FaceTime Portraits for the Washington Post

I recently shot portraits for an editorial for the Washington Post Magazine via FaceTime

FaceTime Portraits for the Washington Post

A few weeks ago I was assigned by the Washington Post Magazine to photograph 19 subjects across the United Stated. The assignment was for a piece they were putting together highlighting positive stories during the Covid-19 pandemic. I photographed it all via FaceTime.

The subjects ranged from writer Margaret Atwood to Park Ranger Jessica Korgie. From comedian Russel Peters to shop owner Ifat Pridan. An amazing range of personalities and I got to meet them all in their spaces. One on one! Surreal!!! I just dropped in on them in their homes!

Given a somewhat tight deadline the biggest challenge was scheduling all the subjects. I had done over 60 FaceTime portraits prior to this assignment so I felt comfortable once the call was on but getting it all sorted was another story.

A big Thank You to Dudley Brooks at the Post for having the vision to put this together!!!

Take a look here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/lifestyle/magazine/america-resilient-coronavirus-pandemic/?itid=sf_lifestyle-magazine

Virtual Portraits

Virtual Portraits - photographed via FaceTime

It’s crazy times! But crazy times always bring with them new ideas, new angles of how to approach things, new ways to operate. Creativity is fueled by unease. Nothing like some rapids to get the boat moving.

All of that of course does not mask the fact that freelancers like myself are currently looking into the abyss. I have not had anything officially canceled as of now but I also had only a few things on hold… and I am doubtful those few things will happen. Seems like everyone froze. Well, what do you do?

Going back to creativity being fueled by unease, I came up with the idea to take portraits of people via FaceTime. I had never done this before, barely use my Iphone to take serious photos at all. But while in the rapids I’ll take any boat!

I did some research trying to figure out if the subject’s Iphone camera could be triggered remotely from my phone but found nothing. Given privacy concerns that made sense and I quickly put my desire for better quality aside and focused on simply taking portraits, no matter the quality. Pretty freeing. While the photography industry is arguably being disrupted by Iphone photography and amateur photographers who have challenged old wisdoms and hierarchies, this seemed a fun project to do. Show up to a stick fight with a stick.

It is really odd to not have control over the camera’s movements. Nor knowing the space the subject is in. I found directing the subject in posing as well as composing the frame to be quite challenging. Especially since the video quality of the call plummets dramatically once the phone is moving. Recognizing suitable backgrounds is not easy. I also quickly learned that I underestimated my attention to detail and skill for composure. I take all that for granted. I have been behind a lens for over 20 years. Now I needed to initiate and correct every move of the camera with words and not intuitively with my hands. Lots of trial and error. Overall the subjects have been doing well so far but it is definitely a completely new challenge.

One big take away is that this is super fun. Everyone has been excited to partake and there have been lots of laughs during the sessions which take about 10 min on average. There is a bunch of chatting about the current situation and how we cope, then there is some photography and then we wish each other well. It’s fantastic!

Here is a little video of bts of one of the shoots:

You can view more images from this project on a page I created for it. Follow the link HERE.