My name is Season Moore, and I’m a contemporary children’s photographer in Raleigh, NC. I am also a wife and the mom of two young kids. I love what I do, and I’m glad to have the chance to share a little bit of that with you as a new contributor to Photojojo Uncut.
But I’m not here to get into the nitty-gritty basics of photography — I’ll be focusing on topics of interest to the moms and dads out there in PhotojojoLand. I’ll give you some behind-the-scenes info on my own work (OK, so there might be a little nitty-gritty talk) and share my tips for working with babies and kids, and I’ll also introduce you to some of my favorite photographers.
The photo above, taken with a Nikon D200, was the final shot from my latest session. I’m a natural-light photographer, so every indoor image is taken using light from a nearby window. In this case we were directly facing a set of windows about five feet away. At nearly two weeks old, this little guy was one of my older newborns. The younger infants – most of my newborn subjects are less than a week old – are sleepier, and you can move into position without disturbing them. As they days go by they get more alert, and it’s harder to get that precious scrunched-up newborn look.
Now, as much as I like to talk – just ask my husband! – I may run out of things to say. So I need to hear from you! Drop in to the Photojojo Forums with specific questions you might have, products you’d like to share or topics you’d like to discuss. If you see a particular photo on my site that you’d like more information on, please let me know. I’d also love to see your photos and the fun things you’ve done with them. So please share!
Usually photography is associated with bright, smiling faces… cheerful events celebrated, the everyday moments of bliss in life enjoyed.
Sometimes photographs tell stories far more harrowing and tragic, though.
“I’m just a photographer; I don’t know anything,” Nhem En recalls telling prisoners, who came blindfolded into the room where he was to carefully photograph them before they went on to be tortured; En worked diligently, carefully framing his shots and adjusted the angles of his subjects’ heads, knowing full well they would soon be killed. In a recent article in the New York Times, En reflects on his tragic documentarian role in the Khmer Rouge regime, which killed 1.7 million prisoners in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. As a low-ranking staff in one of the Khmer Rogue torture houses, En was recently called upon to offer personal testimony at the upcoming trial of one of the men responsible for Cambodia’s “Killing Fields” – his commandant under whom he worked for three years.
Nhem En’s photographs – some of which have found their way into art galleries around the United States – serve as a striking testament to the countless innocent people who were tortured to death or sent to the killing fields, in this dark period of Cambodian history. While reticent about his role as a in the Khmer Rouge regime, En approached his work as a photographer with serious diligence:
“‘Look straight ahead. Don’t lean your head to the left or the right.’ That’s all I said,” he recalled. “I had to say that so the picture would turn out well. Then they were taken to the interrogation center. The duty of the photographer was just to take the picture.”
Photography frequently serves to remind us of the good times in life – but often, it also serves to keep us from forgetting the bad.
You may remember Duesseldorf-based photographer extraordinaire Mareen Fischinger from her popular Photojojo tutorial on how to make a panography. Well, she’s in NYC for a few months, and last weekend she and photo whiz Sahadeva shot a couple new DIY videos on our rooftop.
Stay tuned for their awesome collaboration, coming up soon!
Photographer jan von holleben has a fun new series of photographs, dreams of flying. Great inspiration for taking portraits of children (and the young at heart, for that matter). Taken with lo-tech backgrounds or just the ground as background, these photos are a great reminder that you don’t need a fancy studio backdrop to take a memorable picture of your kids.
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