All About U: Photographer, Duston Todd.

He walked into the hospital room as a 16 year old boy, not knowing what was about to hit him. There on the bed lay a soulless, lifeless body. Death. As he approached the bedside, he was impressed to say his farewells. He reached out his hand, touched the cold, stiff arm, and was slammed with a stark and powerful emotion that truly affected the rest of his life.  Little did he know that all of these feelings would be brought to the surface yet again with the fine talent and expression of his artistic nature and photography. This is Duston Todd.

When I first met Duston, I didn’t realize that I was standing and chatting with an artist.  He was kind, humorous, and quietly witty.  It wasn’t until I sat at my personal computer and studied his work that I fully grasped his talent. His style is unique, his post processing was exceptional, and his composition throughout each frame blew me away. His emotion that he brings out of his subjects is real and the geometric lines he uses are textbook artistic. But what seriously rocked my world about his work was a crucial part of Duston’s brand.  Not only does he have the innate ability to brilliantly compose a concept, Duston shoots 100% film.

It’s called a Hasselblad 501CM.  No, I’m not talking about Swedish sausages, it’s the name of his camera.  Many photographers feel that a Nikon or Canon are the only choices for photography and its professionalism.  Well think again.  As I spoke with Duston, he opened my mind to a whole new dimension.  He explained to me that many self-proclaimed photographers are unable to  see outside the box of Nikon or Canon.  Digital cameras have created a lazy monster in all of us.  We shoot, check out the histogram, view our large screen and color cast to make sure we are shooting what we envision.  Unfortunately, some photographers have lost the technical research of the camera because photoshop is covering our mistakes.

“The same cameras, the same lenses, the same photoshop. Pretty soon we all become the same type of fish swimming in a ‘big sea of mediocrity’”.

Ouch, Duston.  The truth hurts.

But this story is no longer just a platform for my own personal agenda.  Even though my overall goal was to share Duston’s uniqueness and to help encourage photographers to step out of the “mediocrity”, this man and his story ended up impacting me personally in the most unexpected and powerful way.    This is a story of a man that has experienced hardships, and loss and pain at such a young age.  This is a story of an artist that isn’t afraid to step out of the box.  This is a story of a man that utilized his art talent as a tool;  a man that used his camera as a way to forget the world and express how he really feels.  Photography was, and still is, his therapy.

Growing up, Duston’s parents supported his passion, even back in kindergarten.  Some children wanted to be astronauts and some dreamed of being doctors– he was the little artist.   During his younger years, he loved the paint brush.  It wasn’t until his teen years in high school  that he picked up his first Pentax camera, a gift from his parents for graduating, which soon found it’s way to the bottom depths of Lake Powell.

“During K-8, art and photography was more for fun, then my senior year, it was a way to express myself.  I called it ‘art therapy’….a way to give my emotions an outlet. I would use art to get out my emotion.  When I found out that the art was a way to express myself in high school, that’s when it started to get intense.”

That intensity, mixed with the full support from his wife led to the beginning of his career in film photography.

But Duston, why film?  Isn’t it harder to not be able to fully rely on photoshop?  Isn’t it a pain to deal with real negatives?  Don’t you worry about the cost of every click with film?

“People think that film is worlds above digital photography.  Film is actually simple, that’s the biggest reason why I shoot with film so I can connect with the subject rather than worrying about what my histogram says. ”

“I always shoot with a handheld meter and test-meter the shadows.  With digital photography, people rely on their camera which meters reflected light which doesn’t always give correct readings for a perfect end result.  When I use my handheld meter, I don’t have to worry about color balance, the contrast, the histogram….it’s all taken care of with the film.  I rely on film 100%.  The only reason it [film] has failed me is because I failed it.”

Hundreds of weddings, engagement shoots, families, and artistic projects later, he’s still connected to his passion.  But the events that have led up to this time in his career are fascinating and at this moment, Duston is about to unveil an exhibit that has affected him deeper than any other project he has completed.

Death Portraits.

As morbid as it sounds, let me help you understand a piece of his vulnerability that is absolutely essential.  Death Portraits is a concept that has haunted him ever since his collegiate education of photography.  One of his professors enlightened him about portraits that has stuck with him for years.

“We were challenged through thought and stimulus to discover for ourselves what constituted a well-composed portrait.  Was it about people and the life and connection of soul and spirit?  Or was it something entirely different?  I just couldn’t help but dive deeper into the concept.  But it was diving deeper that led me to this fascinating project.  In a 2 dimensional image, what if I removed the life and connection and soul from my subjects?”

Captivating.  My ears perked up higher. He continued to tell me how this project was difficult, unique and a challenge to his everyday photographic style.  But all in all, it was incredibly fun and rewarding.   Duston’s job was to let gravity take over.  It was his job to help his subjects relax each facial muscle to appear dead.  And it was his job to compose.

But what he told me in the following lines suddenly, in my mind, made a strong man vulnerable, and frankly, it made a creative photography exhibit concept into a personal masterpiece.

“To revisit the shell of someone rather than the soul of someone in the Death Portraits concept really hit home for me.  In every composed frame, I couldn’t help but think back to the moment I was 16 years old visiting the hospital.”

As a sensitive youth, Duston’s whole world was altered.

Duston lost his mother.

“I went up and touched my mom and felt a cold, stiff, body.  It gave me such a stark witness that there is a spirit in the body and that this body is just a shell.  There have been so many coincidences throughout this project.  Some that others will never understand and some so very simple.  For example:  it’s been exactly 15 years since my mom had passed.  Coincidentally, there are 15 total Death Portraits on display; a death portrait for every year my mom had passed.    The public might not see what I see, and they will probably never know how this project has affected me personally.”

Duston, I beg to differ.  I believe that your talent needs to be shared.  I believe that your story needs to be read.  And I believe that your inspiration for this project was no small coincidence.  The 15 pictures that will be on display are now more than just portraits.   Behind each one of them, is a young boy who vulnerably needs to share his story.  Behind each blown-up canvas is a fragment of inner emotion known as “art therapy”.  And behind each print, is a true artist…and a new friend of mine.

It’a All About U, Duston Todd.

DEATH PORTRAITS EXHIBIT

June 18th.
Duston Todd Studio.
400 s. 15 e. slc, ut.
6-11pm.
Mark your calendars.

Here’s a sneak of Duston’s utter awesomeness.  With film.