It’s been said the two biggest fears people have are of death and public speaking. There’s a third one high on the list for many: having your picture taken! Professional photographer Carl Studna addresses this fear and much more in his engaging new book “Click! Choosing Love One Frame at a Time”
“I do hate getting my picture taken. It’s so damned exhausting,” writes singer Kenny Loggins in one chapter. “Click” contains short stories from the famous and not so famous expressing similar feelings about appearing in front of a camera. “I have always HATED having my picture taken,” says musician Karen Drucker in another chapter. I liked reading these stories as they gave me comfort to know my own hesitancy of being photographed is a fear shared by many others.
The true value of “Click”, though, is in Studna’s wise words on why we feel uncomfortable being photographed. He relates how our feelings about getting our pictures taken are reflections of how we show up in life. “What would it be like to be in front of a camera and fully embody the present moment?” Studna writes. “Can you imagine how powerful an experience that would be? Every picture would be a true reflection of your multidimensional, magnificent self!”
Ever since Eckhardt Tolle’s “A New Earth” was published there has been much written about “living in the present moment”. Studna delivers a similar teaching in an innovative and entertaining way. He relates different stories of people he has photographed, followed by his thoughts on human nature. “I continually witness a large percentage of folks who find it painful viewing pictures of themselves,” the author writes. “Their inner critic seems to be easily triggered along with all past conditioning related to self-image that needs to be healed.” I was so engrossed with Studna’s stories and observations that I read his entire book in two days!
“Click” also contains samples of Studna’s photographs. The hardback is printed on a glossy type of paper, different than most other books I’ve read, which makes these striking images come to life. I appreciated that Studna included pictures he had taken of different celebrities along with the stories of these encounters (with ex-Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison, for example). I wished “Click” had even more photos, as some chapters (like the stories of Kenny Loggins and Karen Drucker) were words only without pictures of the subjects to go along with them.
“I suspect the day I am truly at peace with the camera, I will be well on the road to self-realization, at ease with however I am seen, with or without a camera,” says Kenny Loggins in the first few pages of the book. “And perhaps, in this way, future photo sessions will become my signposts on my road to freedom,” he adds.
“Click” invoked similar feelings in me. To take why I am uncomfortable being photographed as a sign that I have more healing to do. To be gentle with my seeming imperfections. “We are all perfect and whole at our core, regardless of physical appearances,” Studna writes. “Click” reminded me of that fact, even though at times I have a hard time believing it.
You can get “Click!” from these book sellers:
This is another book review in my partnership with Hay House. I was not financially compensated for this post. I received the book from Hay House for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
