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When You’re in a Village…

You throw a pebble into the still water of a pond and it causes ripples. But if you wait, the ripples dissipate and the surface of the pond goes back to its normal, undisturbed state. Making photographs can be very much like that. You see a scene you like and want to photograph. You approach. But as you do so, people become aware of you and the scene changes. Your mere presence causes disruption.

There’s not much to be done about this, especially if you are working in a place where you stick out like a sore thumb, which I often do. Kids, especially, like to gather around and stare. Nothing wrong with that—they’re just being curious and friendly (and it’s a lot better than when they run and hide in terror). But it can make getting candid photos a bit difficult.

So you have to find the right approach. I was wandering around a village in Eritrea and noticed these three men sitting on a hillside contemplating the sunset. I thought it would make a nice image. So I climbed up.

As I approached, I realized that when I got near them, the men would stand up to greet me. (People like these men are very hospitable and polite.) That would ruin the photo I was after. I could have used a long lens and made the picture from a distance, but a telephoto would not have given me the look that I was after. (And most of the time I have a thing against photographing people without their consent—more on that later). So I continued on up to the men. Sure enough, they stood to say hello. We chatted for a bit, then, courtesies over, we all sat down to look out over the hills. The ripples were subsiding. After a few moments, the men were once more engaged in their reverie. I had asked them if it was alright to photograph them while we’d been talking, so now I gently turned towards them, made a few frames, and got my photo.

Over the years, I’ve found that this approach works best. In a friendly and open way, go into the scene. Interact with the people, then hang around until the initial excitement caused by your presence has waned. If you can resist the urge, don’t make any frames—don’t even take out your camera—during this period. That usually re-ignites the hullabaloo. At some point, people need to get back to what they were doing. Wait some more. When you sense that they are once more engaged with their activities, start shooting.

Obviously this works especially well when people are working. They need to get the cows milked, the crops harvested, or whatever chore needs getting done. Like here:

Don’t crowd people immediately. Start shooting from a bit of a distance, then as they (and you) become more comfortable, you can move in for more intimate shots. (Don’t forget the old “push/pull”). It’s a nice little dance: they become more engrossed in their task, you become more engrossed in yours.

And don’t forget about waiting for the moment and having the depth of field you want! (For depth of field, please see the “Sharp or Fuzzy” Actual Info and TipsFlick.)

As I mentioned above, I usually like to make photos of people with their knowledge and permission. Like this picture of a Yanomami man (above). He was well aware that I was making his picture. I had spent some time joking around with him, and when I raised my camera, he did not mind.
Then I noticed the little scene (below) on the other side of the village. I knew that if I walked over to photograph from closer range, the scene would evaporate: the dog would probably run away or start barking, which would wake up the woman. I had been in the village (deep in the Amazonian rainforest in Venezuela) for several days, and everyone was quite comfortable with my incessant picture-making. So I didn’t feel bad about putting a 300mm lens on the camera and shooting from a distance. It’s all about judgment: Most of the time, working with people yields the best images—with their knowledge and consent. Sometimes that’s just not possible. I generally trust my gut. If it feels okay, it probably is. If I feel like I’m being creepy, I probably am.

As I have said in other Actual Infos, patience is THE virtue. Spending time with people lets them get over the novelty of your presence. It also helps your photographs—you get a better idea of what to shoot. And it’s more fun too.

With the children, be especially patient. They often don’t have work to get back to, and you are probably the most amusing thing that has appeared in their village in a long time. It can get irksome when they constantly jump in front of you to get in the picture, or crowd around you so tightly that you have trouble moving around. But stay calm and wait. And remember that you are a guest. And here’s a tip: Go to the village when the kids are off at school.

Or distract them with something!

All Actual Info and TipsFlix