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Michael Totten

BFA in Photography and Imaging — Photography and Imaging
Course:
Senior Projects 2 — Fine Art
Faculty:
Amir Nikravan
Term:
2025 Fall

CHARACTER NOTES

This series began as an open-ended experiment in meeting strangers — first through Craigslist, and later through more intentional casting. What started as brief encounters grew into a search for presence: people whose faces carried a story, even if the story remained untold. These portraits mark the early stages of a larger project, a gathering of characters who will eventually inhabit more complex, narrative-driven scenes. For now, they stand alone — suspended between the real and the imagined, each one hinting at a world just outside the frame.

Process:

The portraits were made on a stage using controlled strobe lighting, working with black-and-white negative film on 6×7 format. Each session began the moment the sitter arrived — often strangers or actors I was meeting for the first time. The process was about seeing what emerged in that initial encounter: whether a natural rapport formed, whether something genuine or unexpected surfaced once the camera was between us. It became a way of discovering who carried a presence that felt like the beginning of a character.

Learning Outcomes:

This project strengthened my ability to cast intuitively, recognizing which individuals carry a presence that translates on camera. I refined how I approach working with new subjects and how that interaction shapes the tone of a portrait. The process also clarified how individual sessions can serve as early studies for larger narrative work, helping me understand how to direct and collaborate with subjects in a way that feels grounded and authentic.

Tags:
Photography