I spent an afternoon on the shores of Christmass Cove in south Bristol, ME photographing a children’s lifestyle shoot with Jacqueline Schlossman, you can see her images here. My focus was the “docu-portrait”. I wanted to create pictures that use the environment and the natural body language of the children to help shape the subject’s story/interaction with the space.
Jay Maisel taught a workshop I assisted on very early in my career called, “Light, Color and Gesture”. After spending the week with him and the class, I walked away embracing the importance of gesture when photographing people. Gesture is loaded with emotional implications. I am less interested in hand gestures but concerned with the gestures that almost go unnoticed without intense observation or prolonged time spent with a subject. I think the subtle gesture of a bent knee or or shifted hip, as in this image, speak eloquently about personality and moment.
