WHAT PHOTOGRAPHY TAUGHT ME ABOUT PEOPLE - A personal reflection on memory, change, authentic portraits and why we photograph for someday
Why I don’t photograph you for today. I photograph you for someday.“
For the day when you look at that photograph and wonder how long ago it was. Maybe you have different hair. Maybe you live somewhere else. Maybe the people around you have changed. Maybe you have become a completely different person. And maybe you don’t even remember the photoshoot. But perhaps, when you look at the photograph, you remember how you felt. And suddenly, you’re there again.
01 – We don’t know who will stay
After twenty years of photographing people, I’ve learned that we don’t really know who will remain in our lives. People come into our lives. Some stay for decades. Some stay for a few years. Some for only a moment. And sometimes people disappear from our lives completely. But there was a time when they were there. A time when you stood next to each other. A time when you laughed. A time when the light fell across someone’s face in a certain way. Photography can’t keep people from changing. It can’t make relationships last. It can’t stop time. But it can remember that someone was there.
02 – Maybe that’s why we photograph
We often think we photograph something because we don’t want to forget what it looked like. But I think it’s more than that. Maybe we photograph because we don’t want to forget how it felt. The light. The place. The people. The atmosphere. The version of ourselves that existed in that moment. Years later, you might look at a photograph and suddenly remember something you had completely forgotten. Not because the photograph explains it. But because it opens the door. And suddenly you’re back there.
„I was there. You were there. And that moment was real.“
03 – We are always waiting for the right moment
This is something I think about a lot, especially as a photographer. We wait. For better light. For a better day. For the right location. For better weather. For the right clothes. For the perfect moment. But while we’re waiting for the perfect moment, life is already happening. The light is already changing. People are already laughing. Someone is already leaving. Someone is already becoming someone else. And maybe the moment isn’t supposed to become perfect. Maybe the moment is already enough.
04 – Beautiful moments don’t wait for us
Beautiful moments don’t wait until we’re ready. They don’t ask whether the light is perfect. They don’t care if we have the right camera. They simply happen. Just like light. It appears. It moves. And then it’s gone. The older I get, the more I believe that photography isn’t always about finding the perfect moment. Sometimes it’s about being present enough to notice the moment that is already there. Sometimes you don’t have to change anything. You just have to look.
05 – I don’t photograph you so you can see that you’re beautiful
This might sound strange coming from a portrait photographer. But I’m not really interested in giving you a photograph so that you can say: „I look beautiful.“ That’s nice. Of course it is. But I think there can be something much more meaningful. Maybe you look at the photograph and see something you haven’t seen in yourself for a long time. Something you had forgotten. Something you couldn’t see anymore. Maybe strength. Maybe vulnerability. Maybe confidence. Maybe simply you. Sometimes we are so close to ourselves that we can’t see ourselves clearly. And sometimes another person just needs to look long enough.
06 – I don’t want to photograph you forever
I don’t want to photograph you so that you always look the same. That’s impossible anyway. You will change. Your face will change. Your body will change. Your hair will change. Your life will change. And that’s exactly how it should be. I’m not interested in freezing you in time. I’m interested in giving you something to return to. A photograph that says: „This was me.“ Not the perfect me. Not the version everyone else wanted me to be. Just me. At that particular moment. In that particular light. With those particular people around me.
07 – Maybe you won’t remember the shoot
Maybe ten years from now you won’t remember what we talked about. Maybe you won’t remember where we went. Maybe you won’t remember how long the shoot lasted. But perhaps you’ll see the photograph. And something will happen. You’ll remember the light. You’ll remember the place. You’ll remember someone who was there. You’ll remember how you felt. And maybe you’ll think: „Wow. That was a long time ago.“ And for a moment, it won’t feel long ago at all.
08 – What my past years taught me
The past years of photographing people taught me that people change. Relationships change. Places change. We change. Nothing stays exactly as it was. And perhaps that’s precisely why photographs matter. Not because they stop time. But because they remind us that time happened. They give us something to hold when the moment itself is gone. And maybe that’s the real reason I photograph people. Not to make them look perfect. Not to make them look younger. Not even to make them look beautiful. „I photograph them so that something of who they were can remain when everything around them has changed.“
09 – For someday
So when I photograph you, I’m not really thinking only about today. I’m thinking about someday. The day when you might have forgotten this moment. The day when your life looks completely different. The day when the people around you have changed. The day when you have changed. And then you find this photograph. And you look at yourself. And maybe, for just a second, you remember. „I was there. You were there. And it was real.“ Maybe that’s why we photograph. Not to hold on to the moment. But to remember that we lived it and sometimes, simply look at what is already there.
