Portraiture is becoming an important part of my creativity. I took my first portrait about two years ago, I am learning more about it all of the time. I use two portrait lenses. For black and white portraits, a used Zeiss portrait lens, wonderful glass, a distinctive look. Now, I have a 135 mm Canon lens, used for portraits by many portrait photographers, it is more powerful than the Zeiss and has more range.

I like it because it allows me to capture a scene, not just the face and head of the subject. I like to show a context for my portraits, not just a face. Here, I asked Maria to stand still for one of my first portraits with the new lens – I can’t imagine a better way to inaugurate the lens, and I liked that I could also show the pole barn, a place that is so important to who she is.

The new lens will enable me to set some scenes with my portraits, the existing one will give me the chance to move in close, for detail.

Portraits need to be honest, they need to capture the soul of the subject. They are not, in my mind, for formality or dressing the subject up or posing him or her. A successful portrait photo for me captures the reality of the subject, good or bad. When people see the portrait, they ought to be able to say, “yes, that is the person I know.” Maria is simple in that way, she is viscerally authentic, she is incapable of posing.

Because she is uncomfortable being photographed, she is always real.