Now that's a silly question, of course everybody knows why they want or should have their portraits taken, am I right? Well, a lot of people do, and yet there are many whom I ask "why do you want images of yourself?", and they simply do not know what to answer. They "just want" those great images of themselves.
You see, many of my clients tell me that they are so nervous before the photo shoot, in fact more nervous than when they show up at the dentist's. I long thought about it, and did some soul searching. In the end I came to the conclusion that having your portraits taken involves opening up in front of a stranger's eyes, and that can be intimidating and may make you feel vulnerable, indeed.
And if that's the case, why would you undergo and pay for such a challenge?
We all want to be seen. We want to be admired. We all want to be remembered. We want to prolong our existence. We want to just (re)connect with and love ourselves - in reality and in images. We all have a little bit of narcissism in us that wants to just hold a gaze of the most familiar face - our own. And it is all very natural, human and basic. You may live in a society, culture or community which shames you for that, but the fact is that people have had their portraits taken ever since humans started creating art. Furthermore, people have existed in images since the beginning of time.
Surely there is a vast difference between taking selfies of every moment of your life and post them right away on social media, and going to a photography studio to have a series of beautiful, professionally and carefully crafted photographs.
A portrait is not a selfie. A portrait session is not a quick moment of 'a click'. We are not doing this to get more likes online, or increase the number of our followers. We are creating something timeless and of immeasurable value here. Images that you will grab first thing when you have to leave your current place, pictures that you carry in your purse to show them to the world, prints that will still be displayed on your wall long after your phone broke down, and your flash drive got lost somewhere in the junk drawer. We make moments last capturing your unique and irreplaceable self, for generations to admire.
One day your loved ones will thank you for that.
Exist in photographs.
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