Built Rapport With The People You Photograph

I’ve the opportunity attending Public Talk by Steve McCurry at Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with his latest exhibition title A Common Faith: Steve McCurry’s Travels through the Muslim World on 7th January 2010. Steve McCurry is very famous with his Afghan girl portrait but I’m not going to talk about that picture. What I’m interested is how Steve approach his subject or in this case, people he photograph. Steve tells us that we must respect the person we photograph, they are not a “Subject”, they are just a person, normal human being like the rest of us and deserved to be treat as one. Don’t just shoot and run.

He suggest that we spent some time with the people we want to photograph, ask politely whether we could photograph him or her and if we photograph a children and there is his parent around, do ask their parent permission first. If they refuse to be photograph, just walk away and don’t force them, maybe they have a reason that doesn’t want to be photograph, maybe they felt uneasy in front of a camera but we must respect them.

Some people may say that if they are in the right place and at the right time, they too can get a picture like what Steve McCurry have, but I doubt it simply because it take more that great camera gear to get a photograph especially when it involve a human being. If you are shooting landscape or inanimate object that would be a different matter.

I do admire photographers who shoot portrait because shooting portrait is difficult to master. I’m not talking about photography here but as a person, it is not easy to photograph a stranger in a foreign land and it is not easy to communicate when people doesn’t talk the same language we talk, we must become a Mr Nice Guy first in order to be photographer, we must be sincere, not “fake” it just to get a “ticket” to photograph, for me I like to spent some time with the people I want to photograph. Sharing stories, talking about their family and so on and so on.

I felt uneasy to take a stolen photograph, unless it is “candid on the street” and that is different matter. If possible I like to make friends with the people I photograph. To all photographers, take the time to know the person you photograph, don’t just shoot and run, they are not a “Subject”, they are just normal human being like us and deserved to be treat as one and I believe our picture will be much stronger when there is a connection between photographer and the people we  photograph.