Spotlight on Rich-Joseph Facun

TID:

In this week's installment we take a look at this
image by Rich-Joseph Facun:

What a lovely image Rich. It's both subtle and complex
at the same time. I understand this image is part of a larger
project. Before we get to the image, can you let us know
about the story on which you're working?


RICH:

First and foremost, thank you for inviting me to take part in
The Image, Deconstructed. I appreciate your interest in my
work and taking the time to lend an ear. I’ve been following
the blog and it’s been insightful.

Essentially, the image is a single component from a larger
project I’ve been working on in India entitled Darshana Ganga.
Darshan(a), is a Sanskrit term meaning "sight", vision, apparition,
or glimpse. Ganga refers to the Ganges River that runs 1,560
miles from where it rises in the western Himalayas to where it
rests at the Bay of Bengal. For centuries it has been considered
the holiest of all rivers by Hindus and worshipped as the goddess
Ganga.


IMG_7103


I initially started working along the banks of the Ganga while on
holiday in Varanasi. After returning from India I was consumed
with anything and everything Ganga related. I read literature, bought
several photo books that featured India, drove around listening to
classical tabla Indian music, and spent endless hours online
researching the river.

I decided to return to the Ganga and begin a series that conveyed
the spiritual, ritual, and daily significance of the river to Hindus and
Indians in general.

Having self-funded the project, I’ve only been out to India three
times for a total of about three weeks. There is a certain liberty
in answering only to yourself. In doing so, I feel a sense of freedom
and independence. I can shoot what I respond to emotionally, simply
because I want to, as opposed to looking for an image to illustrate
an issue or story that may or may not be an actuality.


TID:

I used to have the idea that making powerful images while out of the
country was easy, just because things seemed so, well, foreign to us.
I was foolish enough to think there was some sort of “red carpet” for
photographers while out of country. That, of course, was ridiculous,
and it showed how inexperience and uneducated I was.

In fact, it's quite hard working in different cultures. Can you talk about
your experience working in India and specifically along the Ganges river?

RICH:

There is definitely a misconception that shooting in a foreign land
lends itself to making great pictures easier. Quite often it’s the
opposite, at least for me. Prior to moving to the United Arab Emirates
I too discredited the value of work shot abroad by photojournalists.
However, being dispatched to multiple countries and continents in
this region I’ve found how naive my previous perception was regarding
foreign work.

At best, when working abroad, your greatest challenge will only be
logistics. Unlike the States, getting to where you need to be
geographically isn’t as simple as hopping in your car and following
a map or your GPS.

For example, the destination where I shot the photo above
required multiple forms of transits. It started on a metro and
continued with a bus ride full of pilgrims, a quick hand rickshaw,
then switched to an auto rickshaw. From here I caught a ferry
where I crossed the Ganga Delta. Next, I hiked through barren
farmland and then hired a taxi that took me to Gangasagar Island.

In rural areas along the Ganga, to some extent, the language
barrier became an issue. Knowing how to say “thank you” in the
subject’s language wedded with an honest smile goes a long way.
You can’t lean on opening up to a subject by sharing personal
stories, however, so trust has to be gained by other means. You
learn to maximize your personal resources. You’re forced to grow
your nonverbal communication skills. It can be a challenge.

Picture yourself as the only Westerner hanging out with almost
half a million pilgrims on a remote island in the Bay of Bengal.
A few people spoke broken English but only enough to ask my
name, where I was from, if I had a wife, and if I had any babies.
I was as much an anomaly to them as they were to me.

In Varanasi, the community was vibrant and fairly open to being
photographed. However, one immediate challenge was catching
people in candid moments that conveyed sincere emotion and
color. People in India love to stare A LOT! It’s a cultural thing
and it’s not meant to be disrespectful but feels more like a
childlike curiosity.

Because of this obstacle, I often found myself shooting an
excessively gross amount of useless frames just to render one
decent image. Sometimes it worked and a lot of times it didn’t.
On the other hand, I also hung out in areas where I felt a picture
might happen, just waiting for things to unfold.


TID:

We'd like you to explain what lead up to the moment.


IMG_6735


RICH:

Once I arrived at Gangasagar Island, I immediately headed to where
the Ganga met the Bay of Bengal. I wanted to have a chance to scan
the area and get a feeling for what the atmosphere, light, and overall
vibe was on the beach. I arrived during the start of the Gangasagar
Mela where an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 Hindu pilgrims traveled
to dip in the waters where the Ganga ends and meets the Bay of Bengal.


I shot a few frames to measure the light and define how the camera
rendered the scene. Looking out into the bay I immediately knew I
needed to make some type of image that perhaps was a visual epitome
of the river’s spiritual, cultural and daily significance. I wasn’t sure this
was something I could do or accomplish but that was what I felt I needed
to consider attempting.

The frame from that first evening looks out into the bay and catches
a few people lingering about. Its essentially an early sketch of the next
day’s image. Making sketches before actually arriving at the final image
is something I do often. Sometimes the sketch is not at all related to
the final image I end up making but gives me an idea I can apply to
other situations.

In this case, I was able to see how the light looked during that time
of the day, I could see the cold blue being rendered in the frame as
the sun was soon to set. It was almost 8:00 pm. From this, I decided
that it wasn’t exactly the light I was hoping for nor did I think it would
render the story I wanted to emulate in one frame. But it was a rough
start. Additionally, I was able to estimate where the sun would be the
following day and prepare accordingly. It’s pretty basic photo 101
logic but it works, right?

The next day I started at sunrise but didn’t head off to the beach right
away. I roamed around the pilgrims’ campsites and the rest of the
grounds. I still wanted to get a better feeling for the people, place
and overall energy.

When I made it down to the water I shot the sky, the earth, the wind,
a naked man, a holy cow, everything, ya know? Eventually I started
playing around with getting something ethereal and esoteric. Looking
back at the shoot, I found that I started working this idea around
11:30AM for a few minutes and then a little over an hour later came
back for another attempt. I still came up short.


IMG_6778




IMG_6929



With almost half a million people on the beachfront one main challenge
was to find the order amid the chaos. I wasn’t too concerned in
finding something that showed the overall magnitude of the festival.
That was not my priority so I kept looking and shooting.

Much of the time I had to keep encouraging myself to push on. (I
often had a one man conversation going on in my head while shooting.
I’d elaborate but it’s probably not suitable for print). I was especially
anxious since I felt like after traveling all that way I still had not made
anything worth keeping. I know, patience is a virtue but it wasn’t my
greatest strength. Not that day.

At this point I decided to give it a rest and just play a little more. I
stopped worrying so much and just diverted to doing a bit of a street
photography.

Almost two hours later I made a frame that started to really excite me.
The layers were starting to come together, the lighting and choice
of exposure lent themselves to a particular mood I felt but had not
been able to translate into an image in previous frames. Moreover,
the colors popped, adding another dimension to the composition.
Things were looking up! I kept working it for a few more minutes
but to no avail. I moved on but was feeling optimistic.




IMG_6992




As I roamed the area looking for other images that would provide
visual punctuations in my project it dawned on me that maybe I was
forcing the picture and trying way too hard. So I backed off,
figuratively and literally. I ended up shooting a couple wide frames.



IMG_7056




IMG_7059




In the second of these two frames some of the elements that are
present in the final image clearly started coming together.

As I continued working the situation I saw a man off in the distance
walking back to shore. His body language immediately attracted me.
The pronounced arc in his appearance, his delicate walk awash in
a sea of color were captivating. I anxiously waited for him to
approach the shore hoping he would ignore me and my camera.
Thankfully he did.


IMG_7067

At this point I had something, however, it was loose and could use
a crop. Not too mention I knew it still wasn’t quite there yet. I paused
again, pulled back, and shot off another frame.

I knew I was getting somewhere, that something was finally happening.

In the following minutes, as I’m sure many photographers have
experienced, magic happened. I found a rhythm. Here, in this place,
everything lined up. Externally, elements such as the light, subtle
body language and textures presented themselves. Internally, I
stopped thinking, I stopped trying, I stopped shifting, I stopped and
an effortless clarity took over.

In this moment the family walked into the right side of my frame...

IMG_7090


TID:

Lets get to the image. What was going through your mind the moment
the main image was made?

