At the Click of a Shutter (Post #2) Social and Solitary

For me, there are two main types of photography. There is social photography and there is solitary photography. 

Social photography is anything that involves other people. Sometimes that means that I am joined by others on my photography excursions, other times it means that other people are the subject of photography sessions. Whether I am just wandering tea fields in the Azores with a friend or I am taking photographs of an ex-classmate's children, my photography has been a social boost.

Samantha and the Horse. Gorreabana Tea Plantation. Azores, Portugal. 2016.

For much of my life I have struggled socially. Usually a general awkwardness, sometimes an all out anxiety around other people, I have never been the person with a million friends, I have never been the life of the party. But, my photography has changed that for me. 

Having been out of high school for 20 years now, most of my ex-classmates are now married with children. Parents, of course, are always willing to have good pictures taken of their children to send to Grandma for her birthday, to hang on the family room wall, or just to post on social media to show others how adorable their offspring are. In the past four years I have had a dozens of old classmates reach out and ask that I take photos of their families, their children, and sometimes their pets. People who I would've assumed I would never see again outside of the occasional chance meeting in the aisles at Wegman’s have reconnected and become good friends. It was my photography that served as the catalyst for bringing these really great people back into my life.

Twin Sisters. Hingham, Massachusetts. 2015. 

For the past five years I have worked as the head of the Customer Service Department for the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. Essentially, it is a living history museum that recreates the events of the Boston Tea Party using actors, replica 18th century ships, and multimedia technology. I am surrounded by creative people. As one would imagine, many of them are in need of headshots from time to time. Another example of this social photography.

Jilllian Couillard Headshot. Boston, Massachusetts. 2015. 

Of course, there is wedding and event photography, which I find myself doing from time to time, the social aspects of which are pretty obvious.

Then there is what I call solitary photography.

Most of my photography is this type. For me, photography is something very personal, it is therapeutic. In many ways, my photography is an important part of my mental well being. When the weight of the world begins to feel too heavy I grab my camera and head out into the night. You’ve heard of a “happy place,” somewhere one can go to cheer themselves up, to let the worries of the world melt away. For me, that place is sitting quietly, looking at the reflection of a glimmering skyline in a mirror of water before it. There is something calming for me about setting up a long exposure shot, sitting back and letting the camera capture the beauty before me.

Lower Mamhattan from Brooklyn Bridge Park. Brooklyn, New York. 2017. 

For me, photography is my filter from the world around me. When the world seems terrifying, I can focus on my images and the stress melts away. I have learned not to overlook the little things in life, that the smallest details can be the most beautiful. I have learned that sometimes I need to stop overanalyzing everything and just trust that I am capable. This is what my photography has given me, confidence, passion, vision, and, hope.