The Eyes Have It

Images of dramatic and/or unusual land-scapes are usually the things that spark my interest in travel to a place away from my home or a foreign land (illustrated by the photograph on the front cover flap), and indeed most of the photographs I return with are of such. But surprisingly enough, the ones that are most compelling and hang out the longest in my archives are those of the people I encountered along the way, especially those who live amidst those dramatic landscapes. I do have a particular style, however, as I prepare to photograph them. I try to photograph them within the context of where I encountered them, and try as much as possible to insure the context is as important to the success of the image as the person himself/herself. The closeup of the eye of an elephant may make for a compelling photograph but I, as the viewer, don't know if the subject was in the wild or in a zoo at the time it was taken. I like elephants too, but my goal is to photograph them within the context of the zoo (that I usually avoid) or the wild.