Lou O’ Bedlam’s Friday Feature: Natasha Garmendia

By Lou Noble on January 22nd, 2010

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Some models I just love working with. They’re energetic, love being a part of the process, and have ideas to contribute. Working with them makes the whole experience vastly more enjoyable. But when the shoot’s over, we’re done. They go on their way, I hunker down in front of my computer and start sorting through the shots I’ve just taken.

Then there are the ones like Natasha, where the shoot is just part of our time together, time that usually includes a walk to Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles.

Natasha was one of my earliest models, and, as such, we’ve now known each other for several years. I’ve taken hundreds of pictures of her, and at this point we’re far more Friends than we are Model & Photographer. Which is to say, knowing Natasha as I do definitely helps when taking her picture.

That, for me, is the ideal. Because, models? Not terribly hard to find. At this point I’ve got a solid network of models I can regularly use. I’m always on the lookout for new faces, but even better, all the folks I know are on the lookout.

“Shoot my roommate!”

“I saw someone at this restaurant you should shoot!”

“Shoot my sister!”

What’s far more rare, and thus far more valued, is finding a good friend, someone like Natasha.

When we met she was the friend of another of my models. But it wasn’t long before she and I were hanging out on our own, shooting frequently, grabbing meals, complaining about dating and our mutual friends. Actually, that’s pretty much what we do, now. Only I’ve got less hair, and she’s got more.

I suppose, in general, it’s hard not to get involved, in one way or another, in the lives of your models. If you shoot someone more than once, you’re going to talk to ‘em. The conversation will eventually turn to things personal. Next thing you know, you’re giving them advice about boys, about work, about life, they’re giving you advice, you’re hanging out without even taking pictures, going to each other’s birthdays, seeing their concerts.

Just the way I like it. Much more interesting to have a friend as a model, to be able to see, perhaps, a different side of them appear in front of the camera. And vice versa, hanging out with a model separate from the shooting, you see different things, build a fuller picture of them in your mind. And that feeds back into the shooting, informs all the subsequent shots.

The better you know someone, the better you photograph them, the better you know them.