I took a week off from travel portraits for an article on Less Is More. Less is more also applies to portraits. After all, one does not want the surroundings to overshadow the subject, but to enhance the person and give him/her a sense of place. We have posted a new video on YouTube called simply, People Portraits. I hope you enjoy it!
Meanwhile, back to some people I have met and photographed along the way and the stories behind the images …
On my first trip to Australia, I did some photography of wooden boats. Along the way, I ended up in the Adelaide Hills, the most unlikely place to build boats that were destined for the sea. Two hours away from salt water, there was a little lake near the boat yard. After admiring the work of the craftsmen, particularly a beautiful, one-woman, cedar-strip canoe, we all went down to the lake to test out the boats.
The only way for me to get the shot I wanted was from the water, so into the canoe I got. I paddled around a bit to enjoy its handling while my subject rigged the sailboat. This was not so much a portrait of the boat builder, as the boats themselves, the second one being represented by its bow in the foreground, and him as one of the builders.
I loved the way that the wood in “Adelaide Boats” was very orange, the opposite on the color wheel from the blue of the sky and its reflections in the water.
Arnie and I love cars and driving. I am particularly fond of antique cars. Whenever I see one, I make a bee line for it. We were in a little village in Provence during some sort of mid-week festival. Eventually, we discovered that it was a wedding. First, the couple get married in a civil ceremony, complete with champagne toasts afterwards. Then, they head to the church for the religious ceremony.
We got to talking to a handsome, elderly gentleman in his racing suit, cloth helmet, and goggles. The car was splendid, a Ballot, all decked out with flowers. After all, it was the “just-married” car that would take the couple to the reception.
As can happen when car people get together, one talks cars, racing, the history of cars, et cetera. This man had some wonderful experiences to relate, and we naturally wanted to photograph him. His face was so strong, yet kind and mischevious. And as Arnie noted as he was photographing our new friend, he did quite like the ladies. Arnie had a tough time getting him to look at Arnie and not me! But Arnie succeeded, to wit this portrait.
We were having so much fun photographing, and he was having such a good time sharing his love of cars with us, that he lost track of time. It wasn’t until the church bells started pealing that he realized he had better scoot down and pick up the newlyweds. We helped him turn around in the tight shady parking area between the trees, and he was off, waving as he disappeared around the corner.
Back in the 50s and 60s, my radio alarm would go off at 6:54 and I would hear WBZ start my day. Carl De Suze, a popular DJ on the station, introduced Don Kent for the BZ Weather Forecast.
“This is WBZ, Radio 103 … and now, Don Kent and the weather report.”
Never formally trained, he always knew he wanted to be a weatherman. He started right out of high school, continued in the service during WWII, and eventually went to work for WBZ, the first commercially licensed radio station in the country.
Don had an uncanny way of predicting the weather and was more accurate than anyone I have heard since. Perhaps it was his gut instinct that helped where maps and reports don’t feel the weather. So, when Arnie and I got a phone call to photograph Don Kent, I was really excited. I knew he had moved to New Hampshire some years ago, not too far from where we lived at the time. I had caught his forecasts on radio stations in his area when the static wasn’t too bad.
We met him at his lovely old house, got a tour of his beautiful gardens, talked about the old names, including Carl, Dave Maynard, and Joe Green and the BZ Copter. He shared with us some of his history in the weather forecasting field. It was delightful, but we did have a portrait to do.
With his sense of humor, and his uncanny accuracy that flew in the face of many other weathermen, we wanted to do something humorous. What could be better than rain and sun at the same time? It actually echoed the unintentionally humorous forecasts of the first weatherman Don ever heard, E.B. Rideout, who had a fondness for spirits and whose forecasts went something along the lines of, “Well, it should be bright and sunny today … unless, of course, the wind switches to the southeast, in which case, we may see some clouds. On the other hand…” Basically, E.B. covered all bases every day! Don never had to!
Don good naturedly stood holding an umbrella over his head, while one of us photographed and the other held a hose up high for unexpected rain. When we were all done, we stayed and visited some more. Don loves to talk, and since he is so interesting, it was a treat to listen, see some of his collections, and enjoy a lovely afternoon.
On a trip to Paris, I was wandering around in the Latin Quarter that was teeming with energy, music, smoke-filled bars, and all the ambience of Paris.
I saw a striking man, a real dude, and asked permission to photograph him. He had been standing the doorway to a bar, and while he was elegantly dressed, I had the feeling he was also the bouncer.
The mystery surrounding his shadowed face attracted me, along with the stylish way he handled his body. The white shoes, the white suit, the white hat all added to the mystery. He stood tall. Here was a man with style.
He wanted to strike a pose, but I asked him to remain as he was, one hand up on the door frame, the other in his pocket. The only thing I asked him to do was move his head a little this way or that to maintain the effect that had initially caught my attention. I call this portrait “Paris Dude.”
A couple of years ago, we were in France, doing photography in the wine country of Bourgogne. We were told about a charming little stone village and we stopped to explore. It was, indeed, a photographer’s delight.
We puttered about, poking our heads into wineries, and found one we really liked. We did the obligatory tasting, and got to chatting with the proprietor, his wife, and their daughter, Stephanie. They were delightful, and we ended up spending the afternoon there. I translated between English and French for them and Arnie.
There was a wonderful old stone sink, lots of antiques, lots of textures. We photographed the family, then papa (whom you’ll see in the YouTube video), then Stephanie. She was a lovely young woman with a great sense of humor. While young, she was already in charge of some of the vineyards. And from the quality of the wine we tasted, she was doing an excellent job.
We wanted the portrait to reflect some of the textures that surrounded her and to take advantage of the natural fill light that the front door provided.
We saw Stephanie again this last trip, and the boyfriend she had started to go out with last time was now her husband, a vintner in his own right. They are expecting a child, and when Stephanie saw the prints I had made up for the family, she remarked, “Je suis si grosse!” or “I am so fat!”
I assured her she was as lovely as ever, and that I suspected that her husband didn’t think she was fat at all. She smiled, just as she had in this portrait.
As noted above, we have uploaded a video with lots of photographs from Arnie, John, and me to our YouTube site called “People Portraits.”
Upcoming workshops: Arches & Moab (UT); New England Fall Foliage (NH & VT); and Lighthouses of the Outer Banks (NC). For more information, go to our Barefoot Contessa Photo Adventures website.
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