Nelson

Along with musicians, I’m pointing my camera at those who normally hide behind one.

Photographers are usually the hardest people to photograph. They know what the lens is doing, they know every trick, and they spend the session watching me instead of relaxing.

Nelson was the exception. He is primarily a landscape and travel photographer, so he spends his time pointing a camera at big places a long way from home. Being on the other side of the lens is not something he does much these days. You would never have guessed. He was remarkably comfortable in front of the camera from the first frame.

There turned out to be a reason. Nelson admitted he did some modelling in his distant past, which explains a lot.

I kept the approach the same as the rest of the series: high contrast black and white, nothing in the frame to distract from the person. Nelson gave me plenty to work with.

Good fun shoot with some great results. Here are a few of my favourites.

I also took the chance to set up some BTS video using an Insta360 as well as my usual through-the-lens video.

Richard Mayle is a portrait photographer from the Bayside area of Melbourne. After nearly 20 years of photographing in colour, he has turned his gaze towards his love of black and white and the work of the masters.

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