in the headlights

I'm in discussions with two models at the moment about local shoots. Kind of surprising really, because I've made no attempt whatsoever to pursue anything recently. But they've been persistent, one of them may happen later this week, and the other is tentatively about 10 days out.

Neither model is very experienced, but they're both tall and thin, each with an interesting face. The first one, I think she knows what she wants, I'm feeling pretty good about that opportunity. The second one I haven't been talking with long enough to be sure.

But today, when I read her latest message and then clicked through her portfolio again, there were some new images. That's good I guess, because the others were basically consumer-level digital snapshots. The new ones are technically sort-of-OK but far from great, slightly washed out, some cheap zoom lens flare, but just at the minor-problem level.

What really strikes me is that while the newer images are marginally better than the older ones in a technical sense... she's far more expressive in those earlier snapshots. Maybe a better way to put it is that she's more natural, more relaxed.

The new shots are mostly implied nudes... that is, she's wearing nothing, but nothing shows. Hands, objects, etc. are strategically placed.

And she's obviously not having fun. She looks almost scared... what I call the "are we done yet" look. She's rigid, tense. She isn't ready for this. She's been pushed, or has pushed herself, right up to her limits.

The photos aren't credited, but I can guess who did them, and I know for sure who didn't. There aren't very many photographers who do people here. I'm looking forward to meeting her in person just so I can ask a few questions about that shoot.

Thinking about it a little, it's become plain that while at a basic level the photos could have been things of beauty, they aren't. It's not really about the technical things; it's more the intent, I think. My sense is that either consciously or unconsciously, the photographer was so fixated on seeing the girl naked that he forgot about taking the pictures, that became secondary. The resulting energy exchange was of course a less than positive thing. The connection isn't there.

It amazes me that so few photographers understand this... except that there was a time when I'm not sure I did, either. I was fortunate to shoot with some pretty talented people early, and my lapses into "photo-lust" were, I think, brief and widely scattered, so mostly it didn't slow me down. But so many fall into this trap of not thinking, creating superficial images that are about nothing but their own ego.

It makes me want to slap these guys. It's just so selfish, and in the end, such a waste of everyones time. Of course there are too many of them. Educate one, three more buy cameras. It's a losing battle if fought at an individual level. It's the social and cultural context that's messed up, the photographers are victims as much as the models are.

There's more I want to say on this, but it would mean straying way into conjecture and speculation. Better to wait a while and learn more first.