My journey has had two dimensions. I have grown in sensitivity to people and have developed an understanding of their inner beauty. Aesthetic insights have allowed me to define and refine a style of portraiture that represents the uniqueness of people. The second dimension has been to gain technical control of the photographic image from conception to completion. This dimension encompasses a precise understanding of controlling light to increase the level of information recorded on the negative. It also encompasses darkroom techniques, which increase the percentage of information transferred to the photographic paper from the negative. At first these dimensions of portrait style and control of the photographic image appeared to be in conflict. It seemed that I had to favor one at the expense of the other. As I struggled to understand both dimensions independently, I discovered that they were, in fact, compatible. As my understanding of the uniqueness of photography and its effect on the creative process grew in a parallel way, these two dimensions were integrated successfully.

EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY

My photographic career started with formal training at Rochester Institute of Technology. For the next twelve years, I pursued courses at the New England Institute of Professional Photography. During the following thirteen years, I was involved with NEIPP as a trustee and the Dean of Faculty.

The process of developing technical skills was very exciting. Following current photographic trends, I learned to use parabolic lighting patterns to visually modify facial structure. Combining aspects of "Form Fill" and Wrap-Around lighting, I created sharply defined light patterns of increasing intensities. These patterns accentuated the planes of the face and increased an illusion of roundness. I became skilled at "seeing the light." Lights were placed two to four feet from the subject; barn doors were adjusted; and lights were feathered to a visual standard. Control of exposure also was based on visual impression, but I chose to reduce its importance to a secondary level. I felt that greater attention to the technicalities of exposure control distracted from the creative process.

I patterned my portrait style after the oil paintings of the "old masters." I approached portraiture in a calculated and impersonal manner. I met with subjects, evaluated facial structure, and made decisions concerning every aspects of the portrait. The fundamentals of posing became an indispensable part of style. I became skilled at tipping heads, turning hands, and redistributing body weight to create more graceful lines.

After ten years of this approach, I became dissatisfied with my portrait style. My work had become impersonal and sterile. I treated people like objects. I manipulated and molded them as if they were formless pieces of clay. My images became static sculptures rather than sensitive photographic statements.

I sensed that there was more to photography than this. Reflecting on my relationships with people, I became aware that how I observed people and how I photographed them was different. I recognized a wide variety of personalities, and yet the richness of personalities was lacking in my portraiture. I was moved by emotion, but my portraits were emotionless. I began to sense a beauty in people, which was deeper than the public image they shared with others. I was frustrated by my inability to capture personality and emotion in my photographs.

PORTRAIT STYLE PHOTOGRAPHIC INSIGHTS

At this time I met an individual named Bob Kelley, who had a keen interest in photography. I saw a beauty in his photographs that touched me deeply. His work reflected a purity of vision that had not been influenced by formal training. These images possessed qualities that I wanted to see in my work. As fate would have it we became good friends who helped each other define a more sensitive and personal approach to portrait photography. The first step we took together was to analyze some of his photographs. His portrait appeared so lifelike to me. I discovered that his subjects were unposed. His subjects were photographed while participating in an activity. I began to see that by capturing subjects in motion, the universally accepted quality of photography--its ability to freeze a moment in time--was exploited to the fullest.

Until this time I modeled my work after portrait painters who posed their subjects in order to increase the preciseness of their final image. I realized that photography's ability to record infinite detail in a split second made posing unnecessary. Posing, in fact, halted all motion and rendered the subjects almost lifeless. I ascertained that life is motion. Posing destroys spontaneity. Spontaneity is the essence of life itself.

I recalled the occasions I personally had posed for photographs. As photographers carefully positioned my head, I hardly dared to breath for fear of ruining the image they wanted. Not only was my body in a static state; so too, were my emotions and mind. I became a lifeless statue. By contrast, Kelley's photographs captured life itself. The subjects were physically, emotionally, and intellectually in motion at the moment the shutter was released.

The second step we took together to define our understanding of portraiture was to photograph my six-year-old daughter, Holly. We tried to create an old-fashioned-looking image. Holly was costumed in a colonial outfit and photographed in an old farmhouse. Instead of posing her, she was photographed having a tea party with an antique doll. Despite our good intentions, this portrait looked artificial because the atmosphere and activity were foreign to her.

