HEIDI ROSS

www.heidiross.com

www.redrocketreps.com

I think most photographers who become household names have an innate ability to disregard their own intrusiveness, or a charisma that disarms their subject to the point that the subject disregards the intrusion, or even welcomes it. I don't have this ability. I am acutely aware of my intrusiveness every minute. Ultimately, my lack of drama and extroversion benefits my photographs. But initially, I tend to make people like managers and art directors nervous about my ability to do my job. I don't fit the stereotype they associate with professional photography or Art. I'm professional, yes, but I'm also quiet. I'm not particularly bossy. I tend to direct myself more than I direct my subjects, in order to get in there and find them out.

For that reason I think people are often surprised to see my pictures of them--not because they're shocking in content but because they didn't realize they were "doing" anything. And they weren't. It sometimes looks like I spent a lot of time trying to get them to open up and be themselves when in fact that's rarely the case. Maybe I caught them at that moment when they were painfully hungover and trying their hardest not to vomit, for instance, and their glistening eyes and fatigue came across in the photograph as deep emotion and peace. Cameras are sneaky that way. And I, for one, couldn't be more pleased about it.