original, real, brave, colour, light, unintrusive.
Integrity.
As for my faves...
It's too hard
On June 9, 2008 12:12 AM,
Caroloo said:
Hard Hard Hard Missus.
I have to answer the last Q first. Top three are Sayaka in the Garden, Joe with the Cards, and the one of your Dad by the fire. I like your portraits the best. You have a way of focusing a picture in the same way that a persons eyes naturally focus on a face. You choose the most communicative part of their face and bring it to life on paper, conveying the same feeling you would get from it in person. It is amazing the weight of emotion in some of your portraits. I tend to like the dark ones the best. You do the dark emotions really well. You break through the barrier that many people set up to protect what we are really feeling. I like the color ones as well but the dark portraits make me suck in my breath.
You capture lonliness well, as if you are not really in the room and the person is actually alone. I can see you doing series with....street people, lonely people on trains, people crying....what better place to be for that than Japan ne?
I think that answered all three in one. maybe.
Mwah.
C
When i was reading the first question, the first thought that came into my head was "colour" and then read the comments, and everyone else said the same thing ;)
The second thought that came up was "people & their surroundings". One thing that always strikes me is that the people in your photographs always seem to belong where they are - whether the photos are posed or not.
Does that make any sense at all?
Words/phrases/ feelings: alive; rich; natural
And best three? Can't possibly choose, although some personal favourites include your friend in the bath (sorry don't know names, but have it on my wall at home); the indian girl with outstretched hands and Sandi in the garden.
Hope that helps. And thanks for last week. Although it was short & sweet, i had a lovely time.
On June 9, 2008 1:24 PM,
Mike said:
my two cents worth...
you are greatest with light and contrast, sensual or odd portraits like your tatooed pal in the bath-tub, candid odd shots with texture... you are a great photographer and I always look at your stuff to give me a better eye
On June 10, 2008 12:28 AM,
AntAnn said:
some words...compelling, emotive, creative, impressive, precise, playful, spontaneous (like the photo taken through the doors of the train), intense (India), sympathetic to the event, tender, unpretentious...in no order of importance!
Everyone, thanks for your advice and suggestions. I know there are still more to come (some have told me they need to think on it some more), and I look forward to reading the rest to come.
In the mean time, I'm gathering the words and ideas you've expressed here on a notebook in an effort to get my positioning statement finalised. I agree that colour, texture and composition need to be mentioned, along with vibrancy of life, honesty and unguarded moments. Still working on it, had no idea how hard this would be.
Think I need to grow some balls. Big tough hairy balls. ;p
Ok, this is tough. But again the word colour is definitely going to be mentioned. The India photos actually separated themselves into groups based on colour when I saw them. I could see Martine Cotton photography books called the blue book, the red, the greens etc.
When you photographed our shoes I loved the way a colour would jump out of the photo at you. I guess it's the way you find a picture in your surrounds or how you set up a "product" shot, or how you place someone in a portrait and then how you treat the photo post-production that seems to create that great colour focus in your pictures. It's what I like about your work. My three faves: the guys playing chess (or whatever they're playing) Tallulah by the rock pools on Maroochydore beach (a three part series of different light effects I think) and the high green leaf boots on the brown velvet. But there are so many, they just spring to mind....God the blue photos from India - all of them, and the henna hands and, and, and...........
ciao bella
On June 10, 2008 10:12 PM,
LadyElle said:
So i finally was able to sit down today and truly sift through the Dr Sketchy's photos and though it was tedious to go through and choose each one individually to download it did force me to really look at each photo and decide what i wanted and why i wanted it so all in all the process helped me focus on your initial question about visual integrity.
The photos that struck me the most were the inanimate objects. I love love love the photo of the martini glass, the disco beads and the sketch pad that is surrounded by pencils with the drawing of Jo and the fur coat. They relate to the viewer the essence of who we are.
I'm trying to work more toward turning Sketchy's into a recognizable brand and those images relate the fun, intensity and artistic side of Sketchy's. I also love whatever you're doing that makes the photos both dark and vibrant. The colors are so bold but the feeling is kind of gritty. Sketchy's is by and large a word of mouth event. It is an underground event that fulfills a very specific niche. So your photos capture a kind of seedy, under world feel that give the event depth and make the images more interesting to look at. The images relate a kind of intimacy that make the party feel exclusive and chic. I look at your photos and think it looks far more exciting than it actually is. I also love that you capture people truly interacting. Getting a pic of Dave the barista carrying bottles of beer gives the event that intimate party atmosphere...
On June 11, 2008 1:28 AM,
BurnieFromBelgium said:
I like what Mike said. You have an eye for things that can be photographed, and great ideas about how to get them in that little frame.
On top of that, even the weirder shots still feel natural or familiar, almost ... a zen photographer!
On June 22, 2008 7:14 AM,
Katie said:
Martine,
My immediate response to your work is a deep sense of intimacy that many other photographers fail to achieve. You create intrigue through the intimacy in your shots. Whether they are random scenes or close up portraits I still feel like I am included in the moment.
Yes, the colours are amazing: earthy yet vibrant too. Your use of contrast and lighting is brilliant! Each shot has such depth.
I can't get past the intimacy though. It is just lovely.
