N-Photo

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com March 2016 95

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esture usually involves arms and hands, but

sometimes also the upper body, and as social

animals we’re always looking for meaning in

it. This, despite the fact that one major class

of gesture is essentially practical, such as in manual

labour, with movements involved in lifting, turning,

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repetitive action’, page 96).

But when it comes to communication, there are

two classes of gesture: one is to do with indicating

• simply getting some information across to other
  people – and that’s what is going on in this scene in
  Kolkata (left); the other, which is covered in ‘Getting
  all emotional’ on page 99, is emotional.
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  a gesture more interesting
  or v i sua l ly at t rac t ive t ha n
  another. It can be because of
  elegance, or because it gives
  a clearer view of what’s
  going on, and helps to
  explain that. It can even
  be the opposite, puzzling
  an onlooker who isn’t quite
  sure what the context is. But
  what all moments of gesture
  have in common, and what
  makes them desirable in a photo, is that they bring it
  to life, and avoid the static.
  In the old Commodities Exchange in Kolkata, with
  trading conducted in a very old-fashioned way, there
  was plenty of that. Indians generally use gestures in
  a characteristic way, and the range of hand gestures
  on display was wide and full of character. And here,
  in a trading situation, hands and arms were moving
  a rou nd even more t ha n usua l.
  I chose a tight framing, and looked for several
  gestures happening in one frame, and in particular
  an occasion when one of the traders in the blue boxes
  was obviously dealing with someone standing on the
  ground. I was spoilt for choice, as the illustration of
  arm-and-hand gestures shows.
  In the end, the best moment for me came when an
  arm pointed upwards from street level, matched by
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  this photo to take in more of the people in the street
  ( lef t) wou ld have been more e x pla nator y, but less
  interesting. Isolating the pointing hand enabled
  me to focus on the gesture, and so the interaction.

It’s the gesture

that counts

BRINGING IMAGES TO LIFE

GESTURE & EXPRESSION

Gesture plays a key role in providing

a clue to the photographer, and the

viewer, about intention and character

You don’t need to see

the man in the street in

his entirety – the two

a rm s p o in tin g at e a c h

other do the job of

bringing action and

therefore interest to

this shot of the Kolkata

Commodities Exchange