They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so how do you compete with that when you are asked to create a short written commentary for an exhibition of 25 amazing photographs?
That thought immediately crossed my mind when talented photographer and BNNL member Brigitta Scholz Mastroianni commissioned me to craft some words to accompany her recent portrait exhibition, Dressed With A Smile, at a smart London art gallery in Camden.
My challenging objective was to provide some insight into the nature of the exhibition and encapsulate the essence of the creative vision, the inspiration behind it and the process of turning it into reality.
Brigitta is expert at creating personal branding photography. She possesses natural artistic flare and an almost magical ability to put her clients at ease that enables her to really capture a person’s character. Photographic therapy, she calls it.
Dressed With A Smile is very much an experiment on her part, and a successful one, based on the idea of making professional profile images a bit more interesting and inspiring by having people pose for their business portraits without clothes on.
I needed to convey that nudity is not the focus. Indeed, the photos are tasteful and totally ‘safe for work’. Rather, the true focus of the exhibition is on people’s faces and how the liberating and uplifting experience of being photographed unclothed helps to create a portrait projecting a kind, confident and positive person.
Writing the commentary involved collaborating closely with Brigitta, tuning into her way of thinking, embracing the concept, tackling some tricky questions and exchanging ideas in order to tell the background story the way she wanted it told.
For me, it’s been inspiring to work with a dedicated creative on an innovative and interesting project, a world away from delivering the business-focused written content for corporates that has been my bread and butter.
I got a genuine buzz from working with a consummate professional who has so much passion for what she does. To be honest, crafting those lines didn’t feel like work, it was a pleasure.
So, to answer the question I posed at the beginning; yes, the images really do speak volumes themselves – but I like to think my words throw some revealing light on how they came into being.
Ray Philpott
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/rayphilpott
Instagram: @firstwave_communications
Email: firstwave@blueyonder.co.uk
