The young scholar, Mayalan Village, Northern Guatemala |
Fourth, be invisible. This isn't a
contradiction; it simply means working without calling unnecessary attention to
yourself. In crowds I practice
invisiblity by avoiding direct eye contact.
That doesn't mean I avoid looking at people, but rather that I seem to
look through and beyond them. Locking eyes
with individuals can cause them to feel singled out or threatened -- not a good
thing in countries where political/cultural factors make it wise for most
citizens to keep a low profile.
When photographing people in this
way I sometimes take the camera away from my eye after making the picture and
continue to look toward but past the
subject. Very often he'll look around to
see who or what I was photographing.
Another kind of invisibility
occurs when you work in an open, straightforward, and businesslike way. People will watch you carefully for signs of
indecisiveness or fear. When you project
the attitude that you have a right to be there because you have a legitimate,
worthwhile job to do, most people will relax and allow you to get on with your
photography. People in other countries
are usually gracious, hospitable, and patient with strangers who observe the
basic courtesies.
Fifth, be occupied. Actually, this
refers to the subject rather than you.
Often, the best time to photograph is when your subject is involved in
an activity. A parade, a fiesta, a
sporting event, religious ceremonies, work, or play...whenever the subject is
more interested in something else than he is in you, the time is right for good
pictures.
I photograph frequently in
classroom and worship situations where the people are fully aware of my
presence. What's more, against all the
advice I've heard or read, I often do it with multiple flash. Whenever possible, I have the person in
charge introduce me and explain why I'm there.
Then I ask the people to continue with whatever they were doing as if I
were not there. I work slowly at first,
while they check me out with sidelong glances; but they become used to my
presence much more quickly than you would imagine and are once again fully
involved in their activity, yet with an awareness which produces a kind of
hyper-intentness and concentration. I
almost always get pictures with heightened emotional and dramatic impact in
such situations.
Shopkeeper, Madras, India |
Even more than making
photographs of people engrossed in activity, I like to make portraits of them
looking into the camera. I want to look,
and help others look through their eyes
and into their souls. To make a personal
connection with them through my photography.
It isn't difficult to make great
portraits of people in most foreign environments,
but there aren't many people
doing it. The principles in this article
have been tested
around the world and they will
work for you if you will use them. You
can learn to relate
to people and make portraits
which will express their dignity and humanity and at the
same time express and satisfy
something deep within yourself.
Foreign faces are endlessly
fascinating, because they are the faces of our family.
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