Photo Phriday - April 1, 2011
Wow! We're all the way into April already eh? And this weeks Photo Phriday falls on April Fool's of all days! If I had looked at my calendar I might have realized this little fact more then five minutes ago and so I might have prepared something intentionally misleading and hilarious for you. Instead, all I have is political photos. I know, I know. Such high expectations only for you to be let down. My sincerest apologies. Still, for all that, I think there might some separate justification for bringing you yet another political entry into Photo Phriday. What justification is that? Well, if you happen to be living in Canada you likely already know that we are, once again, into election season!
Yes, it's that fabled time of year (and not every year) where we listen to six weeks of political posturing followed by one day of voting and then we get to see what direction the country will be headed for the next three to five years. At least, that's the way it's regularly supposed to work but for reasons not really worth getting into here we're actually on our fourth election in seven years. Some pundits out there would have you believe that we're tired of the electoral process. Personally, I would prefer to look at this situation as one where Canadians are unsure of what kind of political direction they want go and so, through our elected Members of Parliament, are coming back to the polls more frequently to try and get to that understanding.
Regardless!
I've stalled enough for now and haven't really talked about photos or how to shoot them at all. Again, my bad. but to my own ends, here're three faces you should probably keep an eye on for their upcoming elections:
Jack Layton
Dwain Lingenfelter
And Noah Evanchuk
Quick note: I say elections rather then election because Lingenfelter is provincial and isn't involved federally. That's a separate can of worms and one I'll save for another day.
Alright, so, now that I've once again got the politics of photography out of the way, is there anything worth talking about photographically here? Well, the biggest thing that unites these images, in my mind is my intent in capturing a very specific instant in time. Politics is, in a very broad stroke, a lot like sports when you're shooting. At least insofar as if you miss the instant you want you can't reset and try again. However there are other difficulties involved when shooting politics which aren't present in sports. Most noticeably when talking about emotions.
In sports and any sports photos of mine you may have seen, you will probably notice something about them if you look closely. All the emotions are as intense as they are real. Whether they are looking where they're about to go, celebrating a loss, a victory, a game well played or just keeping the eye on the ball their emotions are on their sleeves. You know what they are feeling and why. Perhaps this is why we connect so well with sports stars? We understand the emotions they feel because we are feeling them on a more simple level at the same time.
Politicians, on the other hand, are a completely different bunch to photograph. While athletes may be aware of the camera on them, during game time, they only care about the game and not how their emotions are reflected through a series of refracted pieces of glass. To politicians though - knowing the camera and knowing what emotions you are reflecting - this is their game. If they let the wrong emotion shine through then they can be fodder for any sort of accusation out there, at least if the emotion is right. And, we implicitly, as an audience, understand this which may be why we struggle so much to connect with politicians. We know that what they portray may not truly represent what they feel.
So I invite you again to look at the three images above, of Jack, Dwain and Noah. All three photos are of produceable and sellable quality but only one, in my opinion, gets to the heart of the man behind and gives a story all by itself:
Dwain is composed, professional and slightly amused. He smiles at the question he is being asked and is already formulating an answer. I've captured an image here but not a story. Dwain already has his own story in mind.
Jack is closer, but still not there. In this instant you can see the cheery man that has made him a favourite amongst voters. Positive but opinionated and strong, recovering from a surgery, there is a story here but, again, mostly one to his manufacturing.
Finally is Noah. As the crowd cheers him on he prepares himself to speak and collects himself. There is optimism there and, more importantly, there is that instant where he is not a politician in our eyes. Instead he is one man gathering his courage before the onslaught of cameras, media and a vast public with more opinions then it has people.
To understand and truly respect the politician this is, ideally, how all your shots should turn out. After all, anyone can get a shot of a politician but can you actually capture the person inside the politician?
More food for thought! I'll be back (hopefully) next week with more brain candy!
Yes, it's that fabled time of year (and not every year) where we listen to six weeks of political posturing followed by one day of voting and then we get to see what direction the country will be headed for the next three to five years. At least, that's the way it's regularly supposed to work but for reasons not really worth getting into here we're actually on our fourth election in seven years. Some pundits out there would have you believe that we're tired of the electoral process. Personally, I would prefer to look at this situation as one where Canadians are unsure of what kind of political direction they want go and so, through our elected Members of Parliament, are coming back to the polls more frequently to try and get to that understanding.
Regardless!
I've stalled enough for now and haven't really talked about photos or how to shoot them at all. Again, my bad. but to my own ends, here're three faces you should probably keep an eye on for their upcoming elections:
Jack Layton
Dwain Lingenfelter
And Noah Evanchuk
Quick note: I say elections rather then election because Lingenfelter is provincial and isn't involved federally. That's a separate can of worms and one I'll save for another day.
Alright, so, now that I've once again got the politics of photography out of the way, is there anything worth talking about photographically here? Well, the biggest thing that unites these images, in my mind is my intent in capturing a very specific instant in time. Politics is, in a very broad stroke, a lot like sports when you're shooting. At least insofar as if you miss the instant you want you can't reset and try again. However there are other difficulties involved when shooting politics which aren't present in sports. Most noticeably when talking about emotions.
In sports and any sports photos of mine you may have seen, you will probably notice something about them if you look closely. All the emotions are as intense as they are real. Whether they are looking where they're about to go, celebrating a loss, a victory, a game well played or just keeping the eye on the ball their emotions are on their sleeves. You know what they are feeling and why. Perhaps this is why we connect so well with sports stars? We understand the emotions they feel because we are feeling them on a more simple level at the same time.
Politicians, on the other hand, are a completely different bunch to photograph. While athletes may be aware of the camera on them, during game time, they only care about the game and not how their emotions are reflected through a series of refracted pieces of glass. To politicians though - knowing the camera and knowing what emotions you are reflecting - this is their game. If they let the wrong emotion shine through then they can be fodder for any sort of accusation out there, at least if the emotion is right. And, we implicitly, as an audience, understand this which may be why we struggle so much to connect with politicians. We know that what they portray may not truly represent what they feel.
So I invite you again to look at the three images above, of Jack, Dwain and Noah. All three photos are of produceable and sellable quality but only one, in my opinion, gets to the heart of the man behind and gives a story all by itself:
Dwain is composed, professional and slightly amused. He smiles at the question he is being asked and is already formulating an answer. I've captured an image here but not a story. Dwain already has his own story in mind.
Jack is closer, but still not there. In this instant you can see the cheery man that has made him a favourite amongst voters. Positive but opinionated and strong, recovering from a surgery, there is a story here but, again, mostly one to his manufacturing.
Finally is Noah. As the crowd cheers him on he prepares himself to speak and collects himself. There is optimism there and, more importantly, there is that instant where he is not a politician in our eyes. Instead he is one man gathering his courage before the onslaught of cameras, media and a vast public with more opinions then it has people.
To understand and truly respect the politician this is, ideally, how all your shots should turn out. After all, anyone can get a shot of a politician but can you actually capture the person inside the politician?
More food for thought! I'll be back (hopefully) next week with more brain candy!