Intimacy in Photography

              When I first began taking photos, I hardly ever thought about concept or emotion, and certainly not intimacy. However, as I’ve grown, I’ve realized those are the most important things to consider when taking photographs of any kind. Although I was not thinking about emotions consciously, I have looked back and seen emotion expressed through figures in even my sports photography from high school. I tended to focus more on the sidelines rather than where the ball was. I’ve definitely decided that images that hold intimacy and emotion are much easier to have a connection with. So, I’ve decided to embrace this and fill my photos with it.

              There are certain things that I know I will never reveal in my photographs. I have strong morals, and my family does as well, and I would rather not put myself and my family in an awkward situation for a photo. At least not right now in my life. Even though my photos do not consistent of death or nudity, I feel like I am still expressing intimacy. The majority of my subjects have been my family, friends, and my boyfriend. I have shown intimacy in relationships with my sisters, with women as a whole, and now with my boyfriend. I do try to make sure my subjects understand the concept I am trying to express before I take the photos. I have made sure they are comfortable with every detail, down to the title I place on the image, and the locations it will be viewed in. After all, I have never paid anyone to be my subject, they have all been volunteer, and I would hate to put them out in any way in return.

              I felt as though the key that the panelists used to avoid exploitation of their subjects was communication. As I mentioned before, I feel that rehearsing and writing down your goals for your images is very important when trying to photograph something intimate with a subject. It is not something a serious artist should take lightly. I felt a connection with the panelists. I have never taken photos of anything remotely connected to death or mental illness, and I cannot imagine how uncomfortable and hard it must’ve been to have those intimate conversations with people. It takes a lot of confidence and drive to do something like that. The panelists taught me that if the topic is important enough to you as an artist, you will take the risk of being uncomfortable and you will get through it.

              I feel like art is an amazing way to bring understanding to issues in our world. There are so many images of war and destruction that have touched peoples’ souls to the point of tears. People jumping from the twin towers on 9/11 are some of the most recent and most impactful images I have ever seen. I’ve created images that I hoped to bring emotion and thought to my viewers, such as this image of a friend of mine, who was critiqued and judged because she cut her hair in a way that she was more comfortable with. My idea with this image was to express how this woman felt as a woman. Regardless of the fact that she identifies as lesbian. I think without the image, this point would not be as strong and as understandable.              

         I’ve also created images like this one, in which I’ve tried to express the childlike love I have for my God and my Church. This is an image that many other people have told me they have felt a connection with. It’s amazing to me to hear that, because this image came straight from my heart.

              

      

       I’ve also done images like these of my sister and my mother, in which I attempted to express a woman’s emotions. The strength versus the fragility, and the layers of innocence and womanhood that we all hold within us.

         
         From watching the panelists I felt like my work was closest to Kerry Payne Stailey’s work. Since I am now doing a project on intimacy and love with my boyfriend, and she had actually done an Instagram series on her relationship with her now husband.