Although portraiture isn’t usually my primary focus, I had the opportunity to teach a course on black-and-white portrait photography—and it opened an unexpected creative door. One of my students, an engineering major who enrolled simply out of a love for photography, stepped in as our model. She hadn’t planned on being in front of the camera, but as the sessions went on, it was clear she enjoyed the experience just as much as learning the craft itself.
That class reminded me how powerful a single portrait can be—and how meaningful it is to capture someone discovering a new side of themselves.
