Prolixus Luminis

Aspiring photographer Andrew Oldershaw takes a break from his day job to have some fun with the camera and share his favorite photo of the week with Advocate.com. Check out last week's photo here.

I always try, in my portrait work, to capture a moment or a feeling or an expression that communicates more than just the contours of a face or shape of a physical gesture. In a new portrait series project that I’m calling “A Thousand Words,” I thought I’d try something even more overt – to incorporate quotes and phrases into the photography and communicate something a little more powerful than a gaze or a pose can suggest about someone. I spend a few minutes interviewing my subject before the shoot, asking really personal questions about dreams and joys, and fears and failures. Then I chose some favorite images from the shoot and paired them with some favorite words from our conversation. The result is this new series, and today’s image is one of my first favorites from this project. He was a very easy model to shoot, and something about this particular image paired with this particular quote from him makes for what I think is a pretty electric and thoughtful visual moment.