DIARY OF A SHOOT -by Jay Jorgensen

I very rarely write or talk about my photographs. I don't really like to share what I was thinking when I made an image because I feel it inhibits people from finding their own meaning in it. I don't mean to sound Garboesque and say that I never will talk about the meaning behind a photograph, but I'd much rather hear how a viewer interprets a picture and whether they find it to be successful on its own merits.

However, when I was trying to come up with ideas to make this website fun for people, I thought that they might enjoy going behind the scenes of a shoot and getting a taste of what goes into creating a photographic image. One of my more interesting shoots recently was with a young actor named Sean Tataryn. Sean has been acting for quite some time and most recently appeared as one of the leads in the independent film "Leather Jacket Love Story." If you haven't seen it yet—try to. It's a very nice film about a young, uptight poet (Sean) who falls in love with a hunky, leather jacket-clad carpenter (Christopher Bradley). It is currently available on video.

I met Sean at a party and am usually very shy about asking people to sit for me. I guess I figure people will think it's just some sort of pick-up line, and consequently have probably missed many opportunities to photograph people I would have liked to. But I knew I would regret it later if I didn't give Sean my card and ask if I could photograph him. So I just decided to get over myself and do it. He was incredibly receptive and we talked later in the week about setting up a shoot. We set up a date a few months away because Sean was going back home to Texas for awhile.