"We learn to see ourselves photographically: to regard oneself as attractive is, precisely, to judge that one would look good in a photograph." --Susan Sontag
I have joined Model Mayhem in order to advertise in an online portfolio seen by many models and photographers the work I’ve been doing in photography and cast a wider net for contacts, specifically, female models.
I am not a professional photographer--though I trust you’ll look at my photos at the bottom of this profile and on my sample photos page before leaving my site. I am not working toward becoming a member of that profession. I already have a profession--and a permanent position--as a professor of English language and literature. I’m not trying to change professions: I am expanding the one I have. Cross-disciplinary work is prized in the university.
A few years ago when I was on sabbatical from my teaching, I began taking photographs seriously as a stimulus for my writing. A sample of that connection for me between photography and writing can be seen at this URL on my blog:
http://doylewesleywalls.typepad.com/bre … t-a-d.html
In addition, I have given a presentation--shown one hundred of my photographs and read from one of my essays--about my experiences photographing women and, specifically, the reaction to erotic imagery in the university today, at a conference held by The School of Visual Arts in New York City.
The fact that I am not a professional photographer but I am exclusively interested, here anyway, in photographing women does not make me a “GWC.” (For anyone just surfing here, that’s a “guy with a camera”; it’s a derogatory term well known among models and professional photographers for a guy who is using his camera as a ruse to get next to the models. He doesn’t want to make art; he wants to make the models.) It’s important to understand the following fact: just because a man with a camera is not a professional photographer does not mean he cannot be professional in his dealings with a model. I am here to make the best art I can with a camera (and Photoshop). I am here because I want to make more and better photographs.
Anyone who photographs people--no matter how proud of his or her work as a photographer--knows that a model is an important collaborator in this artistic endeavor, not merely a prop to be placed somewhere and then lit. (Now don’t get me wrong: there’s only one director on the set, and that’s me; but I’d be foolish not to listen to ideas and respond to the person before me while we’re working together.) As a professor, I work only with the mind and spirit of both the women and men I teach. However, as a photographer, I am just like every other visual artist--photographer, painter, sculptor, filmmaker, etc.--because I also appreciate the physical aspect of a woman. So her look is important, and I can and do celebrate everything from photographs that portray a “soft beauty” to those that exhibit a “hard eroticism.” But in addition to her look, I am seeking a particular spark in her attitude--something in her confidence, intelligence, and creativity.
I treat a model with respect and courtesy at all times, even when we’re both working to produce an edgy portrait. I point to the woman who was seven months pregnant when we had our shoot, who wrote me a kind note afterwards and said she’d like to work with me again. Her safety was my first priority on our shoot; making great shots was a very, very close second. I point to the woman who shot with me and then asked me months later if I would photograph her 17-year-old sister; that says something, too. I met the parents; everyone signed the “minor release form,” and we went to work.
My biographical note is covered in greater depth in my “profile” at my Flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doylewesleywalls
If you are interested in such topics as politics, art, humor, music, supermodels, commercials, poetry, film, philosophy, history, television, censorship, pop culture, and criticism, my Vodpod might interest you:
http://doylewesleywalls.vodpod.com
You might enjoy some mixes of music at my 8tracks.com site:
http://8tracks.com/doylewesleywalls
Or stop by my Tumblr site; most of my blogging is here now:
http://doylewesleywalls.tumblr.com/
If you are preparing to enroll at a university, or if you already are a university student, a recent essay of mine might interest you:
http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-10-25-08.htm
Many talented models and photographers on Model Mayhem have inspired me. Thanks to all of you for that.
