"I had planned to spend my "sitting" time writing future menus in my head, checking my diary or making "to do" lists during the rest periods, but I soon realised that I was wishing to work as hard, and as intensely, as he was. This was a partnership: one giving and the other taking, but that taking was also giving – giving his all, and in return for the sitter's giving, a most special, unique and privileged experience was received."

(...read the full article here)

I'm certainly no Lucian Freud but I've always been fascinated with the relationship between the artist and their subject. While the artists makes the work of art, the subject is the work of art - without them, there is nothing.

I think this idea of giving and taking is transferable to all art forms, including photography. I knew a girl, a model, who was often exasperated with photographers who would not engage with her on any level - they didn't give their all and they didn't take all they could. They would go as far as turning their backs on her while they were not shooting. They're like trained monkeys with absolute no idea of what is in front of them, no idea of what secrets lie just under the surface, no idea of what is being given to them. Having seen their work, they were, without exception, utterly shit - technically competent but boring and pointless.

How much a model is willing to give is meaningless if the artist is too blind to see it and too inept to take it. I think the biggest part of a photographer's job is getting their subject to give all of themselves - to reveal themselves.