AAMC Reporter: July 2009

The Camera Never Lies

Dr. Renato Lenzi sets up the camera for an unusual self-portrait (inset).

Leaving for work in the morning, many people notice the same, standard things: Is it warm outside or cold? Clear, or cloudy? But if you also find yourself estimating the correct exposure given lighting conditions, you might be infected with the photography bug.

Renato Lenzi, M.D., a clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center who specializes in the treatment of patients with metastatic cancer of unknown origin, considers himself infected.

While recuperating from an illness a few years back, Lenzi decided he needed a slightly more relaxing hobby to augment his usual pastimes of cycling and rollerblading. He took a photography class and was instantly hooked.

"I'm not interested in how things look," Lenzi says. "I'm interested in how you can make something look. There is endless potential there."

Lenzi, who takes self-described "whimsical" photos of a variety of subjects including people, has even won some online contests and after "a lot of rejections and some acceptances" has seen his work displayed in a few Houston-area galleries.

There are, however, some downsides to the medium, Lenzi says, as evidenced by a recent, and rather thorough, photography experiment that perhaps only a scientist could love.

"My wife Janis is very understanding and an excellent photographer herself, but sometimes my lighting experiments test her patience," Lenzi says. "To check my radio triggers' range one night I placed flashes in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and upstairs bedroom, and then I slowly walked down the street firing them with a handheld transmitter and checking that the corresponding room windows would all glow as expected. By the time the testing was over, Janis was about to leave the house because of the blinding light jolts. She was not a happy camper."

—By Scott Harris