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Helsinki Photographer | Intimate indoor photo session | Styled indoor couple session
As a creative, I’ve learned it is often hard to let go. We get so attached, so emotionally involved, so zoomed-in, we want to be in charge of everything and so we forget to take a step back and just breathe.
Some years ago I took an architecture drawing class and I remember how once in a while my professor was making us pause, push the drawing boards forward and look at our work from afar. Every single time I was stunned by what I was seeing. The drawing in front of me looked so different from the one I was so busy drawing just a few seconds earlier. While being focused on perfecting different details, I was loosing sight of the whole picture. It almost always looked unbalanced as a whole. Learning to take a step back has been one of the most valuable lessons I left with from that class.
Daring to let go of full control in our photographic craft can be daunting at first. (We might think) surely we know best what we want to achieve, so why would we let someone else curate a shoot?
But what if what we wanted to achieve isn’t a specific image, but instead, a story, a moment, a memory?
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Collaborating with a stylist who shares this vision can lead to results that exceed expectations.
Michaela had taken time prior to the shoot to get to know Olivia and Eero, and she created these scenes of a lazy morning at home together with then. It was directed, but not posed. Thought through and intentionate, but not forced. Curated, but not artificial. And in fact, there was no directing going on while I was shooting. Everything was real. No acting, no pretending. No artificial flavoring.
Real, intimate moments just happening in front of my lens. Without pausing, without interference, without me being part of it.
I did not need to worry about finding locations that work. Nor was I doing any posing or fixing details. I was simple there.
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Being. Observing. Creating.
I was able to see details that I often miss when I’m caught up in directing. Details of touch, of connection, of beauty. It is those raw little moments that together create the full picture. The one that tells the real story about who we are.
I’m really exited to see this shoot published in 100 Layer Cake alongside Nord and Mae’s article about authenticity. Michaela’s creative direction in this shoot brought real meaning to my images. It is a kind of collaboration that creates real memories.
Helsinki Photographer | Intimate indoor photo session | Styled indoor couple session
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