Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 03:45 PM 3/31/99 +0200, you wrote: >The >absence of eye contact makes it more difficult for the viewer to relate to >the people that are being photographed Direct eye contact stops the action. Stops any kind of real life that could have been communicated by the photograph. It says "Hey, I'm being photographed." It has little to do with the life of the person. I'm not under the delusion that somehow magically a person is not aware of the camera. But when a person gets on with their life, the pictures becomes more communicative in a way that portraits never are. It tells us something about the person's life, and transcends just telling us what they look like, or what objects are in their environment. For sure, as you say, it's not easy to do, and the best work is done by masters. But this is the life blood of photojournalism. Which is where Leica Ms are the most desired camera around. (For those of us who aren't married to fill flash, but low-light candid photojournalism/documentary photography. Portraits are often static, easy to do compared to real life documentary photography. Any "connection" to the person is an illusion anyway. Kind of like people who look at pictures and move around the room and say "their eyes are following me." Of course they are, it's a two-dimensional picture. They're in a three-dimensional world. Photography's real strength is informing the viewer. Might as well get beyond surfaces and with the use of photos and words, inform people as much as possible. Maybe the message that started this topic isn't directly related to the direction I'm taking, though. If their goal is to do portraits where there is eye contact, and they are just too shy to approach the subject, then you are right. The picture will be strengthened by eye contact. Some times. I don't think there is a formula, or principal that applies in all situations. I find some portraits, where they are looking off somewhere, are very powerful. That's for portraits. I wasn't talking about portraits. I'm talking about photos of people in the act of being themselves. That's where eye contact kills the photo. Eric Welch St. Joseph, MO http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch What is the probability that something will happen according to the odds?