Our next attempt shattered traditional concepts of portraiture and became the cornerstone of a new portrait style. We photographed a seven-year-old girl, Elizabeth, as she was sitting reading on a staircase. Reading was a natural activity for her and she became preoccupied with it and lost her self-consciousness. The physical characteristics of this staircase also separated us from her by distance and darkness. This combination created a space in which Elizabeth could be herself without physical, emotional, or mental inhibitions. In this situation we were able to capture a soft, introspective dimension of her personality that was lifelike.

I studied the one hundred pictures I took of Elizabeth. One image possessed a haunting quality. Why? That question persisted for weeks. As I sat there alone, staring at that image, the answer finally came to me--Elizabeth was unaware of being photographed.

During the next four years, I applied these insights to a variety of situations. My efforts resulted in twenty-two PPA print merits and the award of the Masters of Photography degree in 1976. In 1977 I was awarded the National Award and one year later I received the degree of Photographic Craftsman.

DEVELOPING PORTRAIT STYLE

Developing a new portrait style was a process that matured in stages. I continued to search for ways to achieve a lifelike quality in my portraits. One day as I waved to seventy-three-year-old Charlie Clark and his new bride sitting on their porch, I was struck by the simple beauty of the scene. The answer to achieving a lifelike quality in my portraits suddenly became crystal clear--to record those situations, which exist naturally, rather than to fabricate them.

When I executed this portrait on location, the familiarity of the porch created a space of security that diminished fears and inhibitions of the elderly couple. The potential artificiality of this photo session was reduced by increasing the length of time the subjects were being photographed. At first, they were like actors on a stage. They moved and reacted to my directions. Gradually, they became less threatened by my presence and immersed themselves in their natural activity of waving to passers-by and talking to one another. As with the photograph of Elizabeth, I was once again able to capture a moment of profound beauty.

As I photographed them, I realized that genuine emotion surfaced proportionally to the degree that they were left free to be themselves. The less I orchestrated them, the more emotionally revealing they became. Allowing subjects to be themselves became paramount in achieving a portrait that made an artistic and sensitive statement. Learning not to control people became a core issue in developing a sincere approach to portraiture.

In time I began to appreciate dimensions of beauty that exist deeply beneath the surface features of portrait subjects. I also learned that I could not pressure a person into disclosing the inner beauty of heart, mind, or soul. I only could be witness to it, if and when subjects chose to disclose something of themselves.

I also began to sense that this inner beauty was something that only photography could capture completely. Photography's unique ability to freeze a single moment enables it to capture precisely the unaltered and detailed truth of a self-revealing moment. As I contrasted the portraits of my early photography with those of Elizabeth and the Newlyweds, I understood why they were so different. When I posed my early portraits, I was staging a visualization that was created in my mind. Because of this, the potential for spontaneity on the part of the subject was radically reduced, and my images were limited to those of forced emotion and surface beauty. I concluded that fleeting inner beauty that surfaces from the depths of the human spirit, is truth. Photography, therefore, best captures this truth.

REFINING STYLE

While refining my style of portraiture, I discovered that subjects are reluctant to publicly display their real feelings. This is especially true when it comes to expressions of affections. As I photographed a mother and child playing the piano, I had to make a real effort to help them overcome this fear of self-disclosure by turning the activity into a game. As their attention was diverted away from the photographic process, a natural affection surfaced. I discovered that people, who are close to one another, mutually support each other and share their levels of enjoyment. This created an atmosphere in which deep positive emotional response became possible. Noticing this fact, I started to use people in a secondary capacity to evoke an insightful emotional response from primary subjects. The success of activity-centered portraiture involving more than one individual led to development of the concept of a Family Adventure. I created a collage of images that captured the delicate and beautiful interpersonal relationships within the family. By creating a space in which a family can have fun together, I discovered that I could capture characteristics that distinguished their family from others. Because the family members were bound together by a common activity, the individual portraits are unified. It is this unity that makes the Family Adventure so unique.

APPLYING PHILOSOPHIES

The insights gained from activity-centered portraits impacted my fundamental approaches to portraiture and lighting. With respect to portraiture of children and adults, activity replaced posing whereever possible. With children I use the elements of fun as an immediate way of achieving spontaneity. In this effort I developed a variety of games that distracted them from having their pictures taken. This approach added a sense of reality to even my most formal studio portraits.

