24-JUN-2009
Totem carver, Port Angeles, Washington, 2009
While waiting for the ferry to Canada, we spent a few moments talking with a man who was carving a totem pole near the harbor. He was either Canadian or a big fan of Canada – I’ve never seen larger lettering on any other sweatshirt. My fellow photographer and friend Tim May was shooting him as well, and at one point he asked the carver a question. The carver stopped carving, turned to Tim, and answered. While he spoke, I made this portrait of him. I call such portraits “Candid Portraits,” in that they are not posed and the gesture or expression of the moment is true to character, not self-conscious or directed. We can take the measure of the man from this portrait. He seems confident, warm, and intelligent. All of the shots I made of him actually carving went in the trash. This was the man I wanted to remember.
18-JUN-2009
Motel owner, Grant’s Pass, Oregon, 2009
I seldom try to make a portrait from behind my subject. But since this portrait was to be a study in light and shadow anyway, I thought such abstraction appropriate. The owner of our motel had invited me behind the counter to photograph a fancy piece of furniture in his office. Once in the office, I noticed lettering from the window casting its shadow on the huge painting that dominated the scene. His face was also in the shadows, his body rimmed in light. He appears in profile, almost as a sculptured bust carved in dark stone – which is appropriate since he surrounds himself with abundant decorative art in his small office. His motel rooms were laden with decorative art as well, all in a heavily romantic Mediterranean motif. Since we stayed in so many sterile motel rooms on this particular trip, his kind of unique hospitality proved to be a fascinating change of pace for us. This image of him is my favorite memory of the place.
09-NOV-2008
Cat’s cradle, Kairouan, Tunisia, 2008
While visiting Kairouan, our tour group was invited to lunch at the home of a local family. I was talking about photography with the son of our host and he asked me if I would make a picture of him with his cat. I asked him to stand next to a window, which gives the image a sense of dimension and provides a contrast of light and shadow that complements the black and white cat. Since the only significant color in this image is in the skin of the face and hands, some might wonder why I did not convert this portrait to black and white. When I tried it, all the life went out of the image. It became more symbolic and less real, losing its immediacy. The coloration of the skin tones adds warmth and his cradling of the cat is a warmly humane gesture. The medium fits the message here.
16-NOV-2008
Chef, Jerba, Tunisia, 2008
A sliver of light, coming from between the curtains of a nearby window, illuminates the steady hand of a hotel chef, along with the front of his white jacket. When I spot-metered on the white jacket, almost the entire image fell into deep shadow. The light reflecting off his jacket casts a faint reflection on his face, and I build this portrait around the chef’s fragile visibility. This chef is so used to cooking that he can do it in virtual darkness. I wanted this portrait to say that.
06-NOV-2008
Café, Tunis, Tunisia, 2008
This Tunisian man smokes a hookah in a café in the Tunis medina. The portrait accentuates his solitary pleasure, which is underscored by the repeating pattern of the surrounding chairs and the wallpaper behind him. The red hat adds a final touch to define character. I also made a black and white portrait of this man (
http://www.pbase.com/image/106453689 ). It is intimate and reflective, while this color portrait offers a vividly exotic touch of realism.
08-NOV-2008
The group, Sousse, Tunisia, 2008
When we photograph children, there is always a chance that one of them will do something to call attention to themselves. That is what makes this group portrait so amusing. The fellow at right rolls his eyes back into his head just as I shot, while his two friends remain passively relaxed and unaware of his impish behavior. It is this incongruous interplay between the children that makes this image a successful portrait. I used a 24mm wideangle lens and moved in very close to fill the frame with my subjects, yet also managed to include the cobblestone street where they live, as well as a distant figure for scale incongruity.
12-NOV-2008
Stoic, Tozeur, Tunisia, 2008
He stoically pedaled slowly and deliberately towards me, showing no emotional response as I made this environmental portrait. His headscarf, the ornate brickwork of Tozeur’s ancient medina, and even the background wall hangings, add context. Because he shows no emotion, the image is full of questions.
11-NOV-2008
High school boys, Tozeur, Tunisia, 2008
We visited a high school in Tozeur and I spent an hour or so getting to know some of the students. At the conclusion of our visit, I made this group portrait of three of the boys I had been talking to. The late afternoon light was pouring through a window, and I arranged them so that their faces would be illuminated in three different ways. The face of the boy at left is half in light and half in shadow, while the face of the boy in the center is illuminated in the middle, with shadows on both side, and the face of the boy on the right is left almost entirely in shadow. I moved in very close with a 24mm wideangle lens, allowing me to stress the detail in their expressions and clothing, yet still include everyone in the frame. While all three boys look at the camera impassively, the group portrait comes to life as the boy in the center tilts his head, as if he is curious about what I may be up to here.
05-NOV-2008
Souvenir shop, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia, 2008
We can often make effective portraits of people who are not looking at the camera. In this case, my subject is utterly absorbed by what he is doing at the moment – reading a newspaper. He is completely surrounded by the things he sells, which add important context to the portrait. Meanwhile, the advertisement on the back page of the paper he is reading features a portrait of a person who is smiling at the camera, lending an incongruous touch.
14-NOV-2008
Cave dweller, Matmata, Tunisia, 2008
This young boy lives in an ancient house built into the wall of a cliff. I found him standing in the kitchen, dressed warmly but without shoes. My 24mm wideangle frame embraces the ancient rock walls and floor, as well as the tables laden with jars, pots, and baskets. With adverted eyes and hands in his pockets, the boy seems to reluctantly accept the steady flow of strangers through his home. It is a portrait of resignation.
15-NOV-2008
Friends, Houmt Souk, Tunisia, 2008
This dual portrait, featuring two friends waiting for the bus that will take them to school, expresses its point through incongruity. My vantage point brings them closely together, yet they remain emotionally apart from each other at the moment – each lost in their own thoughts. By shooting these young women in profile, the viewer relates to them indirectly, rather than directly, as an observer, rather than as a participant. It is a portrait of silences, as much as it is a portrait of friends.
11-OCT-2008
Dog fancier, Freedom, Wyoming, 2008
We visited Freedom, a semi-ghost town, in the middle of a snow squall. While our group of photographers was shooting there, a local driving a red pick up truck stopped at its only functioning building to pick up her mail. She had two of her dogs with her, and graciously endured an environmental portrait session in the snow. I made many images of her smiling at the camera as the snowflakes swirled about her. But the portrait that said the most turned out to be this one – the moment she takes her eyes away from the camera and looks instead at the dogs she cherishes. The dogs are not looking at the camera either.
