Lou O’ Bedlam’s Friday Feature: Amanda Newman

By Lou Noble on October 30th, 2009

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The tone of the shoot has a large role to play in the resulting photos.

No big surprise.

But I noticed at a shoot last week that it’s not just about creating a pleasant atmosphere for your model, not just about establishing a rapport and using that connection to take some good photos.

When Amanda punched me, I felt something change. She was hesitant, didn’t want to do it, and ended up socking me only lightly.

The first time.

I had her do it again, hoping that I’d get what I was looking for, something I’d seen in the previous three shoots I’d done that week. The second punch was solid, and you could tell something had shifted, just a wee bit. But she was still awkward about the idea. So I let it slide.

For a few minutes.

When I came up with the idea, it was all on its own. Have the model punch me, photograph the action, see and try to capture the changing mood on the model’s face.

But the more I did it, the more I witnessed that it wasn’t really the act of punching that drew my interest. It was the visible energy afterwards, the changed dynamic between myself and the model. The punching shots always ended up too blurry and fairly useless. But afterwards! The models were jumpy, excited, the energy was strangely more comfortable.

So a few minutes after Amanda first punched me, when we’d walked around a bit and shot some different set-ups, I had her do it again.

And a week later I’m still feeling the bruise from that one.

Now, I am not suggesting that any photographers reading this have their models surprise them by a punch to the stomach.

Though, when that happened, it was weird and shocking and awesome and I couldn’t stop laughing.

I’m not really suggesting anything. I came up with a weird thing that helps create a different energy during my shoots, that maybe gives the model a better sense of collaboration, of agency.

I’d shot Amanda several times before, always excellent shots, but this last shoot was different. More laughing, more excitement, more of a feeling that we’re all working together, that we’re more partners in this here photography thing.

And it’s amazing to watch. Amazing to be a part of. To feel I’ve made some progress, after spending so long just trying to get comfortable taking pictures of people, asking them to put themselves at my disposal.

And Amanda got to punch some folks, so everybody wins!