I am alone with my subject. The room is silent. Neither of us is talking. I stare, concentrating on minor variations of facial expression, body language, and gesture. I move slowly and carefully. My subject is stationary, and does not change position relative to the camera, which is mounted on a tripod facing her. Her eyes follow my movement as I move my hand a little bit from side to side. She closes her eyes for a moment, reopens them. She frowns a little, not knowing what to do or will happen next. Now, I squeeze the bulb at the end of the cable release, exposing a frame. The camera advances the film to the next frame. I wait for something else to happen, a facial incident or minor gestural event. The in-depth tension I have been feeling, from not speaking to each other for what seems like a long time, is starting to subside. The golden silence in the studio with the second hand ticking away on the clock, I am no longer looking at my subject, I am listening. I take another picture. The camera advances the film again. I take another picture. I have fallen into the circle of my own gaze. I am in the fascination time. I have established a ritualized region, where each has created a persona.
I am alone with my subject. The room is silent. Neither of us is talking. I stare, concentrating on minor variations of facial expression, body language, and gesture. I move slowly and carefully. My subject is stationary, and does not change position relative to the camera, which is mounted on a tripod facing her. Her eyes follow my movement as I move my hand a little bit from side to side. She closes her eyes for a moment, reopens them. She frowns a little, not knowing what to do or will happen next.
Now, I squeeze the bulb at the end of the cable release, exposing a frame. The camera advances the film to the next frame. I wait for something else to happen, a facial incident or minor gestural event. The in-depth tension I have been feeling, from not speaking to each other for what seems like a long time, is starting to subside. The golden silence in the studio with the second hand ticking away on the clock, I am no longer looking at my subject, I am listening. I take another picture. The camera advances the film again. I take another picture. I have fallen into the circle of my own gaze. I am in the fascination time.
I have established a ritualized region, where each has created a persona.