Make them “Right”

“I want to make people look beautiful in the photographs. I would never take a picture of somebody to show how ugly or stupid they are, or how ‘wrong’ they are. I want to make them right and beautiful.”

- Thorsten Overgaard

This sentiment reminds me of the spirit behind learning to say “Yes - And” in improv comedy, which some organizational leadership training has adopted as a way to foster collaboration. Yes-And is about finding a way to see the other person as being at least partly “right” when collaborating. When we do this, creativity flourishes, and even contentious situations can be resolved with relationships intact.

Some of my attempts at making my photographic subjects right and beautiful: