Nikki

Photography

How do we look? The sixty four thousand dollar question. Photographs, video and film all help to give us an idea of how we present ourselves to the outside world. A few years ago, a student from the British Film School did her course piece on the transformation of me from male to female. She used both video tape and film and it was interesting to see that the film gave a much more accurate representation of how I really looked-not just my perception. Video tape had a tendency to flatten and distort. I have not experienced digicam yet but dare say I shall get around to it soon. My particular interest, though, is the portrait image and don't imagine this is restricted to the studio. It could be a long shot of one of my friends in harness paragliding off a cliff or dancing at a Mardi Gras-all are portraits. I opened my studio in 1989 and have undertaken many TG shoots both behind and in front of the lens. Unfortunately with most of the TG sessions, I handed over the film and never got to keep the results, otherwise I would have a very rich store of pictures of all those who have passed through my doors. What I do have , are approximately 7000 images of me! I spent many a sunday afternoon down the studio (incidentally, where I kept my wardrobe) playing with sets and different lighting set ups. To see the results, I needed a model, so who better..... It also gave me the opportunity to take a critical view of how I looked. Isn't it funny how some photographs lie through their glossy teeth whilst others positively flatter. The latter flatterers usually amount to two to three shots per roll.



		Photography How do we look? The sixty four thousand dollar question. Photographs, video and film all help to give us an idea of how we present ourselves to the outside world. A few years ago, a student from the British Film School did her course piece on the transformation of me from male to female. She used both video tape and film and it was interesting to see that the film gave a much more accurate representation of how I really looked-not just my perception. Video tape had a tendency to flatten and distort. I have not experienced digicam yet but dare say I shall get around to it soon. My particular interest, though, is the portrait image and don't imagine this is restricted to the studio. It could be a long shot of one of my friends in harness paragliding off a cliff or dancing at a Mardi Gras-all are portraits. I opened my studio in 1989 and have undertaken many TG shoots both behind and in front of the lens. Unfortunately with most of the TG sessions, I handed over the film and never got to keep the results, otherwise I would have a very rich store of pictures of all those who have passed through my doors. What I do have , are approximately 7000 images of me! I spent many a sunday afternoon down the studio (incidentally, where I kept my wardrobe) playing with sets and different lighting set ups. To see the results, I needed a model, so who better..... It also gave me the opportunity to take a critical view of how I looked. Isn't it funny how some photographs lie through their glossy teeth whilst others positively flatter. The latter flatterers usually amount to two to three shots per roll.