NO MORE QUESTIONS, PLEASE

The more I shoot, the more I realize photography isn’t the star of the show. Modeling is. Photographers like to believe we’re the magicians. We’re not.

I don’t have what it takes to step in front of the camera myself. I stay where I belong — behind it — quietly awestruck by the expression of creativity happening in front of me. Like a documentarian filming volcanoes, or a sports photographer on the sidelines shooting a poster.

And here’s the thing I’ve learned: there’s no single way a person is supposed to look. The industry loves templates because templates are easy to sell. But humans aren’t templates. Never have been. Modeling, like any craft, runs on the same fuel — a bit of natural wiring, some obsession, and a lot of reps.

Agency models shoot constantly, so they learn posing the way musicians learn scales. Muscle memory. Instinct. Click. Shift and freeze. Click. Repeat. Then there are the charismatic ones — the people who forget the camera entirely. They don’t pose so much as exist convincingly. That’s where the real magic leaks in.

The sweet spot is sincerity plus practice. Comfort plus effort. When someone finds that balance, something otherworldly happens that no lighting setup or lens choice can manufacture.

Which brings me to Eibhlin — pronounced Evelyn, though honestly the spelling already tells you she’s not here to follow templates.

Some people pose well.

Eibhlin doesn’t pose.

She belongs on camera.