Amy Stein (VCU Visiting Artist)

I attended Amy Stein's lecture before spring break. I concluded that her visit was one of top favorites I saw at VCU. In my opinion, she had the talent as well as the personality to make a great presenter and self-promoter in general. (I am just beginning to find these are both equally important qualities in becoming a professional artist--for me the very early stages of course.) I felt it very easy to relate to Stein because I always felt a little behind, only starting photography classes in Senior year of high school. It relieved me to hear her story of starting at age 30 or so as a second career. I found this a very admirable endeavor considering most people find it daunting to even change their majors in college!
Stein's work as well as her explanations were immensely intriguing to me, especially her Stranded series. At first exposure, I found the subject vaguely interesting, but random. Upon hearing her explanation and discussion about this series, however, I saw something different and huge, even epic about the series. I realized this was a series of work done by a talented artist which ended up showing something so much more than photographic talent. This, as it turned out in my brain, was a sociological endeavor of such vast importance to me as a photographer, it changed the way I view myself in this role.
The obvious implications of this theory is that people are normally viewed as dangerous and it would be a fatal move to stop and help them broken down on the side of the road. We get this assumption from cheesy horror movies. Stein's discovery of the subject's fear of her was the unavoidable irony of the message. However, her lecture showed me more than this role reversal. She spoke of more than fear, more than mistrust of the stranger, but of people's initially closed-off natures and the chance encounters which test these natural behaviors. Stein said for herself, this project gave her the "chance for very brief, intense encounters" with humans. Seeing it from the opposite perspective, her project allowed for the subjects to be enlightened or not enlightened with the same chance encounter. (Most may not have thought a half hour past it.) In general however, it was a chance to encounter human interaction much different from the normal cashier at MacDonald's transaction.
Lastly, I would like to say this presentation/revelation changed the way I think about myself as a photographer. Fear of the camera's lens has been around since its beginnings. However, I would never have imagined myself as a feared or mistrusted individual because of my role as a photographer. This gives me more of a sense of responsibility to my subject, whether a friend, model or stranger.