RICH:


To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking at that point in the process.
It doesn’t happen that often but every now and then everything just
goes into some zen-like mode where there is some synchronicity
happening both internally and externally and the next thing I know,
I’m walking away with an engaging image that I have never made
before. I think this probably happens to a lot of people. Not just in
regards to photography, but everything from sports to plumbing. I
remember having the same feeling when I was dishwasher.
Seriously, I kid you not. One moment there were a pile of pots,
pans, salad bowls, plates, and in the next few moments they were
gone. I just get into a zone and from the moment it begins until it
ends I’m pretty much in auto-pilot. You just flow.

IMG_7100


TID:

Was there any point of conflict, or a moment people didn't want you
to take their picture? If so, how did you handle it?

RICH:

I can’t recall any specific time when anyone protested having
their photo taken. As in the States or anywhere else I’m working
I just read my surroundings, the environment, the people, the
situation and then go from there.

There were a few times when certain people didn’t want to be
photographed and I respected that. In those instances I just smiled,
thanked them, apologized for the disturbance and moved on, no
big deal.

That said, I was specifically turned away once when I was trying to
gain access to photograph Manikarnika, the main burning ghat in
Varanasi. Manikarnika is a holy site where hundreds of cremations
take place daily along the banks of the Ganga.

After haggling with the “untouchable” who manned the ghat, he
said I could shoot anything I wanted for eight hours if only I were
willing to give a “donation.” As much as I wanted to work here the
idea of paying it didn’t sit right with me so I opted out.


IMG_7103



TID:

What advice do you have for photographers who want to work
on projects out of the country?

RICH:

Let me back up a bit. Before I earned my living as a photographer
I always wanted to travel. I wanted to experience the road and the
world. I had a couple opportunities to travel abroad from my time as
a sponsored skateboarder but I never went. My whole trip was that
I needed to know my own country before I went galavanting into
someone else’s. It just didn’t feel right. So I traveled the States, lived
out of my truck and saw as much as I could. Eventually I made it
abroad but I guess I needed to do it my way. Now, I’m out here.

Personally, I never understood why people would want to leave their
own country and pursue projects elsewhere. My advice is: don’t. Stay
home and advocate stories that address the issues that are happening
in your neighborhood, your community, your home.

This probably sounds hypocritical since I now live in the Middle East.
But I moved here to live long-term which I think is a little different than
parachute journalism.

Not to be a obtuse, but I just think people should look at the States
and think about all of the untold stories. There are so many issues
out there that are rarely addressed. Generally speaking, domestic-
based journalists and documentarians need to dig deeper and
challenge themselves and challenge their audiences, myself included.

You don’t need to travel half way around the world to show me that
kids are dying due to inadequate healthcare. This is happening in
the States! You don’t have to travel to Afghanistan or Libya to show
me there is conflict. America is facing more conflict now then it has
seen in a long time. The wars in America are just fought with
different weapons. What’s wrong with fixing the good ol’ USA?

The point is there are so many issues being ignored or simply lacking
representation in the States. Why not tell the story of the downtrodden
at home before jumping on a plane and parachuting into some region
that you really know nothing about and more than likely won’t have
the resources to do the story properly.

Look at Eugene Richards' “Dorchester Days,” Scott Strazzante’s
“Common Ground,” Barbara Davidson’s “Frozen Land, Forgotten
People" or “Stray Bullets,” or Matt Eich’s “Carry Me Ohio.” I think
these are stellar examples of what can be done in your own
backyard. All four of these photographers have utilized the
resources of their immediate community.

Personally, I don’t think I’m the best person to talk to about doing
work on projects out of the country. I’ve always considered myself
a community journalist, and I still do. Besides, there are so many
other people, young ambitious people, who are in the early stages
of their careers, that could give much better advice based upon
their recent experiences. People like Carolyn Drake, Krisanne
Johnson, Sarah Elliott, Dominic Nahr, Justin Mott, Kevin German,
and the boys over at www.dvafoto.com. Ask one of them - they’re
smarter and more knowledgable than me when it comes to working
abroad.

However, if you still want to jump ship and try your hand at shooting
a project in a foreign country here a few things that might help:

Bring your own toilet paper.
Baby wipes are a life saver.
Less is more - pack light.
Don’t drink faucet water.
Only eat in busy cafes frequented by locals (good sign you won’t
get food poisoning)
Bring a great pair of comfortable walking shoes (I have one pair
that have been to eight or nine countries)
Make sure you pick up some voltage convertors
Rent the cheapest hotel - you’re there to shoot, not lounge poolside
Simple precautions go a long way. Use your noggin.
Leave your ego at the door. Respect the local culture.
All that said, this is a rough generalization about working on projects
out of the country. There are of course people like Jon Lowenstein
whose long-term essay “Shadow Lives USA,” eventually extended
some of his coverage into Mexico. I can get onboard with that.

And of course, sometimes people are just curious or have a passion
for something outside of their homeland and must saturate that
yearning by going abroad. It is what is. In the end, do what is right
for you but like I said, bring your own toilet paper.

+++++

Rich-Joseph Facun was born in Florida to an Otomi Indian mother, and a Filipino father. His photography specializes in documentary projects that investigate history through fringe cultures and trends in societal norms. It is in these topics that he explores the phenomena of personal independence, the pursuit of dreams, and the discovery of self-identity. Facun has been a working photojournalist for over a decade. In that time he has covered news, feature stories and photographed high-end commercial campaigns spanning a dozen countries.


Currently, he is working as a staff photographer at The National in Abu Dhabi, and is a contributing photographer with arabianEye and Getty Images’ Global Assignment division.


Facun’s work has earned multiple accolades in Pictures of the Year International, the National Press Photographer Association’s Best of Photojournalism, The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, amid others. Additionally, while working at The Virginian-Pilot he was awarded the first and second place Portfolio of the Year by the Virginia News Photographer Association for two consecutive years.


You can view his work at:

http://www.facun.com/

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Next week on TID, we'll take a look at this unique image by Scott Lewis:

1

As always, if you have a suggestion of someone, or an image you
want to know more about, contact Ross Taylor at: ross_taylor@hotmail.com.

For FAQ about the blog see here:

http://imagedeconstructedfaq.blogspot.com/

Spotlight on David Holloway

FEATURED


Obama by Holloway

TID:
Thanks David, for taking the time to dive into your thoughts and actions behind this image. Can you run us through the days leading up to Obama's inauguration and your management of plans?

David S. Holloway: I had a couple of potential assignments for the day, but I turned them down because nothing I was offered seemed very compelling to me. I thought I would put my effort towards making something personal or more substantial. I hadn’t committed to any idea, but I had a list of potential things and I was just going to see what came together.

The ideas weren’t anything special. I have a theory that when photographing anything, I always should throw out the first idea because it probably will be a bit generic. At first I thought I should do a project about the difficulty of getting around that day. Anytime there is a big event on the Mall, travel in that part of the District can be tough. This had the potential to be one of the worst - they close down Pennsylvania Ave for the Presidential motorcade. I bounced the visuals of the idea around as I walked from my apartment to the mall with friends. There was a steady flow of people that bottlenecked as you crossed Pennsylvania Ave.

Obama

Obama

When we got on the National Mall, making our way east, the crowd got thick. I started thinking about trying to shoot the logistics of an event like this; it was going to take half the day, so where would people go to the bathroom? What would they eat? I also had an offshoot idea of documenting the waste that a crowd like this generates. I liked that idea, but I was inspired by the day and I thought I’d be disappointed if the collection of images I came out of it with was focused on the problems with crowds like this.

Obama

Obama

I was feeling pretty emotional. I was thrilled to be there and I knew I wanted to find emotion, or I wanted some visual metaphor for what this inauguration meant and what the campaign meant. I was thinking of the campaign slogan “hope” but I couldn’t figure out how to convey that. I was shooting these masses of people but the images weren’t what I was feeling. I was trying to show the size of it all.

Obama

Obama

Obama


TID:
The focus of your featured image is much more abstract than the previous scenarios you've been describing. Most of the TID guest posts have been about how logistically photographers secured access to a situation or emotionally approached a subject - I'd like to hear more about your mental process and thoughts in trying to capture a theme?

DSH: It was this setting where all of these people were sharing this experience together. We all were huddled together - it was freezing that morning. Everyone had made the early morning walk together. It was our pilgrimage. There was this palpable joy and it wasn’t coming through in my pictures. They just seemed too literal, so I tried to shoot smaller groups of people, where their expressions were more obvious. This just wasn’t moving me either.

Obama

Obama

Obama

I was having a lot of difficulty with it, my images weren’t matching my mood. I had convinced myself that I didn’t need to make anything epic because I wasn’t on assignment, I was there to enjoy the time. I was enjoying it, enjoying the experience with friends as we made photos. We were freezing, but laughing. Obama was about to come out for his swearing in. I had basically given up on shooting, then I saw a woman shield her eyes and look up at one of the jumbotrons. She was beaming with pride and I recognized it as exactly what I had been hoping for.

Obama

It was a mirror of how I was feeling. It just suddenly made sense. I knew I had to isolate her more, so I pulled out the longest lens I had and the image was perfect. It had everything I wanted. Then for the rest of the Obama’s ceremony I just shot tight frames of people shielding their eyes from the sun. The gesture reminded me of people witnessing during a revival. There were hundreds of them all gazing upward, eyes shielded and bursting with pride. The experience was universal but they were all lost in their own moments.

Obama

Obama

Obama


TID: Personally, you and I have talked a lot about using photography to explore themes and much more abstract aspects than documenting raw facts. I know one of your favorite photographers is Hiroshi Sugimoto, whose images resonate as much (if not more) for their thematic vision or "manifesto" as their composition and content. Can you speak about how you try to apply symbolism and deeper abstract meaning to images in general, and this situation overall?

DH: I’ve always thought of myself as a very literal photographer. My images had traditionally been very straightforward. In the past several years I’ve had this creative shift towards the work of photographers whose work is more about their own ideas. Just studying these sorts of photographers has shifted the direction of a lot of my work. One of the ways I've tried to pursue this has been to make personal notes about my photographs instead of just relying on the caption. I want others to be able to look back at my work and know what I was thinking.

TID:
Such as?

DSH: Here is what I put in my journal for that day.

“i went to the mall just to be there. i was hanging out with friends and shooting some pictures, just documenting the moment for myself. the energy was incredible. i talked to strangers from all over. they shared their joy. they told me they love my city. they talked about hope. they talked about this change in America like people talk about their salvation. this is a religious experience. from the moments before Obama came out, through the swearing in and his speech this amazing thing happened, i noticed all of these people sharing this common gesture. they were raising their hand to shield their eyes from the midday sun as they tried to catch a glimpse of him on the jumbotrons. it reminded me of other religious gestures. to them this was what they had been waiting for, this was the second coming. on this day at this moment, the faithful raised a hand to shield their gaze and witnessed a majestic moment. i’m not a believer, but i know this is what my city needs right now. i feel blessed to have been there.”

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David S. Holloway, 39, is based in New York City Coming from a long line of farmers, carpenters, truck drivers and mechanics, David S. Holloway discovered a career in photojournalism while failing to find one in skateboarding. His curiosity has taken him from the farmlands and forests of his home to photograph the first multiparty elections in Tanzania, the SARS outbreak in Toronto and the punk rock and politics of Washington, D.C.

Currently David’s work explores the tensions inherent of social issues such as race, poverty, violence and the struggle of working-class Americans. His work has been published in Time, Newsweek, Life, Stern, Rolling Stone and Spin. His clients include the Discovery Channel, the Jane Goodall Institute, CARE USA and the History Channel.

David was a 2005 recipient of the Getty Images Editorial Grants for Photography, as well as a top-five finalist for both the 2006 Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize and the 2006 Alexia Foundation Grant. In 2006, he was awarded an honorable mention in the first New Documentarian Award for a Long Term Project. He has also received numerous awards from the White House News Photographers Association and American Photography.

For more of his work, visit his website: www.davidscottholloway.com/

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Next week on TID, we'll take a look at this image by Rich-Jospeph Facun:

tease

As always, if you have a suggestion of someone, or an image you
want to know more about, contact Ross Taylor at: ross_taylor@hotmail.com.

For FAQ about the blog see here:

http://imagedeconstructedfaq.blogspot.com/

Spotlight on Amanda Lucier

In this week's TID, we take a look at this wonderful
image by Amanda Lucier:

amandamain

TID:

Can you tell us how you got the idea for
the photo series, “While You Were Gone”?

AMANDA:

Every few months at the Virginian-Pilot, a different
photographer takes over the photo column “Common
Ground,” and works on a thematically-linked series of
images and text. I was lucky to get a chance to work on
the column during my first year here, and I wanted to find
a part of the community that was underrepresented
in our coverage. I had interned for thirteen months in
Indiana at a very small paper, and I missed the sense of
intimacy and connectivity I had with the community;
I guess I was looking to recreate that experience here, in a
bigger place, at a bigger paper.

The military was a natural community to explore and we
didn't cover military families as much as I thought we should.
So I brainstormed with a friend about how to tell the stories
of military families and the title “While You Were Gone,” just
hit me. I asked myself, “What would it be like to be away from
someone you love for so long?” That seems like a particularly
poignant kind of sacrifice-- not a dramatic, frantic situation,
but a quiet, deep kind of experience, which is what I tend to
look for when I make images.

amandacontact2

TID:

How do you generate ideas for the series, and how much
time per week would you estimate is dedicated to the series.


AMANDA:

I didn’t really generate specific ideas for images I wanted
to make, I just focused on meeting as many different people
whose loved ones were deployed and let stories find me in
way. It was a lot of work. I must have hounded every public
affairs officer (PAO) within a 100-mile radius for the three months
before I began shooting, figuring out who would be deployed
and just getting permission to talk with Family Readiness
Groups.

Note: A PAO is a military personnel assigned to mediating
interactions with journalist.

Once I got permission, though, the stories flooded in.
I would go to events for families, parties, cookouts, even
deployments themselves, just to talk with people and get to
know them. People were overwhelmingly interested in sharing
their lives, showing what life looks like without someone at
home. But I can’t overstate how leg work at the beginning was
crucial in developing contacts and finding stories. I worked
those phones and my email every single day, sometimes going
up the chain of military command if I wasn’t getting a response.
I’m not a super-aggressive reporter, so it was a good experience
to fight for access.


TID:

It takes a lot of time working on this series, so how do you
balance the series with your daily work?

AMANDA:

Honestly, I did a lot of shooting on my days off because family
events and milestones seemed to fall on those days and I never
had to reschedule with a family if I wasn’t on the schedule at
the paper. Additionally, one day a week of my regular schedule
was taken up with writing, researching or shooting. I was given
a lot of freedom by our assignments editor, Bill Kelley, to have
at least one day a week to devote to the column, but I think I
probably worked on it every single day in one way or another.
It’s funny, now that I’ve had two months of only daily assignments,
I’m feeling the void of not having a long-term project and I’m
working to start up some new stories. A project reminds you what
it’s all for when you’re elbows-deep in business portraits and
restaurant reviews.

amandacontact1


TID:

Now, to the image. Can you tell us how you met this
woman and what her story is?

AMANDA:

Mary Brazie called me after I got her name from her Family
Readiness Group leader. We must have talked for an hour and a
half, about her relationship, how she met Tyler, how deeply she
loves him, and how she was faring without him. She told me
that cooking and shopping was the hardest thing without him,
and invited me on a trip to Walmart. I loved the idea of
photographing her in such as prosaic setting; there’s nothing
inherently visual about Walmart, but my intent with the series
was to show daily life, no matter how unromantic, and it seemed
to be the perfect place.

TID:

It'll be helpful to know how you went from this information to
generating this image. Tell us the context of the image, how
you constructed the parameters for achieving it, and the moments
leading up to it.

AMANDA:

I don’t have much profound to say except that I followed this
woman around Walmart with her two kids who fought and
cried constantly, and I photographed them. My heart went out
to her-- two kids, all alone, missing her husband and struggling
with everyday chores like going to the grocery store. I could
hear people around her tsk-tsking that she left a crying baby in
the cart, instead of picking her up, and I wanted so much for
people to be compassionate instead of judgmental; I’m sure they
would have been kinder if they had known her story. She was
doing the best she possibly could with a cranky kid and WIC
coupons on some random weekday morning at a Walmart in
a new town. I just focused entirely on her and her experience,
on how frustrating it was for her, and I made that picture.

I decided beforehand to just shoot her, without getting permission
from Walmart. That can be such a hassle, and either you are
denied or someone follows you around for the whole time and
that changes the dynamic. I figured that if someone approached
us I would just explain the project and we would be fine.


amandacontactfinal

TID:

What was going on in your mind as you made the image?

AMANDA:

I was thinking about trying to show her frustration but also giving
context as to WHY she was frustrated. I was thinking about
framing so you could tell it was a grocery store, but also so it
included the kids. When they started to fight like that, I felt like
it was all coming together, and I kept shooting, kept moving,
until I got it.


