The Magician's Perspective - Behind the Scenes with Christian Heeb

 

I am still scrubbing mud out from beneath my nails from this weekend. Who knew part of the job description for Photographer’s Model would include barefoot hiking -scaling the slippery ledge to climb up to the next waterfall, climbing roots and mudslide forest walls to the higher pools above?  But hey, it’s not all studio work with controllable lighting and backdrops here in Maui. Jungle photography presents some immense challenges, many of them muddy.

 

I had been invited by world renowned photographer Christian Heeb and his lovely wife and assistant Regula months ago to participate in photos for an upcoming Hawaii travel guidebook.
Of course, as a photographer, I was thrilled, and asked a local girl to join us, whom we immediately referred to as “The Hawaiian Beauty” for obvious reasons. In my photos, she is a pretty Hawaiian girl. In Christian's photos, she embodies the essence of why for centuries, sailors didn't want to leave the islands. That is the work of a master.



Christian is a unique person. When we met for the first time at the Banyan tree in Lahaina, I texted the Hawaiian Beauty descriptions so she would know how to find us: “Look for the thin man wearing a little hat with a huge lens or two.” It didn’t take her long to find us, but it did take her several hours to get used to his character. Christian is a Swiss German. In my travels, I have crossed paths with many and it took me ages to understand them. Many Swiss Germans I have met possess a similar dry humor and quick wit. I took everything they said seriously for far too long and missed out on many good giggles this way. (Crystal Coyle, you know the type) In short, the man is hilarious, but says it all with a deceivingly straight face. This made for a very entertaining weekend.

 

It's amazing to watch Christian work. He is creating in the moment, using wind, using light patches, using barking dogs - whatever variables are present to accent the most interesting part of the scene. He jumps fences, stands on tree trunks, lays on his belly to get the right angle.

 

Regula is there beside him, a kind and gentle presence, giving valuable second opinions.  She can see what he is trying to capture and helps guide the light to accent his subject. Regula is the magician's assistant, a rare one who can see the world the way he does and reflect its magic back to the rest of us in his photos.

Setting up the scene, reflecting the light...to get this shot below:

 

 

 

As we rinsed off mud from our hike, he turned this scene....

 

...into this one.

 

 

We traveled all around Maui, chasing the light. Running down paths to catch the sunset, dodging tourists on the beach for a clear shot, tromping through high grass to ancient stands of eucalyptus trees. This grand adventure gave me a good idea what it would have been like if I had chosen this profession. As rewarding as it is being able to present him with my favorite trees, cliffs, waves and bays and critters, it is invigorating and fatiguing at the same time.  And if he asked, I'd be thrilled to do it all again tomorrow.

At one point, along the road to Hana, as we were yet again chasing the light, Christian jumped in the car and handed me his camera in the back seat. It was big and heavy and made me hold my breath in excitement as I set it in my lap. See, as other budding photographers out there may be able to relate, I am one of those girls with lens envy. I see a massive, black, protruding, serious, foot-long lens and it gives me yearnings. I want one too. Looking at Christian's camera, I felt as though the magician had just passed me his wand and said casually, “here, hold this.“ as though he didn’t realize the power it holds.

And then I came to the understanding that just having a camera and a lens like this wouldn’t mean I could take awesome photographs. The magic in Christian’s photos isn’t hiding in his camera, it isn’t in the moment, it’s in him. In how he sees the world, how he gathers the light, the angles he chooses. Perhaps the difference between average people and magicians is that magicians see the magic around us and show it to others. The magic is not a spell, it's something that is always all around us, swirling with possibility if we only had the eyes to see it. In my humble opinion, that’s what a brilliant artist does: they take something ordinary and turn it into something spectacular using what tools they have externally, what the world presents them in the given moment, but most importantly, what lies within them. For example, it is not the writer’s pen that makes the story amazing. An artist could hand me their paint brush, but that doesn’t mean I could recreate a painting like theirs that stirs me within, lifts me up, makes me catch my breath. That remarkable magic comes from within the artist and is reflected in their story, their artwork, or in this case, their photographs. For me, this week has been time spent with a true master, and the magician’s assistant, taking them to places I think are special and watching them create something extraordinary. CH, thank you, it has been an honor.