Portfolio Review Tonight

Tonight is Portfolio Review at Northwest Houston Camera Club. I did not prepare a portfolio this year. Looking forward to seeing what everyone has done. Maybe the past four years of being on the cheering team I might have just oversold myself. I have enjoyed it. I have learned from it. I pretty much believed it is a worthwhile thing to do. Believe me, it has always been an ego booster--always surprised I could get my head through the door on exiting. Although I had several projects under consideration I couldn't seem to get any of them off the ground so I dropped out this year. I am not planning on renewing my association with NWHPC next year unless Michael Young takes the office of President--then I will reconsider.

I guess it all came down to the naked guy. He didn't call me back.

I am a great admirer of the portrait work of Arnold Newman and really want work with artists on portrait sessions. Newman is credited with creating environmental portraiture where the artist works are incorporated into the portrait. I don’t claim to be nearly as talented as Newman but back when working with Janet I did get the opportunity to work with artists like Dorothy Hood in their studios. I would very much like to do that again.

Anyway, I responded to an ad on Craig's List from an artist that was offering to do modeling. He got the moniker the naked guy because he had done life modeling in college and mentioned that he was comfortable with posing nude. I met with him at Barnes and Noble for coffee to discuss what I wanted to do--a 'day in the life of' which I could use as my portfolio. I had seen his work and was interested in the symbolism I saw in it. What I really wanted to do was to do portraits incorporating his artwork in the manner of Newman. I also thought that the session would be a good opportunity to extend it beyond just portraits into a photo essay for the portfolio. I probably should have just left it with portraits because I assume he was not impressed with the ‘day in the life of’ idea. He had seem my galleries and at first seemed very interested in working with me. However, he only hung around a half hour. We parted on the note that he would call with a schedule but I never heard from him.

[addendum: I think I didn’t realize it until trying to write about this but I think I understand something about wanting to do the artists portraits. Sure it has to do with my admiration of Newman’s work—but it is also a connection to my time working with Janet. I hadn’t really thought about how much I enjoyed being on the periphery of the art world, associating with creative people in fields other than photography. I have really enjoyed the brief association with the new museum in Katy.]

Alcy and Debi carried me pretty high about answering the ad. I didn’t figure it would be a problem. We didn't discuss it but I don’t imagine that he paints nude. Besides I have taken photographs of naked guys before—okay that was a very long time ago—and I have had plenty of experience being sans skivvies in front of the camera. So nude wouldn’t have been a deal breaker.

Of course it’s not true but the naked guy is responsible for me not having a portfolio this year. Well, that and the fact that I am being petty about the show at the Pearl Fincher, but that’s another story. I’d still like to do the portraits.