You don't have a clue what it is like to be next to you

I'm here to tell you
That it is good.
    That it is true




I really love portraiture. There's something not just gratifying but comforting about capturing a subject at their real moments whether they are posing or not.  If I can hold dear this little bit of a personality, my work becomes relational and the humanness of photography overwhelms the technical tussle between shutter speed and aperture.

Which picture would you like to see?  

A) There's a girl looking right in your eye and saying, "Hi, I'm ____, nice to meet you. I feel_____."

B) There's a girl staring past you saying, "You know, I have a lot going on inside me right now. It feels like yesterday I was a kid and now I am nearly an adult and I don't think I like it. I'm tired of responsibility and decisions. I just want recess. Or a least a nap."

The answer is hopefully B. My photographic goal is to do this. Pictures can have labels or they can have stories and questions and intrigues. Let's hear it for the intrigue!

Okaysofacebook. Facebook allows us, among about a bajillion other things, to post pictures of ourselves and others. A little peeve that really digs deep under my nailbeds is when teenage girls most pictures of themselves really hamming it up on photobooth with that 'color pencil' effect to look allkindsa sultry. Or those infamous 'myspace pics' taken from above with kissy faces and the pop of a hip. Okay, I am sure that I had some of these when I was younger but now, if there are any younger girls reading this right now--I plead with you to STOP! There's a way to be classy and fresh and fun and beautiful in your new profile pic that doesn't involve heavy lip gloss and black eye liner in a badly lit bathroom.

Need proof? I was hoping you would because it's the next images that inspired me to send out this S.O.S. To prove that you can be a teenager and take both fun and dramatic photos of yourself that won't degrade your integrity is a little lady by the name of Alison Titus. She is FIFTEEN years old and took all these and more by herself with a remote shutter on her camera. And I know, most fifteen year olds don't have cameras with interchangeable lenses and remote shutters, I know I didn't, but these things can be done with point and shoots too.

To see the article these pictures came from as well as more self-portraits from Alison, go here.
To see more of Alison's work, her flickr account can be found here.
Alison did the picture-a-day-for-a-year-challenge and has little literary bits attached to each picture that most teenage girls will find relatable.



One of Alison's fans on flickr (a free photosharing website you should all spend time on if photos interest you) made this comment that really beautifully sums up my whole point:


"A clear standout among a new generation of creative young Flickr photographers, her images are personal but not narcissistic. Allie is really something special, she records light and her life as she finds it, albeit beautifully."

Go on, be classy.

EELS- That Fresh Feeling


-this is a good song