Cool

They say you can learn as much about the photographer who takes a picture as you do about the person being photographed. I was never really sure about that, especially when it came to my work. What did my images say about me?Then one day my friend and assistant Emily Merrill said something that struck a chord with me. She said that I'm always trying to make people look cool. I never really thought about it, I just did what I did. But in looking back at most of my photographs, I can see some truth to it, for the most part. I'm not talking about some kind of ultra-look-at-how-cool-I-am kind of cool. To me its a subtle cool. My subjects tend to look like they don't give a crap. And in particular, they don't give a crap about being cool. Because, anyone who gives a crap about being cool, isn't cool.If pressed, I would say that this subconscious desire to make people look cool stems from my lack of coolness. I mean, I think I'm cool, but doesn't everybody think they're cool? Unlike a lot of people, I can admit that outside my own head, I'm not cool. Usually it's high school where people become paranoid about coolness. I wasn't unpopular in high-school. I wasn't one of the kids that all the cool people made fun of. I wasn't one of the cool kids either. I wasn't particularly anything. I was pretty shy back then and I had my few friends and that was about it. So, not a dork, not cool... just, there.Oh, don't think I'm trying to pour my heart out here and get sympathy for feeling left out in high-school (who wasn't... and I'm not talking to you Johnny Tango, we know you were cool in high-school). But if I had to pinpoint where my preoccupation (if you can call it that) for coolness began, that would be it.So now that I have this realization about my images, how will this affect the way I work? Will I now attempt to knowingly make people look cool, when before it was just the way I worked. If I do that, things may seemed forced. And anytime something is forced, it doesn't usually work. Who knows. Maybe I should do the opposite, maybe I should make people look uncool or quirky. I just don't feel like that would be me. So, maybe I should just get out of my head and do what I do.What I listened to last week:The Rolling Stones, Exile On Main St.What I watched last week:Mad MenWhat I read last week:Image Makers, Image Takers