Congressman Dr. Jamaal Bowman for Westchester Magazine

Behind the Scenes and some practical portrait session tips

This photoshoot for Westchester Magazine about Black Leaders right before Christmas, with congressman Dr. Jamaal Bowman, was one of the last portrait photoshoots of 2020 for me. He represents my New York district in Washington. I photographed him at my studio in Port Chester, NY.

His team gave me 45 minutes to photograph him, and the magazine's creative director asked me to do one set-up with a white background to match a supplied photograph of another congressman. I have an ambivalent relationship with white backgrounds. I love them, and I hate them at the same time. Some of my favorite photographers, like Platon, make a living with this type of portrait photography. White background images are easy to recycle, easy to use in layouts, and help reduce the photograph to the subject's expression. And at the same time that's a challenge. As a photographer, you have to bring your A-game to a white background photoshoot to get a usable emotion out of your subject. Otherwise, the results will look like DMV driver's license pictures. I usually research my photo subjects to see how I can build rapport best on set and generate some assignment-specific portrait ideas.

I love it when people use their hands when they talk. I think it helps to create more engaging portraits. Usually, I put the camera on a tripod, pick a researched conversation topic, use a remote shutter release, and take pictures during our discussion. It doesn't work with everybody, but it worked in this case. Then, I walk behind the camera from right to left. The subject's eyes and head will follow me, and I automatically get different portrait angles without having to pose my subject through verbal cues. And if nothing works, I spew some nonsense to see what kind of visual reaction I can get out of the person in front of the camera. It's a dance.

We talked a lot about education and my German background. Congressman Bowman was very passionate about education, and that made my job pretty easy.

At the end of our session, I decided to add another few shots with my handpainted grey backdrop, which became the opening spread for the story.

I wish him all the best in Washington, DC.