At some point every photographer get asked: what’s your favourite photo you ever taken?
That’s a very difficult question to answer.
The Question
What is your favourite photo you ever taken?
I heard people answer that with “the next one”. I totally understand that answer and tried to think that way for a while, but it didn’t do it for me.
Of course we have favourites we have taken. But, I guess, most of the time, it’s not just one…
Why is it so difficult to answer?
There are so many things we can point out that make a photograph amazing, but there’s also always ourselves, as the photographers. We were there, and some things that make that photo a “favourite” might not even be in frame.
Our style
Even our style changes. Some things remain the same, but others change.
My favourite photos are always in Black and White, obviously, and although I do shoot in colour more than most people think, I love Black and White.
Another obvious thing in my photos is the subject: they’re usually women. Not to say I don’t photograph men, but they’re usually women.
Film
A while ago, I started shooting film, to change my relationship with photography a bit – or a lot. Shooting film will slow us down and make us think more about the photo we’re about to take.
Also with film, I feel like I get more emotions in my photos. Perhaps for the fact that the photos are softer, grainer, moodier – and again, we take our time to take the shot.
If you shoot film, you probably know what I mean.
So it’s also not strange that my favourite photos would have been taken on film.
The other thing with my film photography is that the photos that I’m still to take will already be special. I usually take film photos of people who are important to me. Even though some of these photos ARE proper photoshoots, there has to be something special about that shoot, and I also photograph my friends and family on film.
The answer
So ultimately, my favourite photo I’ve ever taken, is a Black and White film shot that was not part of a photoshoot, but everything fell into place, and the photo meant a lot at the time it was taken, and even though the circumstances of what made me love the photo have changed completely, I still think it’s my best photo.
I hope you can see all the elements that make this photos a favourite.
