This pencil drawing version of Merle (121) in blended myodisc glasses marks the end of an epic photo shoot. It also included one series that will be posted separately as a part of the Valentine special (previous weblog). Merle is the 80th Lady behind Crystal Veil.
My first mentor in photography used to always say "Finding a good model is half the job" and he was absolutely right. When I embarked on my portrait photography project, my first model was my life partner Nel and she was soon followed by several neighbours and friends. Most of these ladies had no posing experience so they were in the same boat as their inexperienced photographer. This made things easier from both sides the camera. There were no high expectations - just a relaxed game of trial and error. This element was already present during the selection of the glasses and it gave the ladies a gentle introduction to the actual photo shoot. I soon found out another thumb rule: "The more a lady likes her looks in a particular pair of glasses, the better the posing results". Another interesting discovery was that most ladies had a surprising ability to produce natural, credible looks in glasses way beyond their own prescription. Curiosity was always the key word. Go with the flow.
It soon turned out that the level of modeling experience did not really interfere with the key parameters just mentioned. Although "armed with a bag of tricks", many freelance models - at home and abroad - react the same way as the amateurs during the selection of the glasses. Equally important, many of them manage to deliver a mix of professional posing and spontaneous captures during the actual photo shoot. The only difference is that professional models are used to a higher level of photography and this is why all the portraits of the past four years are edited meticulously.
However, the "graduation" towards professional models does not imply a complete shift. Over the past few years, several novices at modeling took up the challenge to pose for me. It's great to spot a young lady in a shop or in the streets and see the potential in her attitude and her looks.
There was no way Merle could have escaped my view. She was performing as a singer-songwriter at the corner of a market place. I really liked what I heard and saw. So it did not take me long to step forward and give her my card, inviting her for a photo shoot in prescription glasses from my large collection. Merle was immediately interested. My request was that she would bring her guitar along to the photo shoot so that at least a part of the pictures would show her performing. She was all in for the idea and we soon set up an appointment.
Several models before Merle were musicians as well. Melissa and Sohaila spring to mind. Both were bass players but their music was not the theme of their photo shoots. A couple of models (Bianca and Doreen) posed with a musical instrument but they were unable to play it. Merle was the first model who posed for me as the musician she is in real life. It was a wonderful experience to take photos while she was singing and playing, but it got even better. Very soon it dawned me to me that there might be a story line in the material. There was no story line in my head yet, so my aim was to have Merle throwing in some variations in the photo shoot. With this in mind I took two unusually long series of her singing and playing in very strong glasses. Merle managed to perform naturally in a standing position, almost as if they were her own glasses.
Our talks during breaks and afterwards contributed greatly to the afternoon of the photo shoot and we ended up in a restaurant in town. It's always my pleasure to talk with musicians anyway, having been one of the fraternity myself for over half a century. Knowing all about performing myself made it easier to take good pictures of Merle in full vocal flight. The next morning I was delighted to see how well many of the pictures had come out. And then the ball started rolling. Not just the editing but writing a brief summary of a story line as well. In retrospect, working out a story line was a piece of cake. Merle liked the concept straightaway when she read the summary. Working it out into a real script was done step by step during the process of posting the 153 photos.
Merle was quite pleased with the results and we discussed the option of doing another photo shoot in the future. She is traveling all over the world, making a living as a street performer. Our chance meeting at the market took place during a few weeks back home in between extended periods of traveling.
Merle, it was my pleasure to work with you! I'm always looking for new challenges in my portrait photography project - not just finding another pretty face but also a visible personality that differs from anyone who participated before. You have both qualities in glorious plenty. Our collaboration yielded a fin mixture of real posing and life performing. You were like a bit of fresh air. Our talks about music added a valuable dimension. Two singer-songwriters from different generations talking about the music from the late 1960's and early 1970's. Your singing voice is still ringing in my ears. Thank you so much for taking up the challenge of doing a photo shoot and for the excellent results! I wish you a great time in Australia and wherever this journey may lead you. Till next time!
