Working with my friend Graham, I set-up a basic studio with a barstool and a white background, I directed his poses using my camera fixed to a tripod. After 5 minutes I gave the control of the photographic direction to Graham, who firstly wanted me to take the camera off the tripod and then photograph him from different positions such as standing or from a low crouching or sitting positions whilst he also posed in different positions.
I was looking for a simple head and shoulder shot that could be used as a an avatar on Facebook but Graham wanted a pose said something about him that expressed his character.

This was my directed photograph and my choice.

This was Graham’s directed photograph and his favourite choice.

Contact sheet for the final selection from the original set.
Clearly the photographer and subject can have very different ideas.
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