Adults are more guarded than children. Sophisticated defense mechanisms and a preoccupation with self-image prompted me to develop skills of asking questions that would permit insights into personalities of the subjects. In this kind of portrait situation, I discovered that the activity involved was on the level of my interpersonal relationship with the subject being photographed. Motion, life, and spontaneity, I discovered, are found not only in physical activity, but also encompass emotional and intellectual activities. With a child, the activity may be the expression of fun; for the adult, it may be the expression of a thought or feeling.

Activity-centered portraits also had a major impact on my approach to lighting. The lighting of my early photography encapsulated subjects with technical apparatus. This was a significant distraction, which conflicted with my new portrait style. I needed to find a style of lighting that was compatible. I needed freedom from technical restrictions. I searched for a lighting style that was more flexible and more applicable.

One day I compared a group of thirty outdoor senior portraits and discovered that several of the images appeared be lighted with a double key light. They had a three-dimensional feeling. Why? I realized that only a large, single source of indirect light had been used and all of the portraits were made under the first line of trees near an open field. As I sat there studying these photographs, I recognized what was causing this three-dimensional effect. Although unplanned, the large light source extended beyond the point of reflection. The location of this light registered a specular reflection that " accounted for the two-step light pattern. The discovery of this lighting effect and its cause led me to formulate a lighting style I call a Wall of Light.

A Wall Of Light is ideally a large, single source of illumination that extends in front of a subject, infinitely far, to a point behind the camera. Because light falls off at the square of the distance, there is a single graduation of light from diffused highlight to shadow. The light source also extends behind the subject, beyond the point of reflection. A specular reflection of a higher visual intensity than the light striking the subject's face is recorded on the film. The very large single source of light results in a progressive graduation of light from shadow to diffused highlight to specular highlight.

This lighting style can be applied in many different situations. It does not matter if the Wall Of Light is from a tree line at the edge of an open field, a large window, light bouncing off a wall, or light dispersed by translucent fabric. The resulting light quality is the same. The effectiveness of a Wall Of Light is derived from its specular reflection. This effect results from the extension of the source of light beyond the point of reflection. The utilization of this specular quality and the size of the light source creates a softer and rounder quality of light which adds a third dimension to my lighting. This style also eliminates the distraction caused by the close proximity of parabolic and umbrella lighting. Distraction is reduced because the lighting pattern is set up in advance. The lighting is not adjusted during the photo session, and it is distant from the subject. These facts allow the creation of a substantial space in which the subject moves freely without affecting light quality. These factors synchronized my lighting with my portraiture.

CONTROL OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE

A second dimension of my photography has been the development of technical control over the photographic image. In my early photography, control of technical elements was based on visual impressions and reduced in importance to a secondary level. This attitude changed substantially when I started to print my own competition and wall portraits. Technical control of the photographic image was expanded in two ways. First, by developing a precise understanding of how to control light, I increased the level of information recorded on the negative. Second, by using darkroom techniques and photographic art, I increased the percentage of information transferred from the negative to the photographic paper and further enhanced the image.

Relative to understanding light control, I learned that the quality of the finished photograph was dependent upon optimum negative density as determined by accurate measurement of light and lighting ratios. Based on this insight, I refined a light control system that encompassed incident and reflective meter readings of both strobe and ambient light. This control system provided accurate measurements for camera settings, lighting ratios, synchroflash exposures, and prediction of light values for each area of the scene. As my new portrait style required greater diversity of locations and more sophisticated lighting, this light control system became an essential element of controlling the photographic image.

As an extension of this control system, I conducted tests to determine the visual effect of shadow ratios with backgrounds of different keys, specular ratios with skins of different qualities, and background ratios with jells of different colors. These tests converted visual effects into lighting (ratios, which I organized in a standards book. Contrary to my early portraiture, which was based on subjective visual impression, decisions became based on objective quantitative measurements that made the quality of the final photograph predictable.

Relative to darkroom and photographic art techniques, I refined the process of negative masking. This procedure allowed me to increase usable levels of negative information that exceeded the limitations of the photographic paper. Through the technique of masking, I was able to change the contrast of either the entire negative or to isolate and change the tonal value and/or contrast of specific areas of the negative. In addition to masking, I learned printing techniques that permitted transferring wider variations of negative densities and changing relationships of colors within specific areas of the same negative. Photographic art techniques were also learned and used to complete corrections initiated in the printing process, and to further enhance the final photographic image.

