It was the second to last image we created*. (Editors note – I actually hate the word shot/shoot in this instance. Puts up a bit of a barrier in the collaborative process, of which most photographers will opine. Most famously Ansel Adam’s “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” You get the idea.) The moment, a test shoot in my “studio youth” that was off the cuff. The tattoo was fresh and so was moment. It was the first of many iconic images to follow over the years, the moment when I knew I had realized something worth saying.
It’s rare when you’re able to grasp those moments … like falling in love for the last time, having a baby, or whatever personally relevant event that fits this analogy. In some respects, as with most artists, I wish I hadn’t had it. The moment was/is always fleeting, and so we chase after the next one like an addict, only our drug of choice is one only we can provide, and the craft needs to be perfect if not godly to achieve satisfaction. This was one of those first dominoes to fall. A taste of how delicious the drug could be, not aware of the struggle and drama ahead.
Melissa’s struggle is one of many I’ve heard and captured in the last few decades in and out of the studio, and unfortunately will not be the last. Knowing then what I know now, I would have photographed her differently, and possibly lost the moment altogether. Moments in time mean nothing without struggle. So moved are we to celebrate in capturing art and sharing such stories as the one that lay ahead. Paired with Katie’s strength, and Tavia’s embrace of femininity, the struggle is real in this edition. Struggle hard and often dear artists.
