This morning I led the first of a four-part workshop about photography. Today we just talked about the purpose of photography, the messages that we send with our photography and the concept of creating "others" with our photography. I drew my presentation largely from the work of Howard Zehr and the International Guild of Visual Peacemakers.
I took some photos on a field visit months ago and still don't know which one is the more accurate depiction of her story. I spent a little while talking to this woman, she shared some coconut fresh from her tree and we walked around her garden and field. Then I asked if I could take her picture.
This was the photo:
Then I asked her to smile, explaining that in our culture we like to smile in pictures.
I was quite happy with the second one until one of my coworkers said, I wonder what she's hiding behind that smile.
As much as I want to be careful not to portray our project beneficiaries as poor, unhappy people, I also don't want to portray them in a false way by forcing them to smile. So, which photo is more accurate?
I took some photos on a field visit months ago and still don't know which one is the more accurate depiction of her story. I spent a little while talking to this woman, she shared some coconut fresh from her tree and we walked around her garden and field. Then I asked if I could take her picture.
This was the photo:
Then I asked her to smile, explaining that in our culture we like to smile in pictures.
I was quite happy with the second one until one of my coworkers said, I wonder what she's hiding behind that smile.
As much as I want to be careful not to portray our project beneficiaries as poor, unhappy people, I also don't want to portray them in a false way by forcing them to smile. So, which photo is more accurate?
