Another Portrait Session by Susanne Feld
Of course, now that I'm in Berlin for a moment, we needed to do some experiments. And with experiments I really mean that. It truly is always a step into the unknown - in the most revealing way - to go on this journey with Ralf. Well ... as you might know, Ralf and I have been traveling alonside each other for quite a few years and it's such a joy and inspiration for me to see how his fotography has changed - and is always changing and deepening into something which I experience as a home coming.
As he, as the portrait photographer, deepens into himself and facilitates this space of exploration (and you probably know very well - what kind of stuff can come up, when you want (or at the same time - don't want) to have a portrait of yours taken ... : )
Being seen ... oh DEAR!
What's being seen?
How transparent do I want to be?
How transparent CAN I be?
Which layers and masks do I want to keep?
Which layers are there, that I'm not even aware of?
How embodied can I be, being in front of a camera?
Ah! So many themes that can surface!
And then there is this whole other way of entering this process, that Ralf has developed over the years and having integrated all sorts of his experiments (and these have been many, I can tell you ; ) - using all sorts of ways of tapping into the field awareness related to body, space and presence. And stillness and trust.
And also he's got his tools, where you actually don't see the camera, but that's maybe a secret. I can only say, it's the most RELAXED, fun and I find really trippy way of having a portrait taken. Enlivening and reavealing. Coming back to the wholeness of my senses. Tapping into a real, a true place of meeting myself and the world.
As for my own journey with this foto shoot: we had a lot of amazing portraits ... and ... none of the pretty and beautiful ones were showing the depth of this one - where I can see my ancestors looking out of my own eyes. So we threw them all out. Looking through the pictures afterwards is a whole other really revealing process.
With love and gratitude for the creative, wild and weird explorations alongside you other human beings
in this lifetime.
Susanne
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