When I found this doll I fell in love! It’s eyes and face where so perfects, so “human” that I had to photograph it. So I took it with me.
The only problem was how to do it. What context would be? What kind of story it will tell us?
The answer came next day. When I wrote the text about the Feminine Genital Mutilation. This practice is so horrifying that an innocent face would be the right answer. And it was the doll.
The background was easily decided: It has to be neutral, heavy, black.
And the light has to be as smooth as the face. So I use the 2 meters wide window of my living room, with a white and defuse shade on it. To be sure of the blackness of the background, I tilt it a bit, so that the light wouldn’t get it strait. And, as a contrast control, a white reflector on the left did the job.
I put her (the doll has became human) facing a little to the right, trying to get some help from a distant and, maybe, unattainable future.
But I wasn’t satisfied with it. The hand was flatten with the head and the head with the background. And didn’t have the impact I wanted.
I added a 150 W lamp over her head, on the left and a little behind. Not just give me the back light it needs but also a contrast between the color temperature of the daylight and the lamp, warming it a little.
The head was faced to the lens, looking strait to the viewer. This way, no one could ever forget her eyes and the ask for help of text and image together.
She is there, on a shelf.
And I can’t look at her and do not remember of all of those girls in Africa, Middle East, Asia, and also Europe, forced to do this barbarian tradition. I hope it works with the viewers as it works with me!
After all, it’s not difficult to do a photograph. As long as the camera is working and the subject is there, we just have to push the button.
But knowing what we want to tell helps a lot!
Texto e imagem: by me
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário