Background, Foreground-DOP

When we were in Tibet. the innocence of a child and a an aged person can be seen in both faces. It is in their culture, the sublime spirituality and the serenity is unfathomable. Yet, it takes a great eye to see this as a photographer, this is what separates photojournalism, looking at your lover's face is different as you would look at a stranger. But, the connection is deep empathy. If a photojournalist have empathy, she can detect the subtle stories in the faces. If I can only spend at least a month in Tibet, and just take pictures, and really immerse in that culture. It would show me a lot of human character and journeys. Lots of story. Wow.


Thomas (guy in red jacket) took great pictures while we were in Nepal, Tibet, he had a knack on capturing stories in the picture. He would take pictures of beggars, children. He was a novice, sometimes his exposures are not right, but I can tell from the he angles, the subjects he takes and the surrounding symbols in the picture. I told him he is great in photojournalism, and not everyone can do that. There are landscape, commercial, still, many types. But, I gravitate between nature and photojournalism. I like stories. Even nature, depending how you shoot it, tells amazing stories.


And photos can capture that, or that is if the photographer has the eye to recognize the story behind a face.

When you take a picture, the foreground is your main subject and the background is your support characters. The main subject is the main story and the background tells what the subject is doing and where it is happening. This is why DOP is important, it relates, links your main subject to its surroundings, and supports your story in the picture. But, there are faces and subject, persons that can tell ages and ages, dimensions of humanity, with just a glance. I remember one picture of this face on Life magazine, the piercing eye of this woman, and it just blew me away. Her picture is her story, her face is the muted voice. I cant help but remember the vision, and guessing what the real story was, but the emotions that it evoked must have been riveted forever to many people that have seen that Life Mag cover.