Part One, Part Three, Part Four & Part Five

Shooting People
Part Two: Starting Points
First things first. I realize that for most people, taking photos of strangers is a very daunting task. It is an oft repeated “fact” that fear of public speaking is a greater fear than the fear of death. Taking photos of people might be the photographic equivalent. There is something about pointing our cameras at others which gives us pause. Many who would be flattered to have a stranger believe that we are interesting enough to capture on film/silicon wafer are somehow totally insecure about turning the scene 180 degrees. I know these feelings well and I fought hard to overcome them. Quite honestly, even to this day there are times when I get nervous and have to remind myself that I have done this thousands of times in the past. I believe that what worked for me can work for you.

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Guards Below Dr. Sun Yat-Sen
Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, Taipei

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This little article is all about shooting strangers. Deciding on which stranger exactly to shoot is step one I guess. Just like when someone is learning to ski, he or she doesn’t head straight up to the longest double black diamond run first thing, one should start shooting subjects who provide relatively little danger or antagonism as subjects. Early success leads to greater confidence and greater confidence is the key to shooting people.

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Reflection in Helmet

Martyrs’ Shrine, Taipei

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I recommend as a starting point to find some ceremonial guards wherever you happen to be. Some of the more famous ceremonial guards would be those at Buckingham Palace in London, the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown in Arlington, Virginia, the Swiss Guards at the Vatican or any number of other places where pomp and ceremony are important. If your country has a King or Queen, head to their residence. Look towards the seat of government in your area, be it provincial, state or federal. Some might not be there for the shooting at all times, but perhaps they show up for Remembrance Day, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, other national holidays or events. These might not be available to all, but if you can get to them, they make a great starting point.

Here in Taipei, the ceremonial guards guarding the huge statue of Chiang KaiShek at the Taiwan Democracy Monument (formerly CKS Memorial Hall), the ones guarding the equally huge statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen at the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall or the guards at the Martyr’s Shrine serve the purpose very well.

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Guard at Marty’s Shrine, Taipei

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Why are these guards such a good starting point? Well, first off, they are trained not to react. You won’t be getting any menacing scowls or uncomfortable looks from them. Also, since they stand ramrod still, you have time to look for the right angle, find the right background and wait for the right light too. Additionally, they are striking subjects. Young, strong, good looking men with polished hardware and formal attire; they look good in photos. That is important, as a good photo of an ugly person is still a photo based around ugliness.

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Guard at CKS Memorial Hall, Taipei

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Now, these guards are almost akin to human statues; would shooting statues be a good place to start? Nope, not at all. Shooting statues can be a great exercise in learning light, but it won’t help you in the ability to confidently photographing people. Even though they provide little to no resistance to being photographed, there is something in the fact that they are living, breathing folks which does wonders for our confidence. I don’t know why this is exactly, but our ability to fool ourselves is interesting indeed.

When you are out shooting guards, it is probably worth considering what you can do to get photos that others aren’t. It is a great opportunity to work in close and perhaps capture some details that would normally get overlooked.
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Hand of Guard and Rifle
CKS Memorial Park, Taipei

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Such details as the white glove, or the tassel from where the strap joins the rifle can make for interesting subjects in themselves. It is not often that one can get in so close to capture such details from someone they don’t really know.

After this, I hope at least some of you will venture out with guards, or the equivalent, on your mind. This is as good a place as I know of to start your shooting. Good luck.

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A few hours shooting our six and eight legged friends.

For this post, I will link to larger versions.  If you click on the photo, a bigger image will open in a new window.

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The Spider Wins

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Skipper

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Odd Looking Ladybug

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Head On

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Eye to Eye With a Spider

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Grasshopper Headshot

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Fly With Cool Eyes

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I don’t have any insight into genus, species or other specifics, for that, it might be better to check with Todd.  While I find insects strangely beautiful, I really don’t know much about them

Part Two, Part Three, Part Four & Part Five

My name is Darren and I shoot people…

If there is a single area in my photography in which I have had the most success, it has to be with people as my subjects. Truthfully, one of the biggest reasons I have had some luck shooting people is simply that I dare to do so. Where many get very nervous and almost frightened when it comes to pointing the camera at a stranger, I have more or less trained myself to do it when I see fit.

With this in mind, I will try to pass along some of the things that work for me; I believe they can also work for you.

First of all, let me start by saying that I fully understand about being nervous when it comes to photographing people you don’t know. Been there, had the flop sweats. If it wasn’t for the encouragement, and sometimes disparagement of two photographer friends, I would probably still be sitting back and shooting architecture, landscape and/or other similarly remote subjects. The truth is, I find people infinitely more interesting than anything else and I am proud that I have overcome my insecurities to shoot subjects I truly find interesting.

