Bolivian Villager

[Manfred M]

Another shot of a village woman from the Central Andean area of Western Bolivia.

I had been working to post images where I had eye contact with the villagers but also wanted to add a few shots where this is not the case.

[rpcrowe]

Very nice image but, she looks like she has just bitten into a lemon I know how difficult it is getting on in years with all the advantages of a modern society. However, I can only imagine how hard it is growing older in a society where top line medical care and excellent nutrition is not necessarily available...

[Shadowman]

Nice shot.

[pschlute]

Lots of character here in her face

[xpatUSA]

Lots of character here in her face

Splendid shot indeed. For some reason, I am reminded of that famous shot of a depression woman, perhaps just the facial expression?

[DanK]

but, she looks like she has just bitten into a lemon

that's part of what makes this a powerful image, IMHO.

We had a discussion of this recently in one of the two photo clubs to which I belong. Particularly when taking photos of people whom the recipients know, people seem always to want smiles. This came up because we were considering photographs from the past, when somber expressions were the norm and long exposures would have made holding a smile impractical regardless.

I do a lot of candids of kids, and I run into this all the time. Kids, like everyone else, have a variety of expressions, and by a very early age, one can begin to see a range of expressions that are characteristically theirs. When I manage to capture a quintessential expression that happens to be somber, many people don't like the photo, even if it is in other respects the best of the bunch I show them. I'd post a few examples, but my rule is that I never post a photo of a child publicly without a parent's express permission.

[Manfred M]

Thanks for the comments.

There are many "myths" in photography and the "smile" seems to be a feature in snapshots and "retail" photography. It tends to be discouraged in fashion and beauty photography. In street photography there are people who insist that there has to be eye contact by the subject with the camera and that the images should be in B&W.

Here is another image I took that day that I find to be extremely effective and here the subject has a smile.



In my view, the beauty of the location that I had been shooting in is these people did not get a lot of visitors, so they were very happy with the attention they were getting and the sales they were making to us. They were not "photographed out"; in the nearby market town of Tarabuco, we were told that people expected tips to have their pictures taken. We did not speak a word of Quechuan (or Spanish) and they had no English, but almost everyone seemed happy.

[mugge]

Great picture and a beautiful smile. Much better than the sneer we are so used to in fashion photography. In this case I still prefer a black and white photo. Sorry Manfred
Cheers Ole

[Manfred M]

Great picture and a beautiful smile. Much better than the sneer we are so used to in fashion photography. In this case I still prefer a black and white photo. Sorry Manfred
Cheers Ole

I just thought I might want to clarify a few things:

1. In fashion photography, it's not about the model, but rather about the items the model is wearing, regardless of whether these are clothes, jewellery or some accessory. The model is quite literally a "clothes horse" and his or her job is to display the items being modeled without distracting the viewer, hence the neutral facial expressions.

2. In glamour photography, the model's poses are meant to be anything from flirtatious to sensual. It's all about engaging the viewer to connect with the model. Smiles are sometimes used, but other facial expressions usually work better and the model has to "mix up" various looks to appeal to a wide set of tastes.

3. In "retail photography" or family snap shots, this is where we tend to look for smiles as the viewer generally wants happy, emotional connections with either an event; wedding, graduation, family event, etc. so this is why we tend to have people smiling in those images.


B&W versus colour - I (and others) have found that photographers tend to be drawn to either B&W or colour images and most of their work will tend to be one or the other. One is not better or worse than the other, but there are times where one tends to be more effective than the other. Unless the image is not working; for instance a colour image can be "too busy" and could use the simplification that B&W creates. Sometimes colour works better than B&W, i.e. in cases where the tonal range in the shot is too narrow and colour provides better separation.

I am predominantly a colour photographer and the use of colour is very important to me in most of my work. If I review my images, I would say I go B&W around 5% of the time. It hasn't always been that way; there was a period of about 2 years where virtually all my work was B&W.

When those types of situations occur, I might comment on the choice that the photographer made, but otherwise, I will assume the photographer had a reason for going for one genre rather than the other and will comment on the end result. In the case of these village images, going B&W had occurred to me but I quickly dismissed it. The colours of the costumes and the settings (adobe brick construction) were an important part of what I was trying to show and B&W just would not do justice to the clothing or the setting.

[mugge]

Manfred, I totally agree that in fashion photography models are simply 'clothes horses,' however it is now a common joke about the sneer and the sullen looks. Maybe that is only in Australia though and it is certainly taken off in a big way.

I do think the last image is better in black and white
Cheers Ole

[Manfred M]

Manfred, I totally agree that in fashion photography models are simply 'clothes horses,' however it is now a common joke about the sneer and the sullen looks. Maybe that is only in Australia though and it is certainly taken off in a big way.

I think it depends on who is having the discussion and making the call (i.e. the art director at the fashion shoot and the brand that is putting out the ad) or some people (who were not necessarily the target audience) making comments about the back cover of a magazine at a store checkout counter?

If people are noticing and commenting, the advertiser should be thrilled because that is what this is all about. They wan't people to pay attention to the advertising copy.

I do think the last image is better in black and white
Cheers Ole

I generally find that with portraits, I can go either way and there is no great advantage in colour over B&W in these types of shots. When I work in the studio I will often deliver initial proofs in colour and B&W so that the "client" can choose based on their personal taste. Given the "timelessness" of the setting, these images would be candidates for pure B&W and sepia toning as well.


1. Traditional B&W






2. Sepia




When I look at all three versions, I would continue to rank the colour one as the strongest. The sepia comes out as second strongest as it retains the warmth of the setting and the traditional B&W comes out last because it loses more than it gains in terms of what I was trying to achieve with the image. Loss of colour increases abstraction, but there was a very limited colour palette in the original colour shot already.

[mugge]

Manfred I prefer the sepia version. On a more serious note The people who go to fashion venues do not notice the models, only the clothes, the rest of us mere mortals laugh at the models and buy the clothes. The strange thing is that we would buy the clothes anyway had the models smiled a little. Why look grumpy and even unfriendly to sell a dress? I think the answer is because that is the way we have always done it.
Cheers Ole

[Manfred M]

On a more serious note The people who go to fashion venues do not notice the models, only the clothes, the rest of us mere mortals laugh at the models and buy the clothes. The strange thing is that we would buy the clothes anyway had the models smiled a little. Why look grumpy and even unfriendly to sell a dress? I think the answer is because that is the way we have always done it.
Cheers Ole

No Ole, the reason it is done is because it works.

Advertising campaigns from National or International companies are carefully planned and tested using various approaches like focus groups. Once a campaign goes live sales are tracked on an ongoing basis to ensure sales targets are met (or hopefully exceeded). Ideas and looks that don't work are culled and approaches that work are refined.

I know one well known advertising photographer fairly well. The smallest contingent of people at a shoot are the photographer and his / her assistants. The client has a large staff at the shoot and the poses and shoot is constantly adjusted, based on client input. The photographer shoots tethered and the client / director of photography / advertising director see the images coming in and direct the photographer (micromanage the photographer, if truth be told).

[mugge]

You are right. In Australia and in northern Europe any attempt to stir people up by American evangelic means will be a total failure. People do not like it. In fact many find it laughable. If someone tried to invoke God and country here in Australia and in northern Europe in a political rally they would be laughed off the stage. It works in the US it certainly does not work here in Australia.

What I am trying to convey is that what is working in north America does not work here. We are very cynical lot down under.
Cheers Ole