the shapes and gestures of bodies
were turning into one-line stories and I couldn't
stop summoning them, it made me dizzy:
all these lives that we were taking unawares,
confetti, heads of bobbing swimmers,
a sentence for each life. Please, when mine is read,
make it raw and beautiful at once."
- an excerpt from "Being Taught" by Dick Allen
A friend of mine said to me once, "People are complex and you must give them time to reveal themselves." So often I am guilty of seeing someone and then defining him or her from the few visual clues I have to work with. People are much more interesting than just their appearance though.
I chose to photograph individuals who deal with books: a personal librarian, a collector of rare books, a preventer of book theft, a book repair specialist, and a science fiction writer. As I photographed, I asked them to tell me about their favorite books. At first glance they are just people who work and move, but as each individual explained to me what they liked to read and why they enjoyed books so much they seemed to come alive. People are so much more than their small trade; they have interests, passions, thoughts, likes and dislikes. I tried to capture that complexity.
Personal Librarian
Favorite Book: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Collector of Rare BooksFavorite Book: Astronomia nova, published in 1609, by Johannes Kepler
Preventer of Book TheftFavorite Book: One In Thine Hand by Gerald N. Lund
Book Repair SpecialistFavorite Book: Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Science Fiction WriterFavorite Book: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
I liked the first photo best. I liked how they were semi-posed but still natural looking.
ReplyDeleteI like these. The people are compelling to look at, and the theme works to tie all of the people together.
ReplyDeletei really like your concept... i think it's very insightful and gives us a cohesive and pointed direction with which to view the essay. the photos all look good, but i do kind of wonder in what way the photos themselves communicate your theme. maybe i just don't have a keen enough eye.
ReplyDeleteI loved your idea. For me it was a reminder of the things we can have in common even with people we least expect. I also liked how you varied between having the people look at the camera and not look.
ReplyDeleteI loved your idea. For me it was a reminder of the things we can have in common even with people we least expect. I also liked how you varied between having the people look at the camera and not look.
ReplyDeleteAll photos have good color and composition, but change up your angles more. Youre always shooting down and fairly square. Maybe you wanted to go with the square straight on framing like a book though??? Excellent quote and explanation and captions through out the work. They definitely add to the work. You could probably do something to follow up/complement this for our next assignment...
ReplyDeleteI like the theme and how they all relate to different aspects of books.
ReplyDeleteThe color of this essay is great. I love the idea of books as a theme for the essay.
ReplyDelete