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Any photographer that says he is not a
voyeur is either stupid or a liar" ..
Helmut Newton. I do not think that he
meant this in a pejorative sense, so
much as with regards to the manner in
which we perceive our surroundings.
Photography is a way of personalizing
the world in which we live and of giving
it a perspective with which we can
identify. The same is true of the people
that we photograph. To photograph a
woman will always remain for me both a
challenge and an enigma. The most
difficulty part I find is to capture the
elusive part of her mystical charm that
she will only reveal in small doses at a
time, as if to preserve her most
precious asset. I wonder sometimes if I
don't look away during those brief
moments of defiance when she truly
reveals herself, or maybe deep down I do
not really want to betray her and share
with others that ultimate moment of
trust and complicity. At any rate, the
result is often like a jigsaw puzzle in
which some pieces remain hidden and one
never gets to see the whole picture.
That is why this will always remain for
me a story without an end. As some of
you already know, my favourite subject
is "the girl next door". A large number
of these I did not know previously, and
have asked them to pose for me after a
brief encounter, sometimes in a café or
elsewhere, other times after meeting
them more formally through friends. More
recently I have photographed some young
models starting out in their career,
helping them to build up their book, and
I have also met with some more
established professionals. However at
this time, they remain a small number of
my models, not more than around five per
cent of my portfolio. In all these cases,
I strive to record something personal
and revealing of their character, and I
follow them around with my camera for
that purpose. In this sense, I am very
much of a "backstage" portrait
photographer. What I do very largely is
to creat "images", dreams. Sometimes my
photos are manipulated, either in order
to enhance the effect or to hide what
should not be seen, so do not cry out
triumphantly when some changes are
perceived, unless it is advice on how to
do it better. Unfortunately, this is
rarely the case and even less frequently
the purpose of the critique! EQUIPMENT:
I have a digital NIKON camera with zoom
lens and a flash attached. I do not use
any other lights |
