MIT Excellence Awards show

I have always hesitated to submit work to shows and competitions for various reasons, mostly because much of the work I do is on a personal commission basis; if you hire me to photograph you during pregnancy I am not going to go and show those images to a bunch of people. The other reason is that I have SO MANY images I have a tough time discerning which ones are fit for public consumption. Keeping this blog has helped me know how to choose one or two images to represent an entire session or day.

But the time has come, and I am pretty excited to be displaying some work for the first time. Tomorrow, MIT has its annual "Excellence Awards" presentation and as part of the small art show associated with this ceremony, I have four portraits hanging in Kresge auditorium. Since the work will only be up for about 36 hours, here's a peek at the four images they chose to display.


AC Kemp
(November 19, 2005, Somerville MA)

AC Kemp is a Boston-based writer who asked me to do some headshots for her upcoming book, an anti-etiquette handbook of sorts. One of my first portrait subjects, AC put up some butcher paper in her front stairwell to make a homegrown studio, and we spent an hour with props such as vintage gloves, a cigarette holder, and a glass of wine. I love that you can actually see my reflection in the wine glass! I didn’t pay as much attention to details back then…


Isaac
(March 9, 2006, Cambridge MA)

Isaac is a professional violin player who recently moved to Cleveland with his string quartet. The day we scheduled to do promo shots of him and his wife Angela, Boston's weather had turned blustery. This is one of an extended portrait series that was taken in the window-full hallway at the Ames Street side of MIT's Building 68, where I was working at that time. I took an extended lunch break to do this session.


Joenita
(October 29, 2005, Pasadena CA)

Joenita and I studied theology together at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena. This photograph was taken on my first trip back to southern California since moving to Boston, coaxed out of her at the reception for our friend's wedding while the other people at our table had gone inside to dance. She was reluctant to pose.


Theis
(October 25, 2006, Cambridge MA)

Theis was my first Boston friend. His sister had arranged for us to meet when she heard that I was moving out to the east coast. He scored me my first MIT interview for an administrative position in the ChemE department (which was also my first direct job rejection in Boston). This photo was taken in the glass hallway on the second floor of MIT's Building 66 as I was coming back from an uninspiring session photographing large eye surgery equipment in one of Boston's acclaimed hospitals.