Damn, I wish I was in HK, I would love to have some decent portrait shots. I am "difficult" to photograph, which is why I don't have a portrait for my AnD profile. :-) Snapshots always come out looking like a driver's license photo. (Actually, sometimes I look better on my driver's license than I do in photos taken by family and friends.) I would have been the perfect model--because it would have required your students to figure out the best way to photograph me. Point and shoot just won't do.

hi elle and marie, it's an interesting comment from both of you. in portraiture, i am not necessarily interested in seeking an external beauty as dictated by the media, fashion and cosmetic companies. for anyone that has seen my work where I focus in on the face, the essence is in the person, which is usually told in the eyes and facial muscles. 'beauty' is all around us, in all forms, shapes and sizes. we all are attracted to different elements; the 'beauty' i am looking for is in the person who accepts him or herself for who he/she is. You have to find that IN your SELF to know that, and once that comes through, we see Beauty for what it truly should be -- not dictated by the masses, or your neighbor, but by YOU. The class I teach is done primarily through critique and demonstration. We shoot and we look at the images with a critical eye, and I try to train one to discern the differences between a 'posed' shot, and one that can truly be called a portrait. We are all perfect creatures, individual persons that can not be duplicated. Even if you had an identical twin standing next to you, they would be still different, as they would occupy a different space. Uniqueness and beauty is all around us; we just forget that it's there.

Norm, it is tough being a woman today. We are constantly bombarded by images of women in the media that are truly more perfect than nature could ever make them. (Thank you Photoshop!) The girls in the magazines are younger and younger all the time. Meanwhile, time marches on and the rest of us are just getting older and older. As women, much of our worth and acceptability in the eyes of society is tied to our youthful appearance. I just turned 50. I have no illusions about being young. But, given the emphasis on youth and beauty in our culture (superficial, I know, but the reality nonetheless), it is hard to accept my increasing invisibility in the eyes of the world. As a man, you are somewhat insulated from this. A man in his 50s is "distinguished", especially if he looks like he is successful. A woman in her 50s is just middle-aged and of no interest (unless she happens to be your own mother). So, for us women, appearance, as much as we wish it wasn't true, counts for a great deal. Although I feel I have so much more to offer people than I did in my 20s because of a life richly lived, if no one wants to talk to me because of my age and appearance, what does it matter?