Eye to Eye: How to Portray the Real You

Yesterday at Parler Paris Après Midi, the coffee gathering we’ve hosted monthly since 2002 (!!), portrait photographer Susanne Kischnick and her staff, make-up artist Emelie Rozier of Avant Appret and stylist Michelle Pozon of The Closet Guru, surprised us all. We were expecting to learn how to take a great portrait photo of ourselves, but instead we learned how to HAVE a great portrait photo taken of ourselves. There is a difference!

In a coordinated effort, the three image specialists made serious points about how to approach the camera so that the lens of the camera sees deeply into ones’s soul so as to fully express who you are from the inside-out, rather than the outside-in. The idea is that great make-up, hair and dress make you more confident about your looks and with positive energy, one can relax enough in front of the camera to be photographed for who one really is.

There is no doubt that the photographer can make or break the kind of rapport that takes place between the camera and the subject, but these three professionals claim that the subject plays just as big a role if not more than the photographer to capture the true essence and result in a great portrait.

Don’t underestimate the power of the building your image and brand in the media! Portraits, or what’s known as “headshots,” are used today in a variety of ways to make an important impression. Photos used in social media sites such as Facebook and Linkedin are crucial to success for networking and getting jobs. If you’re wanting more dates from your matchmaking sites, then be sure the photo is what will determine your success rate.

All this was so fitting with what’s taking place right this moment down in Cannes with the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival opening today and running through May 24. The camera’s are poised to capture the celebrities and the events at their best, and the celebrities are poised in their finest to have their best captured. The celebrities all began their careers with headshots — the standard for any talent agency.

I’ve made a point of using a different photo of myself at the bottom of every issue of Parler Paris Nouvellettre® as well as in our other publications (Parler Nice Nouvellettre® and French Property Insider), some taken by professionals and others taken by friends and sometimes even “selfies” (remember when we called them “self-portraits?”), creating a lot of different images or ‘facets’ of the same person. Not all are so flattering, but no doubt, the best are those taken by a professional photographer who knows how to get the most out of his/her subject.

My daughter, Erica Simone, who has also made part of her career taking portraits and headshots, usually agrees to take a few of myself I can use in the newsletter. She is also well-known for her own selfies — although a bit unusual (!), her “Nue York Portraits” taken of herself nude in public places in New York — explained by the project’s slogan “Nothing Fits Like You”? (#thepowerofnaked) as “a campaign about being comfortable with who you are as a person, with your body, your mind and your role in society.”

This is the message Susanne, Emelie and Michelle drove home yesterday — be comfortable with who are as a person, with your body, your face, your mind and your role…and it will shine through to the camera!

Note, for those who want to follow the Film Festival, France24.com has a great special report!

And for those who wish to read more and see the photos from yesterday, visit Parler Paris Après Midi.

A la prochaine,

Adrian Leeds
The Adrian Leeds Group

(by Erica Simone)

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P.S. Plan your getaway for a few days in the sunny south of France! Rent Le Matisse in the heart of Nice at a 10% discount when you book NOW for your stay through the high season — now through September 15th! For more information visit Parler Nice Apartments Le Matisse or email [email protected]