I think...the biggest challenge of a portrait artist is helping people get out of their own way.  

In our culture, it seems there are certain experiences we associate with being in the spotlight or the focus of attention:  perhaps that's an interview, a new job or a new school, being called downstairs by our parents, a solo performance...the list could go one but each identifies a scenario where we are, or feel, singled out.  

In each of these scenarios, I think we have learned, that there is a particular right and wrong for how it's supposed to go and we quickly identify, or better, are identified as right or wrong.  There is an expectation of behavior and an understood definition of success.  

We get the job

We are not ridiculed by our peers

We are in trouble for something we did

We get an applause...or we don't

So, I think we have developed this artificial idea that there is truly a right and a wrong and further, because most of those ideas of "right" are idyllic and often unattainable in their purest sense, we virtually always fall short.  And I think this is hard on us all.  

Most days we focus more on what we did wrong and instead of seeing the flaw in this reality, we are developing more strategies for avoiding these situations or putting on a front that deflects realities with the assumption that when we are in true reality, their is fault.  

I know this sounds and feels pretty dismal and sad, but I think it's true.  I can tell you in working with hundreds of people on their portrait that this feels like a common obstacle to work through.  Regardless of their level of "accepted success", most people, when stripped to their vulnerable selves, don't seem much further than adolescent versions of themselves, still so unsure of themselves and really quite insecure.

I think this is relevant because, when people come to have their portrait done, whether by desire or requirement, this is, more often than not, what they are bringing with them...by no fault of their own.  I think it is what we are taught and what has been deemed acceptable...and frankly, if you don't fall under this spectrum, it usually comes with some title that is less savory, like arrogant, self-absorbed...you know.  

So, this becomes the real obstacle (and importance) of the portrait artist, to help remove this barrier.  How can we help people realize there is nothing wrong with them and that they are just the way they should be.  That all things come at the combination of "perfection" and "flaw" and that there is harmony and beauty in that woven tapestry.  

It's like when we take the time to walk and appreciate nature, we rarely scrutinize the landscape and identify what is or isn't supposed to be where.  We don't often identify the harsh erosion that has been happening for hundreds of years that created the beautiful stones at our feet or the thousands of deaths that led to the fertile earth beneath the field of wild flowers nourishing the butterflies fluttering above...we see the beauty, instead, in this feeling of harmony between the hard and the soft.  The contrast is necessary for the beauty to exist.  

Well, people are no different really.  We forget that we ARE part of nature and that same dissonance and resolve is intended to live within us all and we shouldn't be ashamed to show it.  

I always give people permission to Be Themselves.  That there is nothing they can do wrong in being who they are.  I am simply an observer.  If they can be themselves, then I can do the rest.  

Portraiture is not about lighting, posing, file size, bokeh, sharpness, color, etc.

Portraiture is about helping people realize they are as they should be.  They can't be right or wrong in their being.  They just are...and that's what the essence of perfection is. 

When we can all learn how to get out of our way, we can show the best of what we are...we can show what our perfection looks like, not by the definition of others or even ourselves...just what it is.  

I could go on (and I know that's part of who I am), but I think the point I want to share is made and I'll just get lengthy with little more to add (but of course I will if I think there's something worth adding.  

I'll end on this:

You have permission to be yourself.  You are just right. You are extraordinary.  

If this measly little blog is the only place you hear it, I hope you absorb what that truly means that and continue to remind yourself.

For all of those who have and will be willing to pass in front of my camera and share that with me.  Thank you for taking the chance.  I hope you can see your "perfection" as I do.  

I can see it when it happens...don't be afraid to get out of your own way in all you do.  You already have the purpose, value and success you are striving for simply by being you.