Sunday, January 01, 2017

30 Years Of Portraiture!


















On some level I have been a photographer my whole life… My first camera being a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye followed by a Canon Pellix given to me by my uncle Peter… Ironically the first ever mirrorless 35mm camera. With that camera I made it through High School and being part of the yearbook staff where I logged a ton of film development and photo development via the chemical bath and since method. After 5 or 6 years of University and moving around to my first few jobs it was 1987 and I picked up a friends Minolta and eventually my own Canon AE1. In the 90s I flirted with Polaroid and Pentax and by the time I moved to Toronto I bought a Nikon F90X which I loved but had to sell when things got tight financially… Entered back into digital with the original Canon Rebel 6.1 MP and then the Canon 50D and now the Canon 7D.

I can not imagine a moment in my life with out a camera and while I have photographed many things it is my work shooting people that brings me the most joy. It was 1987 that I started to pick up work and paid commissions for photos and thus I deemed myself a professional. The work was varied but one thing I began to push myself through the art of the portrait which is by far one of the hardest things to photograph. It's a bit of a personal experience for both the photographer and the individual being photographed. The only way to get comfortable is to push yourself and others through the process… As many of you know I am not a poser, preferring the subject to create moments for me to capture which allows me to get to know them on their own terms and closer to who they really are. It has been an honor to get to know so many individuals and understand their stories and journeys! Many of them I have photographed multiple times over the years extending and deepening those connections. Coming into 2017 in a couple days I will begin a year long celebration of my work starting with my portrait work.

I’ve tried to be inclusive of all of my formal portraits regardless of format… undoubtedly I may have missed a few and if you don’t see yourself it was not intentional and I don’t love you any less!


Note: All images and text (not specified) is copyrighted by Christopher Cushman. This site does not specify or denote the sexual orientation of any model and as such please post your comments accordingly.