Miranda Models at the NBCC

The reason that Miranda's visit in January-February was perfectly timed was the fact that I had be invited to present on my work to the New Brunswick Craft College photo program; when I'd initially been approached, I was asked if, in addition to presenting my work and discussing the process, I could provide a demonstration of my working technique. While I wasn't opposed to the idea, I did have serious concerns about whom I'd arrange to work with me in such a "public" manner; the school offered to provide me with one of their regular figure models. This would have been less than ideal because a major part of how I work is the relationship I establish with the people I photograph; the idea of demonstrating my approach with a model I would have just met was daunting, not to mention contradictive.

Digital original

As it turned out, Miranda was coming up to Moncton the weekend before I was to present and she agreed to stay an extra day to travel up to Fredericton to work with me during the class presentation.

It can be an awkward thing to photograph with the purpose of illustration and education, as opposed to creating a final image.Fortunately, both Miranda and I have worked in similar situations before (though not together), so we managed to not only guide the students through my particular way of working but also make several striking images. The first came as I was trying to guide the students through the process of recording an initial perception through to fruition using the digital camera and the second came at the very end of the session, when I made a portrait with the 8"x10" view camera as a demonstration of working with the larger format.

8"x10" film

In the end, as much as the session was a class demonstration, I came out of it pleased with the images as much as the presentation. Miranda saved me from the difficult possibility of providing a demonstration of my work in a most a-typical way (working with a model who was not already familiar with my approach) and helped me make several images that built upon the images we made over the previous days.