In discussions with other portrait photographers the question, “Why try to capture more than a smile when that’s what sells?” is often posed to me. Here’s my story:
In the mid 70’s, one of my first photography jobs was working for a location portrait photographer’s company. The owner had previously worked for the Yuen Lui Studios in Seattle and followed that up with a portrait business selling door to door from Renton thru Bellevue to Everett. Basically the territory outside of Seattle’s city limits.
I was hired to drive daily to locations (before GPS I might add), set up a studio in peoples’ homes, which consisted of a backdrop, huge film camera, tripod, and lights. This meant moving a lot of furniture before and after the session. Finally, the photo session with: the family, the children together, the children separately, mom with the children and occasionally dad who generally was not home. I was given 15-20 minutes to set up and complete the session. That’s two families per hour including drive, setup, session, breakdown and on to the next.
Although not informed of this during my training period, the entire purpose of the session was for me to capture SMILES on everyone. Later, a team of sales people would visit the families and convert the images into print sales.
My compensation was the “fee” taken by the salespeople who set up the family sessions. I recall it was $5 for children and $7 for kids and the family. My all time record in one day was 13 appointments. Fast, furious and hard work but the payout was excellent for the 70’s.
The dilemma for me, I came to realize, was I am drawn to what lies beneath the smile. If I found someone particular interesting, I would commemorate their smiling face and then continue on to capture a work of introspective art. I was developing my future skills and direction without knowing it.
All would be great in the digital era, but in 1977 my boss was furious that I was “wasting film”. To remind the reader, in the 70’s, film, processing and proof prints were the standards of the day. Turns out, according to my boss, EACH frame costs him 50 cents. I was therefore, limited to a MAXIMUM of 15 frames per family session. Anything over that and I paid him 50 cents per frame. During the session I had multiple groupings to photograph and could not shoot more than 15 frames (not rolls) total!
Honestly, I tried this but soon fell back to my old ways. Within a few weeks, I sometimes owed him money at the end of my day. Clearly, I needed to move on. Which I did.
For the entirety of my career, when a portrait is requested, I ascertain the end use of the image, then fulfill that request. However, if my subject is so inclined, I move a little farther down the creative road, take the one less traveled and try to explore beneath my subject’s smile to expose some other aspects of their character.
Viewing portraits in a museum, gallery, or someone’s home, I enjoy all expressions. I generally read the smiles quickly and move on. Other expressions hold me longer. What might have been moving through the subject’s inner thoughts?
The first half of my photography career was consumed with commercial photography. “What’s that?” you might ask? I worked with businesses, corporations, magazines, individuals or small groups to create interesting photographs of people engaged in activities. My main focus was providing annual report photography for companies such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Immunex and Expedia. The diversity of the subjects gave me insight into many areas of life for example: medical surgeries, production lines for companies, groups of people engaged in a communal activity, headshots, scientists in their labs, fishermen on their boats, and many, many company boards. At all times, I photographed following the clients’ wishes and then often something extra or different for myself.
After about twenty years of these endeavors, I moved to studio and family portraits. My client base shifted from commercial/corporate. To my delight I came to find that peering deeper into a person’s personality was both creatively fulfilling and financially rewarding. Following my creative instincts has led to an additional flow of income as the subjects may prefer the more introspective image or often order multiple expressions they find appealing.
Recently I had a phone call from a framer I occasionally use. During our short conversation he informed me a person had recently stopped by to have one of my portraits framed. When the person handed the framer the image, the framer said, “She handed me a portrait she called ‘a Davis Freeman’ and asked if I could frame it.” I was extremely flattered with the compliment. And then realized it was one of the introspective images of the client’s daughter. When given the choice during our session, she had decided on the “smile”, as beautiful as it was, didn’t compare to the one displaying the memorable, thoughtful expression.
So, I always suggest, start with what is known to work, a smile, and then explore the rest.
At this point you might ask: “how does one get beyond the smile and have the client open up?” That’s the subject of the next blog.
