In an industry where every artist strives to be different from the next, there seems to be so many that copy the styles of others. New age photographers and models have made great careers by carving their own niches on social media but instead of being praised for their artwork, they are often seen as a blue print for quick fame. Their styles are copied, down to even the smallest details. This prompts one to ask the question, are people truly trying to create their own style with their art? Besides the mental effects that social media is having on our actual social lives, what effect is it having on our creativity and artwork?
Recently I met and worked with someone that epitomes true uniqueness, someone who walks her own path, and someone who reminded me to do things the way I want to. Let me tell you about that shoot and what I learned.
One of the biggest things many people in photography seem to think about constantly is getting paid. I always hear “don’t do free shoots, value your time, charge more, etc.” I understand creating art for other people and charging them for your services, but at what point do you make time to create art for yourself?
So truth be told, when Niba contacted me about collaborating, I was super hesitant about saying yes. I had just did a collaboration with someone else that did not go well and I felt like I had wasted my time. If I was going to waste my time again, I might as well get paid for it. But I quickly realized, that was not my voice and those were not my thoughts. My first clue that this shoot was going to be different.
Once I freed myself from the clutches of a Mr. Krabs mindset, I quickly realized that Niba was different from others who usually step in front of a camera. A PhD candidate at Duke, she is not your stereotypical scientist. She’s like Ms. Frizzle from the magic school bus. She makes science cool and interesting by sprinkling her personality over her work. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to work with Ms. Frizzle? And quick look at her portfolio, and you can see she brings a lot of energy and life to all of her photos. Clue two that this shoot was going to be different.
Needles to say, the more and more her and I worked out the details of this shoot, the more I got excited. When the shoot finally came, I wanted to try to shoot differently than I normally do. After a short discussion with Niba and getting my settings dialed in, I pressed the shutter and was met with this image.
It was only a test shot…a slightly blurry and out of focus test shot. But it was another sign that this shoot was going to be different.
With a quickly setting sun and four different outfits to go through, I decided to step out of my comfort zone of flash and shoot a couple of natural light photos. We were using an area that is often used by other photographers. But the question was, how to make it different??? In steps Niba with the great suggestion to use the window sill. This was the perfect suggestion because it forced me to use various angles. I’m always stuck capturing people straight on which can be boring. Niba was able to give a wide range of emotions and poses. In return, we were able to produce even more keepable photos.
In the midst of taking photos and outfit changes, there was a big aspect of this shoot that I noticed was different and that was the conversation. A paid shoot often times feels like work. I get so focused on doing a good job and giving the person their money’s worth, that I forget about talking and interacting with them. With a collaboration, the pressure to succeed is off and I’m just out there having fun and making conversation with the person.
The conversation I had with Niba was thought provoking and educational. Secretly, I have a guilty pleasure of binge watching Bollywood movies and a deep desire to learn more about Indian culture. Niba encouraged me to look more into the term Indo-Western culture as my starting point of learning more.
We continued to shoot and talk. And as the shoot was coming to an end, I got to see first hand her flawlessly mix her Indian and Western styles together. So I took a note from her and mixed my two styles of flash and natural light together. As a result, we created some photos that were totally different from my norm.
So what does it truly mean to be different? Well this shoot taught me that different is doing photography my way. And my way doesn’t care about business. My way doesn’t care about new trends. My way doesn’t care about the number of likes I get…My way is people oriented. My way cares about creating pictures that the person in it likes. My way cares about creating pictures that I like. But more importantly, my way cares about the experience and that I have fun doing what I’m doing.
Big thanks to Niba for reaching out to me. She shares a lot about herself to her various platforms and you won’t be disappointed by visiting each one. Below you’ll find links to her work, so that you can check it out yourself, as well as some other photos from the shoot.
https://www.instagram.com/notesbyniba
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVE-Dvzz_kpVTKPah6cSlCw/featured
