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Indecent Exposures?
By David Duchemin
As I think about an upcoming trip to India, and reflect back on experiences of shooting on the road or in the third world,
I often come back to the ethics of creating images that use another person as their subject, specifically when those
subjects are poor or the victims of calamity.
The easiest approach is, of course, to lurk around corners with long lenses and avoid contact or moments made awkward by
language barriers and cultural differences. But while there may be a proper place for an approach like this, it brings us
dangerously close to being predatory or exploitive.
The one thing I want most of all in my images is to create a body of work that shows the uniqueness and beauty of cultures
and people. I am not sure it is possible to do that while lurking around corners and avoiding actual relationships.
Truthfully, it's a harder approach. But it's not merely pie-in-the-sky ethics; there is a pragmatic side to my approach.
The more photographers who shoot with kindness and care to build even the briefest of consensual moments, the easier it
will be for the image-makers who come after us.
When tribal people object to having their photograph taken on the grounds that it steals their souls, I understand the
notion. While I don't believe it sucks the spirit out of them I do believe that photography can either be a "giving" or a
"taking". That is to say when we approach subjects as equals, as participants in the process with the dignity to chose
that participation; when we approach them not as a westerner looking for a trophy but a partner in the story-telling
process, we are giving our subjects a gift. When we shoot without asking, even by a subtle gesture or a look, we are
implying they do not have the right to say no.
It has been painful for me to realize that I am walking into a village with more money in camera gear on my back than
their combined income for years. It feels arrogant and presumptuous. I have learned that when done with grace and kindness -
and permission - it is a gift. From speaking with people in villages in Haiti and Ethiopia, I know that they value the
chance to have their story told - they just don't like being treated like animals at a zoo, an attraction, or a novelty.
So I have defaulted to two approaches. The first is to simply engage people, laugh with them, show them images on the back
of a digital camera. In most cases they want their image taken and eventually I become part of the community and the fuss
and posing dies down and I can capture some genuine moments.
The second is to shoot images without showing faces. It protects the anonymity of the subject, but it does more than
that - it has the ability to make the image iconic. When the faces of a mother and child are obscured they stop being
individuals to the viewer of the image and they become representational - no longer a specific mother and child, but
something like an archetype - they represent all mothers and children. And when an image becomes iconic it tells a more
universal story and touches us more deeply. For most of us that's why we do this - to tell a beautiful, and compelling
story.
David Duchemin Bio
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