TID:

Was there any point of conflict or any objection to you
making this image? If so, how did you handle it.

AMANDA:

It was actually the opposite; Mary completely understood my
project, why I was there and what I needed to photograph.
She acted as if I wasn’t there until we got out to the parking
lot. She wanted her husband to see what she was going through.

amandamain


TID:

Do you have advice for photographers who want to work
on an ongoing photo series like this?

AMANDA:

Find a friend who is also working on a project. I’m lucky because
of the staff at the Pilot, and also because of my neighbor Matt Eich
who pushed me to think about less obvious ways to tell the story of
deployments. Anticipate a ton of work. Photographers need to be
reporters, and the better the research and preparation, the better
the picture making opportunities. We need to stop thinking that
editors and writers will do that part of the job for us. It makes the job
more demanding, but also more focused. Putting effort into research
and conceptualizing stories before we even begin shooting is a best
practice if we consider ourselves to be journalists as well as photographers.
The only limit to what you can do at a newspaper like the Pilot (and,
actually, all the papers I’ve worked for) is what you expect of yourself.

It’s not fun to work hard at a desk and on the phone, but it paves
the way for successful storytelling. I had to be an advocate for the
presentation of the series online as well, and as uncomfortable as it
can be haggling about fonts and JavaScript, no one else will fight as
hard for your stories as you. I learned that from Preston Gannaway.



Amanda Lucier is a staff photographer with The Virginian-Pilot.
She was recently named Virginia Photographer of the Year.
You can view her work at:



http://www.amandalucierphoto.com/



++++


Next week on The Image, Deconstructed, we'll take a look at this image
by David Holloway:

1


As always, if you have a suggestion of someone, or an image you
want to know more about, contact Ross Taylor at: ross_taylor@hotmail.com.

For FAQ about the blog see here:

http://imagedeconstructedfaq.blogspot.com/

Spotlight on Rachel Mummey

TID:

Rachel, so glad you're open to discussing this image. Thanks again.

Can you describe what the assignment was in detail? I don't think most
people know how much is involved in setting up for a Navy homecoming.
It's helpful to hear a little of the process.



Jumper



RACHEL:

The assignment was to cover the homecoming of the USS Eisenhower from
the North Arabian Sea. The first part of the assignment was to ride out to the
ship and photograph the happenings on the ship as it reached the Norfolk
Naval Base. So I flew out on a helicopter to the ship. We were with a PAO
(Public Affairs Officer) the whole time so it was important to be patient but
also try to verbalize to the officer what I needed out of it.

That was a big learning experience. So, for example, he wanted to show us
everything on the ship, but returning sailors were only in particular areas. So
it was necessary for me to communicate with the officer that I needed to be
where the sailors were. Once the ship docked, I was given the option of
covering a speech by the Captain of the ship, or exiting with a group of guys
who were new dads returning to meet their newborn babies who'd they never met.

I chose to go with the new dads. After exiting the ship, it was very crowded. As
more and more sailors exited the ship to greet their families there was kind of a
bottleneck effect. During this time it was almost impossible to make any
pictures. I'm pretty short and when I get in big crowds it becomes really hard
to make pictures because I'm so much lower than everyone. After a while,
things started to die down and the crowd waned. And that's when I first saw
the woman in the dress.




bedred




TID:

Can you tell us, in general, how do you clear your mind in chaotic
situations to focus? It's easy for photographers to lose focus
in hectic situations.

RACHEL:

Every situation is different. My instincts usually tell me to run around
the whole area but what I've learned is that isn't the best approach. In chaotic
situations with a lot of people, sometimes staying still can be more beneficial.
It helps your mind focus on fewer elements and allows you to just watch
people. You may find some more interesting than others, and if you allow
yourself to just sit and watch, those people will appear more clearly rather
than if you're flying around trying to find moments. Let the moments
happen in front of you. So I kind of pick a place, or a person, and stick with
them.

When I do that, it slows me down, enough to where I can think about
what I'm doing and find people who may be more expressive. I guess you
could think about it like riding in a car. The faster the car goes, the less
likely you are to take in the scenery in detail... you may see it but you don't
really see it the way you need to. If you go slow, you can read the signs and
take in the details. When you go slow in a crowd of people, you can read their
faces and interpret the emotions or anticipate their actions.




contact1




TID:

You said that working with the military was a big experience, why is that and
what did you learn?

