who

As I continue to compile images for my web site update, it's forced me to think about what my selection criteria are. In most subjects of course, it's about visually striking images which have something in common with the other images in the same series.

But putting together the portrait section, it occurs to me that it's not just the quality of the photo; or rather, it's partially about something that, within that genre, contributes a lot to the quality of the photos. And that, quite simply is: How interesting is this person?

I have an advantage, of course. I actually get to meet the subjects, I know more about them than most viewers will. Still, if I engage with the subject, if I find them interesting, that tends to come across in the photos.

I'm making a bit of a break from the recent past in that I'm thinking about posting a few images of fairly well-known people this time. Mostly, people from my punk years, people associated with infamous bands. Ironically, that was the first time I photographed people as art. I have lots of earlier photos of famous people from my photojournalist years, especially politicians, some of whom are still in the news. But those photos were taken as part of a job. I made no attempt to personally engage with the subject, even though I had opportunities. The most unusual example: Once, in (about) 1978, I was asked by a friend on a major campaign staff to escort Bob Dole (then a relatively young Senator) from a meeting to a press conference, because they were short on staffers that day. So I had five minutes all alone, including an elevator ride, to chat with him. Even though I disagree with him on lots of issues, did then and still do now, I came away from that meeting respecting his integrity. He clearly believed deeply in what he stood for, had thought it through. He just came from a different background, a different world, than I did. But the only photos I took of him were at the press conference, and they're bland and boring, not worth posting. It wasn't til a year or two later that I learned to wield my camera as more than a mindless literal recording device.

Of course it's usually difficult to guess, while we're still able to get close enough to someone to get a good photo of them, who will one day launch to worldwide name recognition. But what I've learned is that it's remarkably easy to get close enough to lots of interesting people, and then count on the fact that some of them, some small percentage, will eventually go places.

I thought of that tonight as I sat in a room full of people with some measure of local power and influence, people not now well known outside of Humboldt County. I looked around and wondered if someday I'd be reading about one of them in the national press; and realizing that I just need to keep taking photos of interesting people wherever I find them and whenever it's appropriate.