Intimacy

/ Richard R. Barron
Kaitlyn Hooper looks up into the audience at Ada High School graduation ceremomies at the Cougar Activity Center Thursday night, May 19, 2011. This image conveys so much more than a picture of her receiving a diploma or posing for the camera.
Kaitlyn Hooper looks up into the audience at Ada High School graduation ceremomies at the Cougar Activity Center Thursday night, May 19, 2011. This image conveys so much more than a picture of her receiving a diploma or posing for the camera.

I was going through the last six months of my news and sports photos searching for images I could add to my screen saver at the office. It was a good few months for me, for it seemed that I was dragging plenty of images to my screen saver folder. As I did so, I began to realize what all of these images had in common: intimacy.

That, I think, is a key element of great photography, whether it be the subtle intimacy of delicate fine art photography, or the intense intimacy of the moment of conflict in sports, or the innocent intimacy of portraits of children.

I strive for this intimacy in all aspect of my imaging. It is far from easy or simple, but when I am able to express it, this intimacy allows my readers and viewers to experience my photography and its subjects on another, higher level.

A Tupelo base runner charges for third base in this image from the spring 2011 high school baseball season. The intensity on his face is expressed by this image in a way no other method can.
A Tupelo base runner charges for third base in this image from the spring 2011 high school baseball season. The intensity on his face is expressed by this image in a way no other method can.