CHAPTER9 / MILLICENTHARVEY’SVISIONQUESTI started shooting with a Holga and directed myself to
shoot different subjects than what I was photographing
for clients. I started shooting kids, animals, landscapes.
I wanted to document everything I saw.As Millicent continued to shoot and present her new work
to the critique group, she realized that she was beginning to
show up more in her new images.
“My pictures had more emotional content,” she notes. “For
instance, my images of kids are a great example of how I was
approaching subjects in a new way. Some shots felt warm yet
others were very disturbing. But they were all about emotion
and expression. I was recording what I saw.”
It was here that more questions began to pop up for her.
“I began to wonder,” she says, “was what I was seeing what the
subject truly felt? Was I recording what was actually happening or
just my interpretation of what existed? In the end I realized that I
was recording my response to the person, the event, the moment,
and I was excited because I knew that in shooting from a position
of personal response, I was trusting in my spirit, not in a Polaroid.”
As Millicent continued to shoot and participate in the
critique group, Nubar began to tell her that “it was time.”
Millicent wondered what he was referring to, and then she got
it. It was time for her to create a solid body of work based on
her new way of seeing.
“I decided to create a book in March 2003, and as soon as
I realized that I was committed to the project, I became stuck.
How do I get going? How much new work do I need to create?
What should it look like? My mind was filled with questions.”
Nubar once again was a key collaborator for Millicent. “Nubar
and I began by laying out existing images, and right away
I started seeing relationships between photographs. That was
all I needed,” she says.
Millicent continued to work on the inside as she began to
make decisions about the book’s format and use. “I was not
going to create a traditional portfolio for the commercial
market. I wanted this body of work to be a limited edition, a
bound book that would be sold to people who appreciated my
point of view. This was a personal project and the finished result
needed to be treated as such.”Chapter 09.qxd 6/25/07 7:17 AM Page 55