(This is a little Post-Script post from Street|Portraits Vol. 7)
In honor of my new favorite StreetPortraits subject, I am dedicating an entire post to my new friend OTIS and including every single image that I shot of him. Why? Because he asked me to… He said, “if you post these, can you make sure to post all of them?”
Otis came over to our setup out of curiosity. He was on his way home from school and walks through the park every Wednesday. Now Otis was a little shy, a touch softspoken, and seemingly a little hesitant about the whole portrait thing. That is until he got in front of the camera…
Now, I have to stop and say, the average StreetPortrait subject needs a little coaxing, a little help to get over the lights, and that (occasionally overwhelming) “everyone is looking at me” feeling that wells up when they step in front of the camera. Well, I think that Otis might have been practicing for just such a moment. Every single time I fired the shutter he gave me a new pose. New “eyes” as he later said. I brought an audio recorder to this session and just left a shotgun mic pointed at the backdrop. It isn’t the greatest audio, but half way through you can hear Otis exclaim, “whew…TOP MODEL.” After we finished shooting he told me that he was just doing what they do on Top Model. You can hear my surprise…honestly the whole thing was, well, unexpected. We walked out of the way a bit so that Cody could shoot and Otis and I talked for a bit longer.
I don’t think that I have really seen anything like that before…someone giving so much of themselves to a photograph made by a total stranger.
Some images:
I just hoped he would email me so that I could give him copies.
Sure enough:
If you are reading this, Otis, know this: those America’s Next Top Models haven’t got anything on you.
(42 plays)