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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. |