It is impossible to know when a series of pictures will come from a portrait session. A
series is a perfect example of hindsight operating in human affairs. We can
perceive its existence only by examining history.
In portraiture, I always finish the session feeling that I've missed it
somehow. When I examine the results, I'm excited to find even one really good
frame - a hit. Additional hits are more than can be expected, certainly more than
the superstitious would advise expecting. So when several good images result,
such as five in this case, there is cause for rejoicing. Superstition would
probably call for the sacrifice of small creatures, lest the phenomenon never
recur. I never expect it to recur; I've been surprised by series so rarely I can
hardly believe they really happen.
This series of five is called "Meg is Pregnant." Chance, the largest factor in
photography, intervened: neither Meg nor her mother planned to pose on this
occasion, and I didn't plan it either. We didn't even have daylight. We worked in
the evening, which means total darkness in December Toronto. They turned up at my
studio on their way to a party. Lucky me: I got the pictures and went to the
party, too!
Meg still insists she did not know she was pregnant at the time of this
session. Subsequent events proved she was, and I believe these pictures prove she
knew it on some level. Just another case of portraiture revealing more than we
know we know.
