These quick pictures are a great reminder of the places we’ve been and the people we shared that time with. However, as Cisco portrait photographer and owner of Clement Portraits, Tyler Clement can attest that capturing a personality takes much more than touching a button.
“Each person is more than what they are on the outside or more than what you see every day.” Said Clement.
In his upcoming exhibit titled “This is Me,” Clement and his staff aim to express the unique qualities that make each person who they are. Clement works with multiple women to discern how they see themselves and translate that into a series of photos. The process from start to finish, he says, can be pretty intensive, though the results speak for themselves.
“We’ve definitely had some tears in the studio. Some people just don’t believe that they’re photogenic, and then once they go through this process and see their photos, they’re actually sometimes seeing themselves like this for the first time.” Clement said.
Abilene Drama teacher Jana Beck was one participant who had a particularly transformative experience in the studio. Beck told KTAB/KRBC how she became aware of Clement’s work and eventually came to take part.
“I first saw the ‘This is Me’ project on a Facebook post that he had made, and I thought, ‘How cool for someone!’. And something stuck in my head that wouldn’t go away. I thought, ‘Am I a this is me lady?’ and I was like, no, absolutely not. That’s not something I want to do. I don’t feel great about myself right now.” Said Beck.
Beck explained that she felt lost at that time in her life. Her sons had just moved away, she wasn’t entirely satisfied with her appearance, and her sense of self was faltering, so the last place she wanted to be was staring down a camera lens.
But her curiosity had taken hold. Beck later decided to call Clement, thinking this would get the idea out of her mind. However, that call proved more productive than she had expected.
“When I talked to Tyler. I was telling him all my fears. All the reasons that I didn’t really want to capture this time in my life, which he then came back with the rebuttal of that’s exactly why you’re the perfect candidate for this. And I hung up feeling hopeful about something when I had been feeling kind of drab before I called him. And so I thought. Who am I? I love colors.” Beck said.
In her discussions with Clement, Beck decided to theme her photo shoot around a birthday poem her husband Richard had written for her. In that poem, he describes Beck as a rainbow that spreads color and joy all around, Clement taking that framework and crafting photos that encapsulate the message.
“And everything that I thought maybe I needed to tamp it down to be right for a picture, and Tyler was like, ‘that’s not what we’re doing.’ I started like living inside of me being me, getting ready for it, which set me up for being like really excited about who I am.” Said Beck.
The final product is a series of portraits depicting Beck to others as the vibrant array of emotions her loved ones know her to be. Beck’s experience in Clement’s studio is just one peek inside the process, which he says can differ from person to person but always results in a unique and moving set of pictures.
The ‘This is Me’ Exhibit will be displayed at the Conrad Hilton Center in Cisco on Saturday, January 11, beginning at 5 p.m. Admission is free to the public.
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