Photography & Stereotypes

Yesterday, I had a very interesting conversation with my client in regards to headshots.

She shared with me that it’s now becoming difficult to find photographers whom are treating each person differently.

She was presented with an opportunity to be a casting director and to choose from various headshots. It was challenging —as she shared with me— because all of the headshots looked a like. The faces were manipulated by the make up. The personality is lost because there is a blank that was created, by one photographer, that now each photographer is trying to match.
When a person comes to audition and places his/her headshot on the table it becomes difficult to recognize similarities between the real person and his/her photo prototype.

It’s our job as photographers to capture the beauty of each person and their personality. We are in a very powerful position because we are molding the person, we have an outside perspective, we are guiding the model. This is where we have to acknowledge our tendency to be biased and view beauty stereotypically.

We have to recognize that it’s not about how we view beauty and what we think is beautiful, sad, romantic, what a character should look like, or how a sexy character should be portrayed. It’s not our job to tell somebody how it looks. Our job is to put the person in the environment. Allow them to believe in the story. Trust them and be trustworthy. Then they will respond to the situation in their unique way. How I express sexuality will be different from how you express sexuality, because you and I have a different cultural heritage, parents, traditions, ethos etc.

Anna Kuzmina

Director of Photography
AK47 Division®