“In trying to do this, I always ask them not to smile for the camera. I wanted to avoid that usual snapshot smile.. you know, that smile that you’ve smiled a thousand times whenever you’re in front of a camera… the canned smile that sometimes make you look… different, forced even. Portraitist extraordinaire Annie Leibovitz wrote in her book:“It took me years to understand that I equated asking someone to smile with asking them to do something false.” She further notes: “You can almost hear the sigh of relief when you tell someone they don’t have to smile.” I took this as a way to make the subject comfortable about being suddenly photographed in public… no need to do anything, just be yourself and look in the camera.” – Danny Santos,Singapore.
Inspired by the street photographer Danny Santos, i wanted to start doing some portrait project too, sounds inspiring and i believe there will be lots to gain from it.