The Image, Rome Feb.17 '09

Today I had lunch with Marco Di Lauro, an acclaimed photographer/photojournalist/documentary photographer currently employed by Getty Images. His reflection upon my work was both encouraging and a wake up call...

Although the idea that "photographs should tell a story" is somewhat engraved in my mind, it wasn't until today that I understood the consequences of that. After showing Marco a sample of work I had done over the years, he was kind enough to be honest with me and point out that the photos most powerful were those where I had taken time to know my subjects. It sounds so logical, but it was difficult to come to the realization that some of my favorite portraits from Bangladesh, although I still find them beautiful, were not anywhere close to the same level as the images of my cousin and his team playing soccer. 

Ironically this is a problem that I have been facing when developing this site. I have been finding it difficult to create concise galleries with images that complement each other. Mainly I have been ignoring the fact that, although taken in the same location, the images may not be bound together by an idea, emotion, or clear theme.

This site is not the same as my previous, where I would place my favorite images from my trips abroad. This is a portfolio where my stories should be told. I am thankful that I had the discipline to stick by my wish to capture the Jakarta International School Soccer (JIS) Season 2008, because otherwise I still might not completely understand what Marco tried to make clear to me. 

I now realize that when capturing the images during the soccer season I was looking for the images before they would appear, instead of working with what was before me and scratching the surface. With JIS I had first hand knowledge, but that might not always be the case and I see now the importance of researching the issues and quirks of a place or people. Marco displays this well in his work in often being somewhere before something significant happens. 

After I arrive in Amsterdam I will make sure to post my series "Bank managers of Dhaka" and "Those that keep the watch". Those are stories I want to tell. I am not much a fan of the term artistic photography, but there is a space on my page where I do want to display single images that may not necessarily tell a story, but where taken for the aesthetic reasons, be it lines shadows or coincidences. 

Marco is an amazing photographer, but he explained to me he is foremost a photojournalist/documentary photographer. These terms weren't concrete in my mind before. I believe now that I want to be a photojournalist, at least to the extent that I want to tell stories with my images. This means taking more time with the subject before I snap the shutter, background reading, and as much telling the story as it is, rather than an aesthetic view of it. 

Comments

[Sylvia Eken]

http://www.zarias.com/?p=284

Keep at it Mike, enjoy the road,
Syllvia