INTEGRATION OF PORTRAIT STYLE AND TECHNICAL CONTROL

There were times of conflict because the elements of my portrait style and control of the photographic image matured at different rates and in ways that appeared to be opposed. I often favored one at the expense of the other. As I struggled to understand both dimensions independently, I discovered that they were, in fact, compatible. I also discovered that photography as an art form was based upon the same principles, which govern all art forms. As I developed a deeper understanding of how the uniqueness of photography impacted the creative process, I was able to integrate my portrait style and technical control.

The process of creativity in all art involves thousands of reasoned and intuitive decisions. Starting with raw materials, an artist must organize every element of a study into an image or object that communicates an insight into reality. For example, painters start with a blank canvas. During the days and months of the painting process, decisions are made relative to location, color, width, and shape of every brush stroke placed on the canvas. Additional intuitive and technical decisions are made relative to type of stroke, texture, and color saturation desired. The finished painting represents the final visualization of a complex process. A similar creative process of conscious decision-making is required if photography is to earn status as a unique form of art.

A photographic image is recorded conclusively in an instant. As artists, photographers do not have days or months to execute a visual recording of an inspiration. A photograph is condensed into the split second a shutter is open. This powerful fact dictates that photographers execute detailed advanced planning to position each element in a study prior to the decisive moment of exposure. Photographers also must be able to carry the creative process beyond the moment of exposure. Mastery of these two elements gives control to a photographer equal to that of a portrait painter.

My portrait style and technical control were successfully integrated by implementing a three-step creative procedure which:

Allowed maximum control of technical
elements before exposure.
Gave freedom to subjects during the photo session.
Permitted control of the photographic image after exposure.

Relative to pre-exposure control (1), a "pre-portrait conference" became a key element in gathering information upon which decisions could be made. Client involvement in the selection of portrait approach, location, and clothing gives valuable insights into subject personality, builds trust, promotes artistic inspiration, and establishes a personal foundation for a sensitive portrait. Locations away from the studio are visited and studied before the photo session. During this time, preliminary decisions are made about design elements and timing of optimum lighting conditions. On the day of the photo session, all of these elements are in place and all technical decisions concerning lighting and exposure are made and tested before the subject arrives.

Control of lighting patterns to modify facial structure was essential in my early photography. The use of parabolic lights in stifling close proximity to the subject distracted them and curtailed spontaneity. Relative to greater subject freedom during the photo session (2), I substantially increased the physical space, which was controlled by using larger light sources more distant from the subject. This allows subjects to move freely within that area to increase spontaneity. Having all elements in precise position before the subject arrives also helps to diminish a subject's awareness of the technicalities of the photographic process. I am able to concentrate on communicating with the subjects and to create a real situation to photograph. I either interact with subjects or withdraw from them to witness their participation in an activity. I direct subjects instead of posing them. This posture increases their motion and freedom. With these approaches I can see, enjoy, and improvise, as natural beauty unfolds before me. The uniqueness of photography is at its best when spontaneous emotion is seen and recorded.

In the final step of the creative process (3), darkroom technique increases the percentage of information that can be transferred from the negative to the photographic paper. Photographic art techniques are also used to complete corrections initiated in the printing process. An understanding of this three-step creative process assures that control lost in one area is regained in another.

COMING OF AGE

After twenty-five years this child has come of age. I have refined my technical knowledge of photography and am able to transform concept into image. I have lived through a creative process that is based upon an understanding of the uniqueness of photography, and the unique inner beauty of persons.

Unlike other art forms or different areas of photography, the artistry of photographic portraiture is not based on technical elements alone. It also is based on the psychology of relationships with people. In this area I have come to understand the importance of creating a physical space in which subjects can express their individual personalities. I must control technical elements within that space, but, I cannot control my subjects. I must, instead, allow them to be alone with their thoughts and feelings, or relate deeply with other subjects, or interact with me. When all of these elements come together into a dynamic unity, a moment of inner beauty may surface and be photographed.

With the coming of age of my photography, the next twenty-five years hold great promise. I will continue to respond to the creative process, expand my technical knowledge of controlling the photographic image, and deepen my sensitivity to people. My creative energies will be focused on sharing these insights with other photographers through writing and teaching. My love for photography has been and will continue to be a powerful positive driving force in my life--a love powerful enough to carry me through twenty-five more years in the enchanted forest.