Straight From The Camera, Into My Heart

As, I'm sure, is no doubt fist-gnawingly evident from some of my blogs and photographs, I am an aficionado of French photographer and co-founder of Magnum, Henri Cartier-Bresson.  Shortly before the Second World War, Cartier-Bresson met and befriended publisher Pierre Braun who suggested he photograph artists and writers for a forthcoming collection of monographs.  Though this project would never materialise, Cartier-Bresson continued to photograph portraits throughout his life, attempting to capture the "inner silence" of his subjects.  His technique was to spend time, often in conversation, with his subjects, photographing as and when he felt they had relaxed enough to reveal something of themselves.  Frequently his subjects would ask when he would make the portrait photograph only for him to reply that he had done so 10 minutes earlier.  Many of his portraits were published in a 2006 book - one of my favourites - named simply "The Inner Silence".

It was with this book at the fore-front of my mind that I began photographing portraits with my Leica, attempted to emulate the techniques that Cartier-Bresson would employ while making a portrait.  While I am only at the beginning of what will hopefully turn out to be a long and rewarding project, I am delighted with the photographs I have made so far.

Unsurprisingly, while I hone my craft, many of the portraits I have taken  are of friends and family and the lion's share of these are of my girlfriend, Asia.  Though we share a joke that - while on holiday, for instance - I don't photograph her nearly enough as I'm looking for other things; While searching for a particular photo of her this afternoon, I realised quite how often I do indeed photograph her.  It was with this in mind then that I decided to write about this tonight and post some of my favourites of her portraits.

Gartocharn, 2009

Without any doubt, my favourite portrait of Asia, so far, and one that comes closest to capturing exactly what I want to gain from the aforementioned project of portaits.

                                                          Thunderstorm. Warsaw, 2007

Warsaw, 2007

                                                                              Glasgow, 2009

Helensburgh, 2009

Comments

[last year's girl]

That photo of Asia in the thunderstorm is, almost exactly, the vision I get in my head when I imagine becoming a great photographer. Love it.

[Neil Milton]

It's always easier when your subject is so pretty but sometimes everything just "comes together" to make a shot like that. Thank you x