Photography Week - Taking Pictures of People

Taking pictures of people is mildly awkward at first. You point the camera at someone, and suddenly they are the focus of a bright spotlight. That “long loving look at the real” that we talked about two days ago, can be awkward when you are the real thing being looked at lovingly for a long time.

So when it comes to taking pictures of people, I find that it's easiest to not. The mountains hold perfectly still for as long as I ask them. The animals are less cooperative but they don't feel pressured to look good the way people do. But many people often get nervous when the camera points their way (me included).

This is an awkwardness that must be conquered. Landscapes are beautiful, animals are exciting, but it's the old photographs of people you know that are the most interesting to look at. Who doesn't love sitting down with an old photo album and leafing through it? I remember an afternoon spent with my mother going through her wedding photos. That afternoon was a long loving look at the real.

Taking pictures of people captures moments more than any other kind of photograph. Looking back on them can bring up lots of memories connected to that time, as afternoons spent going through old photographs with my grandmother has taught me. It's worth it to take pictures of people because it helps you remember and preserve your story.

At some point I realized how it important it was to have photographs of people, both staged and candid. In a moment I realized how valuable a friend who always brings their camera out with them is. The next moment I realized that I didn't have such a friend. The moment after that I decided that I would have to become that friend.

So now I'm the person who insists on a group photograph before everyone leaves the party (not every single time, but it's not rare either). I'm the person who plays with the camera settings in the minutes before the cake is brought out to get the camera ready to perfectly capture the moment when you make your birthday wish. I'm taking long loving looks you through my God glasses because I want to remember you in this moment.

By the way, the importance of taking pictures of people includes being in pictures. I don't want to have thousands of pictures of my life and not be in any of them. You can't always be behind the lens, which is why I try to pass my camera off to someone else for a bit at different events – so that I too can be a subject. It feels awkward, but I think it's important.