My name is Chris Mack, and this project is my journey to becoming the best portrait photographer I can be. I’m an amateur photographer of almost 25 years and my goal is to take 100 portraits, each in exchange for a personal story from the Storyteller. With every portrait, I aim to improve by at least 1%, hoping that by the time I reach the last one, I will have mastered the craft.

This idea was inspired by my son, Noah, who passed away in May of 2003—just 29 days before his 20th birthday. Noah was a brilliant writer, but he also loved to sing. After he passed, we learned from a close friend—an opera singer—that he had been sending her videos of himself singing songs by his favorite artists, like Norah Jones and Adele. His goal was simple: to get at least 1% better with each song. That mindset stuck with me, and now, it guides my approach to this project.

I ask for a story from each Storyteller because storytelling has been part of my life since I was kid. And as luck would have it I would work in the business of storytelling for nearly 30 years— as a network executive, one-hour drama writer, studio executive, producer, and most recently, as a content executive and expat for Netflix International based out of Amsterdam. In working with creatives and being creative myself, I’ve learned that intention is everything. Creativity thrives when it has purpose, and my purpose here is twofold: to grow as a photographer and to explore pairing a personal story with the portrait to create an emotional connection for a casual observer to the storyteller.

I have no strict timeline on finishing— because I want to make space for creative freedom and discovery along the way. The Storytellers I photograph will be an unscientific mix of friends, family, work colleagues, and ideally a fair share of chance encounters and referrals of people I don’t know. Some I’ll choose because of their stories. Others because of their bone structure, age, or skin tone, allowing me to refine different lighting and editing techniques.  I’ll be documenting these learning experiences in the Musing hyperlinks for anyone who's curious about this part of the journey.

Everything I learned to get me started came from comprehensive tutorials found on YouTube. My biggest influences were Chris Knight for lighting, Joanna Kustra for color theory, and Martin Castein for photo editing. Each of them has that rare ability to explain complex ideas in uncomplicated ways. As for gear, I’m using a Hasselblad 100 2XD and a Profoto monolight system.

At this point, I don’t know where this project will ultimately lead. For now, it’s simply a creative outlet—one that allows me to learn, connect, and honor Noah’s philosophy of getting 1% better every day.