Black & White Photography - September 2015 UK

47

B+W

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E

ye to eye contact is

undeniably very

powerful. Such

portraits tend to grab

the spectator’s attention

immediately. There can be a

sort of visceral spark when we

look into a person’s eyes –

perhaps because we do it so

rarely. There is a connection

between viewer and sitter. This

is the basis for the cliché that

suggests the eyes are the

window into the soul. But what

does that actually mean? It

implies that when we look into

another person’s eyes we can

sense their thoughts, their

mood, read their character, that

we can in some way know them

more closely. There is often a

strong sense of empathy – the

emotional frisson we get from

looking into another’s eyes can

be deeply moving. We stare

and then we interpret: this is

what the sitter was thinking

and feeling when the portrait

was taken.

But hold on – that is our

projection on to the image. We

don’t actually know for real what

the sitter was thinking and

feeling when the portrait was

taken. But, as a viewer of a

portrait, we are submitting to

one of the tricks of photography.

There is a sleight of hand. We

are not actually looking at the

person, we are looking at a

photograph of the person. When

the sitter gazed at the camera

they were not looking at the

viewer. Their contribution was

to give their gaze to the

photographer. The viewer’s

contribution is to bring their

curiosity to the image, and thus

to interpret. We look for clues

so we can understand: gesture,

expression, particularly the look

in the eyes. And then we believe

we understand (although we

can never be absolutely sure).

Meaning and interpretation

can be slippery things.

P

ortraits where there is

no eye contact have a

slightly different feel to

them. While they can be

just as revealing about character

and mood, they don’t have that

sense that the image has been

The intensity of contact between viewer and subject might be an illusion,

but is nevertheless powerful. Photograph by Jodi Champagne.

Eye to eye contact – both sitter and photographer are complicit

in the portrait. Photograph by Jodi Champagne.

‘Eye to eye contact is undeniably very powerful.

Such portraits tend to grab the spectator’s attention immediately.’

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