About Us "Speak with your images from your heart and soul. Give of yourselves. Trust your gut reactions. Suck out the juices—the essence of your life experiences. Get on with it. It may not be too late." Marion Post Wolcott About my work Documentary photography walks a fine line between empathy and exploitation, between what to shoot and what not to shoot. Hard to define, the struggle is present every time a project begins. In the end, a 'true' picture reflects the truth and soul of a person. To realize such pictures, I make photo-documentaries rather than single images, because this process takes me through time and creates a more complete story. A photo-documentary requires weeks and months to shoot, plus time for personal involvement in the lives of those being photographed. It is necessary to become immersed in their lives, developing close relationships so that when I shoot, I am not a stranger or interference. There must be an element of trust between us or the story will be incomplete. Trust allows me to be included in private moments. People know that I am their friend with or without my photography equipment. I often think of Eudora Welty, in her kitchen late at night, as she printed her pictures of rural southerners, when I am working in my darkroom. During the Depression, Welty had personal relationships with most of the people she photographed (on return visits she would often give photos back to them), creating a sense of trust between photographer and subject. I too have this strong desire not only to take pictures, but to share the experiences of my subjects, and hopefully, to give something back to them through the act of recording their lives. | |
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