Discovery

The difference between honesty and Truth is that honesty is relative to what one can see. Truth is independent of whether we can see it or not. Honesty holds on to Truth, but only can wrap our limited sight around a portion of it. More on this idea later.

And to be honest, I would love to make a living being a portrait photographer. One of my most cherished compliments is a friend of mine exclaiming, "I don't know what you did with that photograph but you made me look beautiful!" But what started long ago, built on ambitious unbridled youth to find visual aesthetics, grew into a wonder at finding honesty, the way one sits on the porch by an elderly sage, listening to history, except seeing with the eyes, the history of the person in their face, not just the features but the expression.

The same goes with an interview. If I had to choose whether I could tell entertaining stories or conduct a meaningful interview, I would choose the interview every single time. Because although a good story makes the hearer see something new, gives a new experience, a good interview makes the person being interviewed tell their own story, no matter how incapable a story-teller they think they are. The interview overturns old cobwebs in the mind's history of a self unexamined for years, and though lived some time ago, now is able to live again, with the added experience of wisdom collected from the time of occurrence to the current time of insight. It gives a chance to see things again, maybe more clearly this time. And the recollection is just as strong in feeling, just as vivid in color, but many times more meaningful.

A good portrait is a visual interview. The same way in which an interview is not just about the one being interviewed but is truly a tango, foxtrot or waltz between them and the interviewer, for the interview is a conversation of exploration, where the asker is the explorer and the interviewee is the guide. Both discovering, unearthing treasures, similar to both, but peculiar to each. The meaningfulness of each discovery is flavored with the honest scrutiny of the interviewer themselves. There is no getting away from it, for the interviewee is not the one asking themselves questions. The interviewer brings some of themselves to the table. And the same is true for the portrait. The photographer puts a little of himself into each portrait, and in a way, they dance together, the subject and the artist. And what everyone sees is not simply an individual but interplay, a cooperation of two people to the music they both hear. And we see the dance.

5D Mark II, 70-200 f/2.8L IS @78mm, 1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 1600, 2x 580EX II (shoot thru, bounce)

Epilogue:

Where did all this come from? For my birthday, I shuttled off to Portland, where I, unbeknownst the promptings of my friend, indulged myself in some (vegan) ice cream, turned off my cellphone, and walked around the park and spent some time with myself, drove back to my apartment, I took out a book entitled, 'Visual Poetry' by Chris Orwig, and began, not at the beginning but on the section about portraits. Now I am done with technical books, and for me to pick up another book on photography it had to be special. Engrossed, I became more so over time and spent the final several hours of my birthday looking inside and wondering outside. And I forgot to eat, and I forgot to sleep, but I let my mind wander unbridled for just a bit of time. And it ran away.