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dchui β the Camille I see
Published: 2005-09-08 08:23:28 +0000 UTC; Views: 789; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 178
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For me, photography has always been a way of showing the people in my life just how much they mean to me. Sometimes itβs hard for me to express in words the beauty I see in the people that matter to me the most... and when that happens all I have to do is pick up my camera and capture with it the memories and moments that make me smile on the inside.This photograph of Camille is, well, it is to me the best photograph I have ever taken. Even if I never had a single word with which to express how lucky I feel to have Camille in my life, I feel like I would be content to just point to this photo and let it tell its own story. I wanted to share this photo because, to me, every time I see Camille's smile it's like... suddenly the whole world is looking up, and all of the petty shit in my life is behind me and far, far away.
And so, even if I never have the guts or the eloquence to say outright everything that is on my mind, maybe through a photo I can let her know.
Camille, you are beautiful.
Love,
Chui
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Comments: 25
heyyy
to much smiling facess
Δ± loved your galeryy.
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Hm,like everyone else said,you not just show the Person ,you also captured her personality.You show her the way she is 
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It's an awesome photograph. She's realllyy beautiful.
I wish I had an amazing, deep, sentimental reason about why I love this, but I can't really explain why I do.
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This is a truly awesome photograph! Now, I'm no photographer and it may be silly to talk about technical aspects of a piece that obviously means so much to you, but don't you think the picture might have looked a little better had you not cropped out the lower edge of the pullover?
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hey there!
good point on the pullover; something to think about for next time! That was how I took the shot... sometimes I miss little details while cropping while taking the original photo - something I need to work on!
- Chui
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Lovely, my dear Chui. Not only is Camille a very lovely individual, but you also captured her so well, grinning happily, the happiness spreading to her eyes and whole being. Looking at this photo makes me happy. I dunno, it just does. That is especially good as I am frustrated at not being able to get through to Toonami and win $10,000 (Or Sly 3). Anyway, keep it up, man!
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Lovely words, lovely picture! The DOF is perfect, very nicely done!
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... i'm at a loss for words (save, as should be evident, these).
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There's something about this that just seems more captivating than #2 of this series, if you could call it that. Love the emotion here, and as usual, the black and white is just so fitting with the contrast. Very nicely done.
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Thanks bro
Take it easy man!
- Chui
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Not a problem, man.
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yes she is beautiful and i love her natural posture and expression
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What a great face :] I always feel like that's a weird comment for me to give, though I always mean it; I think it takes skill to truly capture someone's face on film in a way that communicates their personality. Your friends must be honored to be in your photographs--I know I would consider myself lucky to be :] What I like about your photos is that they do show so much personality and emotion but in a wonderfully understated way--they always look so natural. And of course we all love the heartfelt commentaries that go with photos like this :]
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Hey babe
I think that one of the most important parts of making people feel comfortable in front of the camera is just getting them used to your having the camera pointed at them. Not all of my friends are immediately comfortable with me taking photos of them, but they are forced to get used to it or suffer eternally.
In this shot, Camille was talking about the day before and we were just having a conversation with me behind the camera.
- Chui
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Daniel--
I know how you feel, i love to photograph my friends. i have to ask...did she like the picture? nothing gives me more joy than if my friends like the picture, because it's like i've been able to show them how beautiful i think they really are. the camera is such an important tool, and it can really be used in many different ways, but for me that's it's most important use.
i also agree with you about photographing the homeless. i know homeless people, some very personally, and i know that they're people too and deserve to be seen that way. however, i see homelessness in a broader sense as well, as a problem our society has to face and deal with. when looking at it that way, i think it's reasonable that people need to portray the homeless in the stereotype that they're poor, miserable people. if it moves one person to help, then it's done the job. i'm not sure that pictures of happy bums would do the same...
i actually have a picture of a happy bum in my gallery, but i don't know how to put links, sorry. that's not a lure to look at my gallery, cus i'm not one of those people, i was just telling you. so don't look! no, you can if you want, but i'm not asking you to.
