Page 63 - Lighting the Unlightable Volume 1 #1

“Where did you work with Anna?”

“Belmont.”

“Really?” I could tell he was incredulous.

“Yes, really.” I saw no reason to escalate the emotional

intensity that rested behind his comment, so I replied as
calmly as I could.

“Which room?” He seemed frustrated. Almost angry.

“Ladies’ Parlor.”

“What? Why? I mean, how many times can you shoot in

that room - any room? And why Belmont - again?” There
was no doubt that he just couldn’t wrap his head around

my decision to photograph Anna in a room where I had

worked countless times before.

“Look,” I said, as calmly as I could despite my own in-

creasing irritation, “even if I photographed the same

woman in the same chair on the same day at exactly the
same time, everything would be different.”

“I don’t understand. How is that possible?”

My first impulse was to tell him that I was sure he didn’t
understand, because if he did, he wouldn’t respond as he

had. But, I have learned that no good ever comes from

such a response, so, I took a very deep breath and said,

“First, even if it were the same date and exactly the same
time of day, all the variables are different. The weather

isn’t likely to be the same - even a variance of a few de-

grees can totally change how the camera sees the world.
Differences in humidity alter how the light diffuses in a

room.” I paused. I could see that he was reconsidering

the whole conversation.

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