Christine Ness

So May must be photographers’ month for me. Last week I featured a great outdoor photographer (www.billjagdephotography.com), Bill Jagde. Bill’s passion for our National Parks resonated with a lot of my readers, especially those in my age bracket who grew up here in Monroe.

Today, I am compelled to write about another great photographer, Christine Ness. Where Bill’s specialty is all about outside, I would have to say that Christine’s is all about inside. Whether she’s shooting someone in Central Park for their website, snapping “fly-on-the-wall” shots of your kids for the day, or grabbing that one perfect picture of a flower, Christine just seems to unlock the soul of her subject.

Chris has an ability to brilliantly capture the essence of her subject’s spirit; to wait, patiently, for that exact moment when angle and shadow meet the light in someone’s eye or the glint in their smile. You can almost feel the soft innocence of a baby’s cheek or the protective, benevolent branches of a tree reaching out to you.

Christine’s patience is exactly the magic that happened when we met to do my photo in Central Park. To begin with, I was pretty uptight about having anyone take my picture. I had gotten more than enough unsolicited feedback about the one I had been using (big glasses, permed hair – I guess it was a little outdated). But I definitely did NOT want something that looked like I had walked into the mall or megamart – or worse, some corporate looking facade – that part of my life is over.

Chris chatted away as we began, patiently taking fifteen or twenty shots on a beautiful bench, distracting me with laughter from the lines on my face and the fullness of my cheeks. When sitting became unbearable, fueled by fits of hilarity because we could both remember the theme to, “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” I got up and walked behind a beautiful braided tree that reached into the trellis above us. As I peeked around from behind that tree, laughing, Chris snapped the picture. I didn’t even realize she had the camera in her hand.

That picture speaks volumes to me. It says things that I hadn’t even realized were true. It says that woman is joyous and free-spirited, that she loves her life. In fact, I don’t see one line on her face. THAT is what Christine does. She translates deeper truths and precious moments.

Chris has many specialties: pregnant moms, kids being kids, natural setting headshots and portraits, she even recognizes that the family pet deserves a GREAT picture on the mantel. She has many great, affordable packages – you can hire her to go on vacation with your family – or simply meet her in the park for an hour of impromptu, fly-on-the-wall portraits of your kids. You can also pick up a package of custom, hand-made pictures mounted onto cards to send to your dad in Alaska or use them throughout the year for special occasions. (A package of ten cards is a great buy at $50 – can you say shower gift?)

Chris stressed to me, over and over, during our interview that her work is precious to her. Her passion to serve others through her gift is honestly hard to miss. She started taking pictures when she was just eleven or twelve years old with a little Kodak 110 camera and graduated to a Poloroid One Step, shared by her entire family. Years later, she would invest in a great 35-millimeter and begin to take classes at the International Center of Photography in New York, learning dark room and lighting techniques and putting together photo essays for assignments like “Chaos.”

I asked Chris what Chaos looked like to her, and she got lost in thought, “There was a crowd bursting with people outside FAO Schwartz… there is a shot of an overturned trashcan with a store-front gate covered in grafitti behind it… another was a traffic jam on 5th Avenue.” I found myself wishing to flip through those photos that she took so long ago. To Christine (and I suspect to most of us), they read like poetry.

On her website http://www.christineness.com/, you can spot some of the intimacy and vulnerability Chris brings to her work; she is the silent witness to the world around her, bringing something rare to those she works with, something that most of us simply do not have, an objective view into the day-to-day beauty that is our lives.


**************************************************************************
You've Been Framed!

Unique, Designer Cards and Prints
by Professional Photographer Christine Ness

Preview and Purchase Christine's Exclusive Line of Designer Cards that Capture the Beauty of Every Day Life.With her camera's eye, Christine frames precious and amazing images of life as it happens around us -- she captures those moments that we may be too distracted by life's hurry and worry to even notice.

Christine's Designer Photo Cards are a unique way to say to your closest friend, mom or wife that her day-to-day beauty does not escape you. That like Christine's pictures, you see the treasure she is and that each moment you have together is rare and alive in your heart.Visit Christine's website at www.christineness.com.

Christine Ness, Professional Photographer
Specializing in Natural Setting Portraits
917-715-2015

**************************************************************************