--Aleisha
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You know, you're a great photographer, but I think what makes you such a wonderful artist is how all of your work is full of meaning - there's none of this "Ooh, that's pretty, so I'll take a picture of it!" stuff in your work. You show real life - and not the kind of 'real life' that most photographers try to show, with homeless people sitting on corners or children starving. You somehow manage to capture all the most beautiful parts of life, and in ways that we all feel the love you have for the subject & so can't help loving them as well.
When I fisrt saw this picture, before I even read the description, I could hardly tear my eyes away from it, and all I could think was that I wanted to have a picture like that, of someone I love, that I could frame and set on the mantle piece and I would never be able to walk past it without looking at and running my fingers along the frame. That's how powerful your photography is.
Well, hope this wasn't too mushy or anything, but I really love your work & how everything has a story & really strong emotions behind it. Really, really great stuff
-Jez
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Jez,
Your comment means a lot to me. It was the first thing I read this morning and it put a big smile on my face. What you said about how many photogs try and show "homeless people and children starving" that especially struck a chord with me, because in my mind those kind of photographs are exactly the thing that I want to avoid in my work.
In my mind, homeless people and children that are starving need to be photographed. But how can we photograph them in a way that preserves their dignity? How can we photograph them in a way that reminds us that they are more than the bloated belly or the slumped silhouette? I think that for me, that is the real question. There is a pullitzer prize winning photo of a homeless guy slumped over in a small cardboard box somewhere in Philadelphia. But to me, it is a bad photo... because the person who took that photo took it from the outside. They may have had the intention of telling a story and in-so-doing helping the homeless guy, but nevertheless that photo of the homeless guy tells us nothing of who that homeless person is and what the story of his character is behind the photo.
If you ever get a chance, I strongly encourage you to purchase Sidewalk Stories by Salvo Galano. In my mind, he embodies everything that we need in the photographer who photographs homeless people. In these photos, he sets up a simple backdrop and then stands the homeless people in front of them. And here's what he does: he talks to them, he listens, and he photographs the people as they are as people, not simply as those without homes. That, to me, is the most beautiful thing. His work stops me in my tracks. Check it out:
[link]
Thank you so much for saying what you said... it means the world to me. I want to give you a small suggestion because I noticed you have a few photos in your gallery, and you may be a photographer as well. I wanna encourage you to think of the technical improvement in photography as closing the gap between your camera and your soul. It sounds corny, but I have noticed that as soon as I got over the technical functioning and fiddling with my camera, I was actually able to capture so much more of life and what is important to me.
I encourage you, if you are at all serious about photography, to really beat yourself up on the technical side of things. Ultimately, the camera is simply a box that captures light. The question is whether you know how to use that box when it counts, at the moment it counts, as an extension of your soul and your feelings. Jedi shit I assure you. That is photography.
- Chui
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Um... wow... I don't even really know what to say... I certainly wasn't expecting a response like this ^_^; I guess it's just always nice to find that people really hear what you have to say ^_^
I couldn't agree with you more about the photos of homeless people - I just couldn't really think of a good way to express it before. They should be photographed, but not in the kind of pessimistic way that it seems many photographers do - it doesn't help their situation, and it certainly doesn't add anything uplifting to the world in general.
I checked out Galano's book that you suggested, and I am thinking seriously of buying it. It sounds like just the kind of photography that everyone needs
And thank you for the advice about my photos - I've always liked taking pictures, but never really thought of myself as very good. I just could never 'capture' things the way it seems a lot of people can. But I think you're right about "closing the gap between your camera and your soul" (corny, yes, but also very true!
Anyway, thanks so much for the advice, and of course this (letter of a) reply. It really made my day.
-Jez
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Aw, this looks lovely. The background, the composition, her heart-healing smile of course. 
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nice. i love how she's smiling. not too wide, but still communicating joy
y'know, your photography inspired me to start taking (and writing about) emotive portraits of the people in my life, too. although yer WAY a cooler photographer
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