If any of my readers should ever tire of the flavorless standard family portrait at your neighborhood Walmart, and you wish for a photographer who has an intuitive talent for capturing the unique essence of your family members I suggest you google Brittany Ostrov Photography.
I have known this lady since she was but a young girl. When she was about sixteen I was honored to see a portfolio of her work. It absolutely blew me away. I stared in awe at how she was able to capture facial expressions that afforded a peek into the soul of those being photographed. I gazed for long minutes into the eyes of a young girl; those eyes telling me so clearly the woman she would someday be. At that time she was experimenting with the human subject as well as unique takes on landscapes which shone with a luminosity rarely seen by photographers with perhaps less talent, and certainly lacking the intuitive touch that makes a photograph unique to the special subject.
Brittany Ostrov is now a professional photographer whose body of work over the last few years is indeed impressive. I won't go into all the professional associations and commercial agencies who now use her work in print, only to say that she can do a commercial food presentation so beautifully that one finds himself with salivary glands in full bloom or tongue parched and yearning for that local beer, droplets of condensation sliding down the bottle neck.
No, what amazes me about Brittany's work is her ability to present a unique human image at a time and place that may never come again. For instance, anyone can take a picture of a newborn babe. But, I saw one of Brittany's pic of a newborn that left me wondering how she did it! The babe, only moments old, is staring outward into a world of discovery. Brittany chooses to illustrate this human condition by focusing on the wrinkle of forehead and a facial expression of intense curiosity as to what this new world she has entered is all about.
In another newborn session, another babe has reached out with tiny hand to incircle the loving small finger of the one who has given her precious life. It captures the physical bonding of two souls and says "We in some sense, shall always be 'one'".
The photo above is of my granddaughter; in the not uncommon ritual of a bubble bath, the little girl turns to the spontaneous click of camera to say "what do you think you're doing!". Or perhaps, with a bit of "queenliness", get ready to proclaim "must I be bothered even in the bath?". Perhaps Brittany has even nabbed a variation of that subtle "junior Mona Lisa" smile, caught somewhere between humor and irritation.
I urge you to visit Brittany's work at Brittany Ostrov Photography. She's on the net, on Facebook and you will find an impressive portfolio of her work there. You will marvel at how she's able to show in image, the love of two newlyweds on a wedding shoot, the beauty of a landscape, or the interlacing of love captured from a family shoot. Britanny lives and works on the East Coast but travels all over to those who solicit her work.
Oh hell! Perhaps I sing her praises just as an excuse to show off my beautiful granddaughters!
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