OVERLAND JOURNAL FALL 2019127ingportraits,aswellassuggestionsforhowtoengagewiththeir
subjects.Thegoalwastoreturnnotonlywithpictures,butalsothe
person’snameandsomemeaningfulinformationaboutthem.In
short,theyhadtobecomephotojournalists.
Hourslaterat a café,thegroupwasburstingwithenthusiasm.
Theexercisehadpushedthemoutoftheircomfortzone.Photog-
raphyisn’tonlyaboutcameraskillsandcomposition,it’salsoabout
peopleskills.Peopleneedtofeelcomfortablewithyourpresence.
If you’reanxiousandawkward,it’slikelythepersonyou’retrying
tophotograph willbetoo.Worse,if you’re unfriendlyor rude,
you’reunlikelytogeta bigwelcomeorhelpwithyourtask.Re-
gardlessof theamountof timeyou have,it’s about developing
trustandas much of a connection as you can.
SMILE
Asmilegoesa longway.Sometimesspendinghoursordays
withsomeonebeforetakingtheirpictureisn’tpossible.Inthose
instances,a genuinesmile,eyecontact,andpointingatmycam-
era,perhapswithanoptimistic“Okay?”is usuallyenoughtoget
peopleonboard.Peoplearoundtheworldaremuchfriendlierand
helpfulthanwethink,andcertainlymoresothanhowtheyare
portrayedbyvariousmediaoutlets.IneverycountryI’veworked
in,peoplewerewelcomingandhappytohelpa stranger.
I tend to avoid paying to takesomeone’s photo since that
opensupsituationsinwhichpeoplewearcostumesorperformlo-
cal“customs”justforthesakeoftourists.It becomesartificialand
canbeharmfultolocalcultures.
Andif someonedoesnotwanttheirphototaken,I won’ttake
it.But I dooftenwalk througha place,taking shots ofpeople
withoutthemknowing,whetherdis-
creetly using a zoom or by working
quicklybeforemy camerais noticed.
Forexample,somepeoplein Morocco,
especiallyolderwomen,prefernot to
bephotographed.Inthat case,strike
upconversationswithpeopleatmar-
ketstallsorbakerieswhodon’tmind
havingtheirpicturetaken,or photo-
graph crowds or lines of people on
theirdailycommutetogivea senseof
theexperience.
At the Punakha Dzong mon-
astery in Bhutan, I also spent time
photographinglocals,butrespectfully.
Sometimesthatmeanttalkingfirst;othertimes,takingpictures
froma distance.I noticeda youngwomanona balconyandpho-
tographedherusinga zoom.Thewomannoticedmylenspointing
inherdirection.Wemadeeyecontact,I smiled,andshesmiled
back.ShelookedintomylenswhileI tooka fewpictures,then
returnedtogazingoutfromthebalconywhileI tooka fewmore,
neverfeelinglikeI wasruiningherdayorshowinganydisrespect.
It isn’talwayspossible forphotos tobetheresult ofa col-
laborationortobeagreeduponinadvance.Streetshootingworks
bestif theshotsarecandidcapturesoflifeinmotion.Increasingly,
these are some of my favourite photos to take, as they’re natural
andunstaged.Theimageproducedis a purelydistilledmomentof
a personorplace.
Whenwalkingthestreetsof HavanaorLuangPrabang,I don’t
wantpeopletoposeorchangetheirbehaviourforthecamera—I
wantto showsomethingauthentic.Hereagain,thequestion is
oneofrespectandengagingina meaningfulwaywitha placeand
culture.It’seasytogetcaughtupinthemosttransparentdetails,
but themore you getbeneath thesurface,themore you’llfind
thereis to see,think about,andcommunicate.Thephotos you
producewillthenhavea deepermeaning.
Aroundtheworld,peopleare endlesslyfascinating.Thelast
thing you want to do with your photos is to sell them short.TRYTOCONNECT
Photographyisn’t only
aboutcameraskillsand
composition,it’s also
aboutpeopleskills.
If you’reanxiousand
awkward,it’s likelythe
personyou’retryingto
photographwill be too.
Regardlessoftheamount
of time you have,it’s
aboutdevelopingtrust
and as muchof a
connection as you can.
TAKINGPHOTOGRAPHSWITHOUTBEINGDETECTED
A Maasaiwarriorand an armedranger,hikingto the OlmotiCrater
in Tanzania.A cyclistpasses the entrance to Medersa Ben Youssef
in Marrakesh, Morocco.