DECEMBER PROGRAM
JIM GUZEL
“COMMON SENSE PORTRAITURE: ‘LIGHTS, CAMERA,
ACTION’ ”
Jim is the owner/operator of Aphrodite
Photography. He is a nationally
recognized portrait photographer, specializing in beauty photography of women
as private clients. His work has been featured in such well-known
publications as Ebony and Popular Photography. “Natural Outcrop”, perhaps
his best known portrait, won first prize in the national photography contest,
“The Human Figure” and comprised part of his portfolio that was among fifty
finalists in the ACRIA (AIDS Community Research Initiative of
America) international photography contest “Unframed First Look”.
Jim believes that beauty photography has the
ability to affirm what one likes about oneself, explore areas that have yet to
be experienced, and heal deep emotional wounds that have scarred one’s
self-image. He
finds that for both the photographer and the subject, portraiture can evoke a
strong emotional response: “On the
personal end, experiencing great portraiture can change a subject’s life for
the better, sometimes dramatically so.
Stop a thirty year old eating disorder in its tracks? – Yes. Improve one’s sex life 1000%? – Yes. Create great belief in one’s intrinsic beauty
when before there was none? Yes. It can be a pretty intense experience for the
photographer, too.”
In describing
the goals of his presentation, Jim says: “Real portraits show people being real
– being themselves. Complicated lighting
and techniques get in the way of reality and are often totally unnecessary to
obtain high impact images. That’s the technical side as I see it. I have a lot
of stories and the pictures to prove it, so to speak. I also have the techniques that allow for all
these wondrous things to happen in front of the camera and to make sure the
images match the beauty of the action.
Please join me to learn how I do it.
I’m more than happy to share information that will
move you further on your path to truly artistic portraiture.” (NOTE: Jim’s
presentation will include some images of nudes.)