Anna was her name.
It was her first modeling gig, and my first test shoot for a fashion designer I hoped to work with. We had an hour to experiment, and not much of a plan. (I never have much of a plan when I take pictures. I usually feel my way through my shoots, following my body’s intuitive responses to my subjects.)
We were both pianists. We liked the same music. We felt the colors, the motion, the romance in the same way. Modeling was art for her; photography was my artist’s medium.
And we did begin as professionals, until somewhere along the way, maybe 15 minutes in, we became playmates. My original concept became co-creation, and we stepped outside of timelines and shot lists and followed the energy.
I’ve worked with a lot of models in my 20 years behind the lens, but only a few have ever dared to brave the deep feeling that transforms a model into a muse.
She still had her shy smile. I could be completely giddy over the images I was making. We exchanged secret knowing looks when the stylist tried to direct things away from what we were making together—”we’ve got this,” I remember saying quietly as I carried on.
If we had been seven-year-olds, we’d have declared ourselves best friends forever in that moment. (You know the easy way that works at seven, when you have best friends for every context.)
I’ve worked with a lot of models in my 20 years behind the lens, but only a few have ever dared brave the deep feeling that transforms a model into a muse.
It’s a bit of a mystery how strangers can move as one toward beauty, how a chance meeting can lead to a romance, how even work can produce the wildest play.
It requires a certain amount of wonder, I think.
A willingness to trust your body, the inspiration, the photographer, your own heart.
Presence.
The mystery unfolds itself in the space we create for it, and the bigger the space—the more open we are—the more we’ll discover.
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I am continuing a series of short essays here to share some of the people that I carry around inside my heart.
I’ve moved 35 times in my 42 years, lived in 9 states here in the U.S, and traveled internationally with (and without) my camera. I’ve had hundreds of photo shoots and met thousands of people, and I have so many memories of what has proven to be a rather wonderful life to this point—however much LIFE has occurred to make me think otherwise.
So as I’m a bit of a magpie about pretty, shiny things (and magical experiences with other humans), it feels rather natural for me to make a collection of these stories and share what it’s like to see people, to learn from them, and to hold both the good and the bad with an open heart.