John . . .I have struggled with this for such a long time. I have done and was well known for my very creative images, many of which ended up in prestigious exhibits. But I always hated the fact that my peers always saw me as the "Digital Wizard" as they used to say. My very creative stuff never really reflected the images that I earned my bread and butter with. So I felt driven to improve my bread and butter images. This would benefit my client as well. I totally turned off that crazy creative side of my brain. For better or worse, I wanted to be known as an amazing "Portraitist".
To quote William Mortensen, "It is better to shoot 'IS' rather than 'DOES'". IS carries so much more power than DOES. Is projects a message of confidence and prestige. The elements that cause you to react to the image are the relationships between your attention to elements of the image or the soul of the image. For portraiture that soul is found in the eyes and then the expression. In highly creative shots, elements can be architectural surroundings, props, clothing, etc. In my opinion a distraction to the soul of the image. These images reflect the point that this young man is confident as well as perhaps a little feisty. And that is OK. This portrays him the way that he appeared to me.
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