I’m continuing with a three part series on a trip I recently took to the QingHai country side of western China. You can check out parts 1 and 2 here: Light & Shadows & Colors & Shapes. For some backstory, see below:
Last month I visited GonLung Jampaling Monastery in HuZhu county, QingHai, western China. HuZhu is one of the hidden treasures of western China because of it’s vast and varied minority mix – Mongolia, Tibetan, Muslim, Han. Just to give you an idea of how confusing things can get in HuZhu, the location we visited was a Tibetan Buddhist monastery composed almost entirely of ethnic Mongolians who spoke Chinese. Tibetan Mongolian Chinese speakers whose cousins are probably Muslims. Yeah, exactly.
One thing I’d say to anyone interested in culturally-based photographic fields (travel, humanitarian, storytelling, NGO) is this – Don’t miss the people. Please don’t miss the people. I truly believe if we miss the people we’ve missed out on 99% of the reward that comes from travelling. As a story teller a human experience is almost always the crux of a story. That interaction, respect, and experience is necessary to understanding the story.
Miss the people, miss the stories.
But it’s so much more than telling compelling stories. The people we meet and interact with while travelling will be what we remember most when looking back on our time in a new place or culture – that has overwhelmingly been my experience. Folks that we get to take out for workshops and tours almost always come away deeply touched by a human interaction, remembering it much more than any photo instruction we could have given them. The human interactions, the stories, and the cultural exchanges I’ve had over the years have made a huge impact on my life, all for the positive, and it’s something that I hope people who travel can experience as well.
Make it a point to engage people when you travel. It can be hard, but there are great resources available for those who are interested. I can’t recommend enough that you take a look at the following list of people and organizations. They are by far and away the best in the industry at valuing people and their stories. Beyond that, they are all fantastic photographers – which is not surprising.
Other Photographers…all smarter than me, better than me, & worth listening to:
- The Digital Trekker (Matt Brandon)
- Jerod Foster
- International Guild of Visual Peace Makers
- Rear Curtain
- Gavin Gough
- Ami Vitale
- Jeremy Cowart
- Esther Havens
- Austin Mann
- Zack Arias
My Posts:
This is not the post I really meant to write today, but I feel it’s an important message and one that I’m obviously passionate about. Forgive me for my ‘preachiness.’ I’m just a really big fan of the peoples and cultures – understanding and respecting them.
I hope you guys enjoy the images!
Like all lists, there is no way to make a comprehensive one. Initially the list above was just a hand full of photographers I’ve worked with or knew personally – knew their hearts and their heads and their work. If’ I’m going to recommend people to you, I’d like to do it faithfully. If you know of someone that deserves to be on this list, by all means, add them in the comments below and tell us all why and how they are great at focusing on people. We need more photographers who value people and cultures. A person or group not being on this list is by no means intended to be a conscious or deliberate dismissal of their work or character. As always, add to the conversation below!
Just a few quick additions that I didn’t think really fit into the main writing portion of this blog:
– You might think adding Zack Arias onto resources was a bit of a stretch, but here’s the deal… his ability to legitimately care about the people he photographs in his street photography is what keeps him from getting killed. He might call it street smarts, but it’s a human thing… listening, interacting, relating, respecting. Go to his blog and read between the lines and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
– I’m not suggesting that a person can’t travel appropriately and not focus on people – look at all the great landscape photographers out there. I would say this though, I bet the great ones have fantastic relational skills in order to get to the places they want to shoot – be nice to your fixer and he’s going to be awesome to you and show you that place off the beaten track.
– Again, I don’t want to be preachy here. There are so many people that fall in so many places on this type of thing, all for good reasons. I can only speak from my experience and it’s something I hope that is coming through in this post. Respect and love people even if you don’t get the shot… that’s where the rubber meets the road much of the time.
– The people I mentioned in this blog truly are masters at loving and respecting people. Please check them out. There is HANDS DOWN a real corolation between the quality of the images they are getting and their ability to respect a subject. I’ll go to my grave believe that the more respect you show to a person you want to photograph, the more human expression and reality you are going to get from them… on top of the fact that you’ve not abused the relationship. People first.
Brian
I understand your reasoning for including Zack but think it is kind of a stretch when you leave places like Rear Curtain out of the list and so many others that are into connecting with people.
Ray!
