Last time I used animal photos as examples; today I’m going to use people in photos of China. But first, let’s recap: we talked about considering color, texture, contrast, perspective, light, movement and placement of the main subject as you look at photos you have taken. And we talked about looking for the unexpected.
When we take family portraits or school pictures, we’re just capturing an image – a slice of time – this is how we looked on this date in this place. But mostly, when all else is equal, we want to tell a story.
I can’t stress enough that no matter why you are taking photos, you have to always look around you. It’s like hiking – when I was in Arches National Park with my youngest grandkids and we walked up trails, I told them always stop and look behind and to the sides. You can always see from a different perspective. The story changes depending upon how you view it.
So let’s tell stories. Again, these are photos that I think are good and you may have a completely different opinion.
We were waiting for members of our group in our tour bus in Chongqing and I looked out the door, saw this little girl squatting at a bus stop, grabbed my camera and shot without even thinking. As it turned out, she stayed in that position for at least five minutes, but with people you often have to move quickly to capture the moment. I took ten plus photos of her, and that’s what you have to do – take LOTS, and if you are lucky, one will be good. I love this picture because I want to know what the little girl is thinking. Is she in a bad mood, bored, contemplative, sad? I would have missed this girl if I hadn’t been alert and looking around me. So if you see something that looks interesting, shoot! You can always delete.
This is one of my absolute favorite photos. It was taken on May 1st – Mayday – an auspicious day for weddings. We did see quite a few that day, but this one was very different. My husband and I were walking down a street in Shanghai – don’t know which neighborhood because we were just blindly walking around to see what was out there. I glanced into this alley, saw this forlorn-looking bride, and took a picture – again, without thinking. It was instinct. No one noticed. I wonder why she was so unhappy? This photo tells a cultural story also. In China, white is the color for funerals, the color of death. Red is the traditional wedding color. Many people are adopting Western traditions, however, and wear white wedding dresses. Often the bride changes into a red dress for the reception. This bride, however, has solved that problem by pinning a red flower on her white dress.
In Xian, we watched a young man making noodles at a restaurant. I assume he does this every day and crowds of tourists watch. This photo shows a somewhat dreamy expression on his face and I wonder – is he shutting out the crowds? Is he in a state of noodle-making bliss? Is it a Zen moment? Is he falling asleep? I choose to interpret this as a dreamy expression – why I don’t know. But I think it’s an excellent photo. His head is cut off, and noodles are moving so fast that the dough is blurred, but that’s ok. Don’t be afraid to take a photo that breaks what most of us think of as the “right” way – you don’t have to show the entire head or body. I had a boss once who said to never take a photo of a person without taking the entire person head to toe. Frankly, that’s nuts. The whole essence of this photo would be lost if I’d stepped back to include the total person. When you’re telling a story, it’s like art – the interpretation can be in the eyes of the viewer.
We had the good fortune to walk into a restaurant in Guilin – in fact, it was called the Good Luck Restaurant. Turns out the entire restaurant was being decorated for a wedding reception but they let us in and we stayed for the whole thing! There were entertainers – some beautiful women singing and folk dancing. This photo I took on purpose – it wasn’t a case of getting the unexpected. I was so tickled by these boys intently staring at the cell phone – playing a game? – while a really gorgeous and sexy belly dancer was right behind them. I didn’t need the full image of the dancer to tell the story. It speaks for itself. There’s a temptation sometimes to look at a photo and say, “Oops, I didn’t get the whole person,” and toss the photo. Don’t. You don’t always need the whole person.
Last, for today, this photo:
We were walking along a street in Yangshao, China – hot, sweaty, and tired, when we came across this woman. Look in the basket on the left – it’s a baby! The woman must have a hard life – and no child care – so the baby just comes along. Why do I say she probably has a hard life? Although she is smiling, her teeth look like they could use dental care or at least orthodontia, and she looks a little bent from her load. It’s a tough way to carry things – and on foot besides. In the background is a shiny new tourist bus – obviously for people who have the money to travel and most certainly don’t carry loads across their shoulders like the “stick-stick men.” A real contrast of life styles emerges if we look deeper into this photo – look behind the smile.
So that’s it for this post. It’s a lot to think of at once – how is the light, is there any texture or color that’s interesting? Do I have a good perspective? What about movement – is the photo static or does it suggest life – either interior (contemplation) or exterior? Is the subject placed well? Not always in the middle. And – does the photo tell a story?
