Behind the Mask
As a photographer I sometimes look at my camera as a shield. For me it makes it easier to insert myself in situations and somehow feel completely disconnected from the moment. It's as if I am wearing a mask and now one can see me.
From time to time I would catch myself making faces behind the camera, and wondered if all photographers did this. For a while I wanted to create this series and last week the opportunity presented itself.
As a photographer I sometimes look at my camera as a shield. For me, it makes it easier to insert myself in situations, and somehow feel completely disconnected from the moment. It's as if I am wearing a mask and no one can see me.
From time-to-time, I would catch myself making faces behind the camera, and wondered if all photographers did this. For a while I wanted to create this series and last week the opportunity presented itself.
I asked every photographer to pretend they were taking a real photo of me, and not to think about making a face while they were doing it. I then took a pic of them with their camera in hand, and then I had an assistant take their camera out of their hands while they remained frozen. As soon as their camera was out of frame I took another shot.
It was really interesting to see the results of this project. Some were totally comfortable with it, and others weren't. Some people did it in one take, and some had to do it over again because once we took their camera away they lost their composure. The most difficult part of this shoot was getting the real faces they actually make while taking photographs. Photographers demand a lot from their subjects, but once you flip the camera on them, they have the same emotions and conflicts the rest of the world has.