In my opinion, virtually all the great photographers, those who have created images which will last beyond our lifetimes, shoot people. The shots burned into our minds are of people, not mountains, green peppers or old buildings somewhere.

“Wait!” you are screaming. “What about Ansel Adams? The most well known photographer of all time?” Well, I would counter that he is perhaps the exception that proves the rule. It is also not all that well known that Mr. Adams was an accomplished portrait photographer as well.

Let’s move beyond Adams. What are the photographs that really have made an impression? Almost all are shots of people I would say. Dorothy Lange’s shot of the Immigrant Mother would be one which first comes to mind.

This photo does as much to tell the story of the Great Depression

as anything else there is. Great photography of people

tells stories words alone just can’t.

Photos of people can change things; two photos in particular had a big impact on changing popular opinion of the Vietnam War.

Eddie Adam’s photo of the execution of a Vietcong guerrilla.

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Kim Phuc runs naked from her village after it has been

hit with a napalm strike in Nick Ut’s famous photo.

The above two photos are often said to be a turning point in the American perception of what was happening in Viet Nam.  I think that few could really doubt their importance.

War photography has a long history of creating impactful, though depressing images.  However, photos of people can be just as uplifting or encouraging as they are depressing and morbid.

Neil Armstrong’s snap of Buzz Aldrin on the

lunar surface captures what many would consider

to be mankind’s greatest achievement.

As a child, the photo which had the greatest impact on me would have been this shot of Bob Beamon as he shattered the long jump world record in Mexico City.

For the longest time as a kid, I wanted to be a long jumper.

This photo was the only reason why.

And, of course when it comes to capturing positive emotion, it is hard to overlook:

Alfred Eisenstaedt’s capture of a sailor kissing a

nurse in Times Square to celebrate the end of WWII.

Even if there is some debate about the photos authenticity, this shot is all about emotion.

I could easily go on listing and displaying photographs which show or elicit different forms of emotion; there are so many great photos taken by great photographers that it could (and would) fill hundreds of volumes.  I have just chosen those which spring to my mind.

Of course, what all of these have in common is that they are composed around people.  I really doubt that anyone could come up with such an emotional list without people in the frame.

Now, before closing out this section, I would like to make a somewhat bold claim. Not only do photographs of people have great impact, but they can shape public opinion and they are capable of mythologizing or demonizing their subjects. I have mentioned the Nick Ut and Eddie Adams photos as they shaped opinions.  I will give a somewhat less obvious example, albeit with another iconic photograph. I posit that things are quite different today because of this photo of Ché Guevara, taken by Alberto Korda.

Superficial as it may seem, I believe this photo has lasting impact, both for reasons serious and cosmetic. Superficially, this image is still very commonly found on posters, t-shirts, tattoos, coffee mugs and God knows how much other memorabilia. Now, wearing the t-shirt or getting the tattoo could be viewed as advancing the views of Ché, yet how many of those with the memorabilia know or understand who exactly is captured in the photo? My guess is that it is relatively few, but because of the photo, the name lives on.  Very certainly, few who wear the t-shirts or get the tattoos really know how little value Ché placed on human life.

Less superficially, I think that it isn’t impossible that the photo has been a piece in the puzzle in maintaining the communist Castro government in Cuba. Think about it this way, corporations hire models and pay a lot of money to have their product associated with people who their target market consider beautiful and sexy. Is it outrageous to think that Ché looks appealing and sexy (in way that would appeal to both sexes) to disgruntled anti-capitalist teens and young men not only in Cuba, but in Central and North America and beyond? I think it is not ridiculous to believe this at all: This image is a part of why Fidel has held power in Cuba for so long and why it appears that illness is what will remove him, not overthrow or military action. Likewise, I believe that this photo has bolstered the power of Venezuelan president Chavez, at least to a very small degree. I can’t think of a landscape or abstract photo which could make this claim..

Here is an old article which covers does a better job of talking about Ché than I am able. Although it is an old article, I only coincidentally came across it after having written the original version of this paper.

Now, I am sure that not everyone will recognize every photo I have posted here, but I am sure that the majority of people will remember seeing the majority of the shots. Let’s think about photos where people don’t play into the image. Beyond maybe a few of Ansel Adam’s photos and perhaps Edward Weston’s Pepper, how many landscape, still life or architectural photos would have that kind of recognition or impact? Very few I think.

I shoot people, because it is people who interest me. In my follow ups to this, I will try to give some advice that will allow you to shoot people too.

I hope it can help.