2022 Artist Career Training Photo Project

Thank you for your interest in supporting my photo-documentary project during the 2022 Artist Career Training. I appreciate your willingness to collaborate and create some art. I haven’t shot a project of this scope since the summer of 2019 so it’s a chance for me to shake off the rust, flex some long dormant creative muscle, and, hopefully, get some real cool images.

Below is background information on the logistics and inspiration of the project.

Feel free to contact me, david@davidcarrales.com, if you have questions.

Logistics

“Location, location, location.” Number one rule in real estate, and pretty darn important in photography. I will shoot in the building’s lobby.….a wide open space with a nice blank white wall. Perfect location. And convenient, you won’t need a map to find the shooting location.

Micro Sessions

I call them “micro sessions” because each session with a subject will last only a few minutes in order to accommodate the amount of people interested in participating. The limited time, as well as limited direction on my part, are two factors that influence the creative moment. The other important factor is you so here’s a few things to keep in mind to prep for your micro session.

Direction

The limited direction I offer is simple…I will do a little countdown…”one…two…three” that will cue you to change a pose or expression during our time together. Generally, I follow your lead when you’re in front of the camera. If you have a thought on doing something dynamic or you have a concept you’d like to try, let me know and we can figure it out quickly on the fly. This is part experimental, part performance….all part of the risk/reward of making this sort of collaborative art. Just be yourself and have fun!

Wardrobe

Yes, you should definitely wear clothes as we want to avoid headlines like “Naked artists run amok on city premises.” There are rules about colors and patterns of clothing in formal portraiture, but we’re artists and the rules don’t apply to us, right? Wear something that expresses you, that perhaps helps tell your story. If that advice doesn’t make sense, wear whatever makes you feel comfortable.

Props

There are schools of thought on the use of props….are they a trite distraction or do they enhance the story? I lean toward the latter of helping to tell the story. If you read the inspiration below, you will see how we used a prop, a sketchbook, in the portrait of an illustrator. Bring whatever you feel helps tell your story….just remember, we have only a few minutes to work together so plan accordingly with whatever you decide to bring.

Sign Up

By signing up in advance, you'll help me better execute the project….at least, it will give the appearance that I am organized.

Access the Sign Up Sheet

Model Release

The model release outlines what I, as the photographer, am offering to you, the subject (or model), in exchange for participating in the photo shoot. For this project, I am offering digital images from the photo shoot for their personal, noncommercial use, with credit requested if the image is used for promotional purposes. It also outlines my rights as it pertains to the disposition of the image. For this project, I am interested in using the images for the purpose of exhibition (physical and/or virtual), promotion, and publication. Use of the images for a commercial purpose would be limited to the inclusion of images in a publication of my own work.

If you can download and bring a signed copy of the Model Release to the session, I would appreciate it. No worries, if you don’t bring the model release to the session as I will have paper copies available for completing onsite.

Inspiration

Corner Portraits

My first full-length portrait project was in 2016 and was inspired by the work of Irving Penn. In the late 1940s, Irving Penn experimented in his portraiture work by pushing together two studio flats to create a narrow space. His portraits shot in this style were called his “Corner Portraits.”

I was inspired to replicate his “Corner Portraits” during 2016 East Austin Tour. Below is a gallery featuring two intrepid friends named Sarah and Uma.

Hey There, Rollergirl!

Building on the experience of the corner portraits, I did a full-length portrait project featuring the Texas Rollergirls, which evolved into my 2017 East Austin Studio Tour exhibition, “Hey There, Rollergirl!” This project ran from 2017-2019, and resulted in three volumes of images.

Artist Headshots

The pandemic put a halt to my photographic pursuits, until December 2020 when I had a chance to do some headshots for my fellow AmeriCorps artists-in-residence at Imagine Art. I made the boring formal headshot of Sujal Manohar and then I told her I wanted to shoot her as the artist and gave her this instruction before the shoot: “The headshot can be a rather restrictive creative activity for both the photographer and the subject. If you are interested, please bring something that you feel expresses you as an artist. It could be a prop, artwork or something worn". I told her my inspiration for the creative headshot came from a portrait class in 2009. The teacher hired models, gave us a few minutes instruction, and then set us free to shoot with the models. I didn’t learn a damn thing, but I got many cool pics by accident. One of the cool pics happened when a model picked up a paintbrush and mimicked applying lipstick.

Artist Career Training

Fast forward to the first days of September 2022 and I am frantically trying to come up with a concept for this pitch project to complete the application for the Artist Career Training program. I wrote something about doing some artist portraits and thought I would have some time to flesh out the details if I got accepted. Holy cow, I got accepted and at the first day of class it kinda sounded like the pitch was a requirement. Yikes. I’ve had some more time to think about the pitch and this project will supply some of the visuals I need. You’ll have to stay tuned to the pitch to learn more!

Influences

Richard Avedon

I mentioned replicating Irving Penn’s corner portraits. I would be remiss if I did not mention Penn’s contemporary, Richard Avedon, as an influence. I just finished reading his excellent biography, What Become a Legend Most, by Philip Gefter. Brilliant. He wasn’t the first person to shoot against a stark white background, but the one who made it a defining signature of his portrait work. Avedon influenced my work with the Texas Rollergirls, and I believe there will be some semblance in the portraits from the Artist Career Training project.