Man, glad you’re here commenting. There are about a billion people that I’ve left off the list – wasn’t meant to be all inclusive nor to say that those NOT on the list are bad examples, people, or not doing great things in respecting people. These are just the folks I thought of off the top of my head and I wanted a wider swath of folks vs. just travel guys/girls. I guess no list is complete, nor completely accurate. I just listed the folks right off the bat that I had worked with or know personally… of which RC should be added!
I agree. Rear Curtain should totally be added. Will do that as soon as I get to the office today. As should Gavin Gough, Ami Vitale, David DuChemin, and many more. Any other folks you guys know of, please let me know and I’d love to add them!
I’ve listed some folks on this blog that I think are really great at what they do when it comes to respecting people – In particular I’d suggest you check out Esther Haven’s work and the work that Jeremy Cowart has done in Haiti – important stuff that revolves around respecting people.
I’d like to ask, what other people have you guys seen that are good at this? Would love to know of more…
Thanks for the mention above Brian, and I can’t echo your words enough. Ever since I was a little child, I was told stories came from PEOPLE, no matter if the stories themselves didn’t involve any humanity at all. Engagement between peoples of all walks of life keep this world turning, and it’s what makes (at least) my stories more interesting. To be a photographer is not to necessarily be this lone wolf creative type that slinks into the public sphere every now and then. No, it is to be versed in life, and subsequently, others’ lives. A short visit with a stranger or a longer conversation with a friend or colleague you’ve known for years will result in knowledge and understanding that will ultimately make you a better photographer, from both an interaction perspective and an image quality stand point.
I recently had some great conversations with Brian Smith (http://briansmith.com/), a celebrity editorial portrait/feature shooter, and he’ll say before anything else that getting to know your subject is one of the most important things we can do to creatively convey a greater visual understanding of the person(s) in the shot. I recommend checking his work out, as well as his new book on portrait photography–which places heavy emphasis on the engagement/interaction process of being a storytelling photographer.
Man – sounds like a great conversation with Brian Smith. I agree. One thing I wanted to really add to this is that this is a part of photography well outside of the travel realm that people should understand.
I get a lot of business because of who I am and I’m good at relating to people and WANT to know them versus just take their pictures. I think spending such a long time in the travel realm has really drilled into me that I must, always, seek to bridge the gap of understanding between me and my subject.
There might be a day when I can no longer be a photographer, but there will never be a day when I’m no longer a human.
Thanks again for your comment Jerod. Always a pleasure.
I’d really like to hear from someone on this that has no ties to the travel, NGO, humanitarian world at all – this has obvious value in all aspects of photography…
Ahhhh… the first and sixth images, fabulous motion and sense of place. Clearly the people + the activity make these photographs.
Totally agree about telling the stories of people in different cultures. However… I do think photographers need to spend some time studying the local culture, whether that’s around the world or around the corner. Arias knows the culture of the streets where he’s making images, and he’s worked out how to act in that culture. In a place where I’m familiar, Kurdistan, I have far more leeway to make portraits than my male friends. It just would not be cool for them to make photographs of women or girls in a lot of circumstances. So make portraits yes… but avoid acting like a jerk.
Erin – I was hoping you’d chime in on this one.
I totally agree with what you are saying here. I’ve always an advocate of getting to know the local cultures. If you see the links I’ve posted above, I write about it pretty extensively in those articles.
I know exactly what you mean about leeway in making portraits. Where I live in Tibet there are areas that I’d not even touch because it’s socially out of bounds, despite how much respect I might show for people.
As always, one of my mottos in life is “Don’t be that guy!”… or… don’t be a jerk.
Thanks again for your thoughts. Really glad you brought into perspective a very unique situation.
Brian
I bet it’s harder for you too, because you’re rather obvious in any setting.
Yeah, perfect motto… Don’t be that guy or gal!
What you said about respect is so key. I think the benefit of time is important too. You’ve created a situation where you invest in your community and show respect over a period of time. I’m sure that will make a difference in the long-term, and some of cultural walls will come down. I suppose that’s also why it’s important to make good friends when you travel. Local friends often take big risks in introducing someone like me to their inner circle of friends and family. So, so important to act in a way that’s worthy of that trust.
Love to see you posting more, Brian. Great stuff here. Thanks.
“Worthy of that trust” – great choice of words.
Jerod, thanks for sharing these beautiful, thought-provoking photos with us! Marsha and Ned, Paradise, Texas