I’ve paged through his books at bookshops, and I know he’s done some of the Pirelli Calendar campaigns. But I've looked at his work again since his passing, and it gives insight on how he does it, and what type of person he was.
In this video, Peter says one thing that I will take with me for my photography career. The fact that when a photo is taken, there are two people participating. The photographer isn't photographing a person. They're photographing a feeling shared between the two participants.
Taking good photos is made up of a combination of many things. Trust, humor, being relatable, comfort, confidence, challenging one and other, and the sensation of doing something of value are all characteristics that the photographer contributes and directs.
Being aware of this when you are shooting someone can add that certain magical element to your photos.
I recently took portraits of two friends who I’ve met while living in Paris. The one was leaving for the Philippines, so it was a farewell gift, and the other just had a baby girl and who wants to progress in their career. I wanted to give theme these photos for them to see their confidence, joy, character, and personality. That’s the value I want to add, and hopefully, the images show that. These images must be something they're proud of, and if all goes according to plan, use them for their social profiles. I had about 40 minutes with each person to shoot, and it was on location, but I believe they have better images now than before, and we've strengthened our relationship, so whenever I want to shoot them again they'll be more than likely to do it with me.
Whenever you see images with a certain emotion like laughter or intensity, a good habit to have is to imagine how the photographer got the shot. What did they say, or how did they direct the subject?