RACHEL:

It was a big day, a long day. The reporter, Shana, and I started really early in
the morning and didn't get back to the office until around 4pm. There were
just a lot of firsts involved, first time on a helicopter, on an aircraft carrier,
photographing some of that raw emotion that comes with a military
homecoming, all these things were a first time experience for me. I wanted to
do a good job but was completely out of my element. So you do everything
thing you can to prepare. Pack sunscreen, water, granola bars. Wear
appropriate clothing you'll be comfortable in. Make sure you know the PAO's
name and phone number, the meeting point, be early, have proper id.

TID:

For those who aren't familiar with working with PAO's, do you have advice
on working with public affairs with the military?

RACHEL:

PAO's are Public Affairs Officers. They are the Public Relations for the
military. If you cover the military, you'll work with one. They're in charge
and accompany you during your shoot, at least they did when I was there.
They are pretty good about not hovering too much, at least in my experience.
But if they tell you to not do something, then don't do it. If you speak to
them and explain what kinds of pictures you want to take they usually get it.
But you have to articulate exactly what you want to do.

While I was on the Eisenhower, the PAO was super nice and informative. But
he wanted to show me the entire ship. The only problem with that is, that
because it was coming home, most of the ship was empty except the hanger
deck. The hanger deck is where all the sailors on the ship gather as they leave
for their families. I needed to be there. So while my PAO was offering to show
me the mess hall, I just politely asked if we could stay in the hanger deck and
explained there was a lot emotion going on here that I wanted to photograph.

Sailors were excited, nervous, exhausted... When I explained that to him, he
said okay and stood back. Also ask them questions, they are a wealth of
knowledge, and that can assist you in knowing where you want to position
yourself. Military is very ceremonial so it helps to ask how things are going
to go down.




contact3




TID:

I think it's a common assumption that homecomings can be loaded visually
and are easy to shoot, but it's not always the case. Sometimes the emotion
passes quickly and it's difficult to capture. Can you describe how you put
yourself in position to make this image?

RACHEL:

There was a beautiful red headed woman in a vintage dress, complete with
a matching hat and heals. She was alone and waiting. I was about to leave,
but when I saw her I thought, we have to go talk to her.

I found out she was waiting for her fiance, and that she had made the dress
herself. It was a ritual that she does every time he returns from deployment.
They both love the 40's and 50's style of dress. We waited about 45 minutes
before he arrived. As soon as she saw him she ran for him and leaped into
his arms. While the moment happened right in front of me, I think that
spending time with her and listening to her tell the details of their
relationship is what was important to set up for this moment.




contact2




It's important to simplify the frame. In large crowds if you force your
eye to see further away or in a more compressed way, you catch
moments that you may not be able to get to in time. Especially if its
hard to move. If you shoot a scene wide, make sure to watch your
background (I forget this a lot) but its an easier read if you can simplify it.



rach3



rach5



rach4




TID:

In the end, how long do you think it took to make this image, from
arrival to ending?


RACHEL:

I started my day at 7 am, and I made this frame around 2:30 pm. It was
the last scenario I shot. This particular frame was almost the very last
frame.




Jumper


+++++

Rachel Mummey was recognized as this year's College
Photographer of the Year and is currently interning at
the The Herald, in Jasper Indiana. She previously interned
at The Palm Beach Post and The Virginian-Pilot.


Originally from Iowa City, Iowa Rachel has spent the last
two years working towards a Master’s in Photography
from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. During that time her
work has been featured in Photo District News and News
Photographer magazines and online at New York Times
Lens Blog, Multimedia Muse and Kobré Guide websites.
Driven by in-depth narratives, she continues to work as a
documentary photographer on long-term projects about
people and issues that inspire her.

You can view her work at:

http://rachelmummey.photoshelter.com/


+++++

Next week on TID, we'll take a look at this striking image by Amanda Lucier:


1

As always, if you have a suggestion of someone, or an image you
want to know more about, contact Ross Taylor at: ross_taylor@hotmail.com.

For FAQ about the blog see here:

http://imagedeconstructedfaq.blogspot.com/