The key to great photographs

I maintain a pretty active Facebook account. I have friends, family, and students (many of which are now friends) that I keep in touch with there. We share images, swap links, do a lot of photography related things, follow each others trials and tribulations. My Facebook account is a little more personal than most photographers. I still deal with the day to day there. I love the concept and idea. Every once in awhile, I get into a discussion there that really sticks with me, and this post today is about one of those. Bobby is a student at Tri, a fellow photographer, and fast becoming a friend. He put's a lot of thought into his image making, and is often looking for something deeper. It is a pleasure to see what he is doing with his photography. Here is a verbatim account of an exchange we had on Facebook, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. And hopefully, Bobby won't mind me posting this...

Bobby: So Frank, I just had a pretty awesome photoshoot, got some great keepers, and in reflection, I have some thoughts. You yourself are a thoughtful, good hearted dude, and I think you might get where I'm coming. I'm thinking that the key to the best photographs, as corny as it may sound, is love. Not the romantic notion, but the humanistic virtue. What if we reconsider the way we look at the act? Instead of taking a picture, what if we look at it as if we are giving something to our subject? We are giving back to them the beauty and joy and artistry of their own lives as a photographic interpretation. Yes, we bring to equation our skill and vision, but what if, in the process, we can take our egos out of it? What if we stop saying or thinking, "Hey I'm a photographer," and instead say, "Let's bring and spread love through the lens." There is so much good that can be brought into the world with something as simple as a photograph given with that sense of compassion. Thoughts?

Frank: Actually Bobby, you are absolutely right. The key to any powerful image is love. For the most part, as people photographers, "Love" is certainly the emotion we are most trying to convey, but a photojournalist may be trying to tell a different story of love as the virtue. It shows in happiness and tragedy, it is the necessary ingredient to telling any compelling story, whether it's wedding photography, newborn portraits, or disasters in Haiti or New Orleans. Love, it's why we cry at weddings, it's why we send money or donate time and resources to people we don't know in far away lands we may never see, it's why we protest, it's why we help complete strangers, it's why we chase the dream.

Emotion is always the motive behind my discussing the importance of quick turnaround for wedding clients. It isn't about technically "perfect" pictures. It's about emotional association between the image and the client or viewer. If they remember what they were thinking at that instant, and the image brings them back to that, and the connection is made, it's a fantastic image for them. When working with couples, I am always looking for that special moment, the connection, the shared intimacy, the "Love". Through the course of a day, there will be a lot of "chin up, bring your shoulder out, part your knees, hands on hips, etc..." but until I get that "shot", the 1 shot that says "I love you", I can't rest. And you know it when you get it. It looks something like this:

Not the most technically perfect image from that series, but it is the one that spoke to me. It was the image I looked at, and I knew Rami and Khrys were in love.

And your right. The ego trips, the MP wars, the my d@ck is bigger than yours crap, all just needs to stop. It's fun in jest, but people take it WAY to seriously. We should ALL spend more time spreading the love, the compassion. I promise you, if that is your sole inspiration when you are behind the lens, you will never, ever, have a bad day behind the lens.

That was our exchange on Facebook, and it's my feeling on photography. It's why I'm a "People" photographer, why I shoot weddings, and why my best days are spent with my family, my beautiful wife and great kids, camera in hand. It's also why I love the work of photographers like David duChemin and Jerry Ghionis. It shows in their work. I could expand more beyond the short exchange we had on Facebook, but why?You gotta shoot what you love, and if you do, it shows...