I photographed these young schoolchildren while teaching a workshop in Costa Rica. While looking through my camera’s viewfinder, I thought about the famous photo expression: “The camera looks both ways. In picturing the subject, you are also picturing a part of yourself. That’s why you should always photograph with feeling.
I used to teach piano, specializing in jazz improvisation. (Many photographers, including Ansel Adams and Gordon Parks, were/are musicians. Many musicians, including Graham Nash, are also avid photographers.)
I’d like to share with my fellow photographers some of the conversations I had with my first-time piano students. Which actually have something in common with my photo workshop students. Here we go!
Conversations
Student and RS
Student: “Rick, do you think I should use a blues scale for my solo… or do you think maybe playing in fourths [very open sound] would be better?”
RS: “It does not matter what notes you play, it matters how you play them.”
Student: “Uh… that really helps me, Rick. Okay, do you think my solo would sound better on a Hammond B-3 organ or a Fender Rhodes electric piano or a Yamaha grand?”
RS: “Personally, I like the organ . . . and the piano . . . and the synthesizer . . . and the grand piano. But have you ever considered the accordion? Billy Joel uses it, and so does Toots Thielemans.”
Getting a bit agitated at this point, the student says, “Fine, you are a big $#%! help. I’m not taking lessons from someone who can’t teach me anything. I’m out of here.”
Smiling, hoping that I can keep the student, who I really want to help because I truly enjoy teaching, I say, “Before you go, I’d like to give you some free advice, if I may.”
Student: “What’s that, maestro?”
RS: “Don’t think so technical, although technique is important. When you play, play with feeling. Play with passion. Above all . . . play for yourself.”
My Reaction
Reactions to my comments varied, from a big smile to eyes filling up with tears.
In case you were wondering, I did keep all my students. (I’ve had participants in my photo workshops get emotional in portfolio reviews on more than one occasion. That’s very understandable. I know how important photography is to each and every person.)
So, why am I sharing this homily with you? Well, I see many articles written on this digital camera vs. that camera, this film vs. that film, and this scanner vs. that scanner . . . and so on.
Sure, that’s all good stuff, and you simply must know the technical aspects of photography to achieve the desired result. But, and here’s the big but, I’d like to see more written about perhaps the important part of photography: the feeling, the mood, the idea one wants to create in his or her pictures – or perhaps the feeling one would like to create.
One of my photo workshop students, Chandler Strange, agrees. She said in an email, “In regard to evoking a feeling in a picture, that’s all we talk about all day in photography school.”
Many of my professional photographer friends share my feelings about photography. It’s evident in their work.
Photographers’ Opinion
Lou Jones – The pictures in his book, “Final Exposure,” convey the feeling of his subjects and the feeling he had when he took the pictures. (I actually met Lou while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1977.) Your first thought when looking at Lou’s work can’t be, “Wow!!! Lou must use a really sharp lens.”
Chris Rainier – Look at this master’s pictures of the people of New Guinea and I don’t think you’ll ask yourself what f-stop Chris used.
Darrell Gulin – Look in the eyes of the animals in his wildlife pictures and you’ll see that Darrell has an intense passion for wildlife photography . . . as well as sensitivity for his subjects.
Joe Farace – This digital artist likes to convey feelings in pictures after the fact in the digital darkroom. I saw this immediately when Joe showed me a picture he took in Tulum, Mexico. Joe turned a dull, daytime shot into a beautiful picture – a romantic picture – that looks like it was taken at night.
Steve McCurry – Take a look at the picture of the woman on the cover of his book, “Portraits.” This picture also graces the splash page of our Web site. Look at the woman’s haunting eyes. What feeling do you get?
John Paul Capongiro – John Paul’s images are pure fantasy, created somewhere within this artist’s mind’s eye and brought to paper through the magic of the digital darkroom. Everyone looking at his images will get a different feeling. . but no one will come away without some sort of feeling or impression.
I could go on and on
So, a natural question at this point would be, “So Rick, do all your people pictures [my specialty] create a feeling?”
You bet, is my answer. They create a very special feeling for me because I follow the same advice I gave my piano students: I shoot with feeling, I shoot with passion, and.. above all, I shoot for myself.
Some final notes in this homily. Photograph with feeling, when looking through your camera’s viewfinder, remember these two expressions:
“The camera looks both ways; in revealing the subject, you are also revealing a part of yourself.”
“Cameras don’t take pictures, people do.” (Just like pianos don’t make music, people do.)
