In case you didn’t know, I like to take pictures of mountains, water, bridges, and, more recently, people. I found myself connected to PhotoClub PDX earlier this year. Angela, the club founder, has some fantastic ideas about how to make better pictures. One idea, a long-term personal project.

As I thought about what I wanted to accomplish for a personal project, I considered landscapes, travel, theme, etc. I researched a few project threads. Most were very personal and a few were tear inducing. Overall, the personal projects were all about pushing your limits.

The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer.

For my personal photography project I wanted to try something new (to me). My final idea was a 25/100 Project. Twenty-Five People, One-Hundred Portraits. I haven’t photographed a lot of people and there is something about a portrait (it’s mostly the eyes) and people that is interesting.

So that’s what I’ve been working on. So far, with the help of friends and strangers, we have completed three of twenty-five sessions. I have three more people booked (6 of 25) and if you would like to be part of the project, check out my project page and complete the session form: https://michaelmontez.com/25-100-project/

As always, thank you for your support. Here are the first twelve (12/100) images from the first three (3/25) volunteers.