[Leica] for Nathan

[kine_scope at yahoo.com (Liam Maloney)]

Hi Nathan, thanks for looking at my pictures. They will form part of a group 
show called "Montreal en Priere", an outdoor exhibit that is patr of the 
annual Festival of Light here in Montreal. Regarding your question, I didn't 
find it difficult to gain the trust of my subjects. I did a healthy amount 
of research before meeting the people I photographed. I was very up front 
about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to portray people. I spent a lot 
of time at each location and gradually became part of the furniture. I moved 
slowly and worked with one camera and a couple lenses. I dressed 
appropriately and tried to behave in a way that respected the sanctity of 
the places I was working in. Most importantly, I respected and admired my 
subjects for showing me their faith.
 
If you are interested in working on a project like this, talk to the 
ordinary people that stream out of the temples and churches on weekends and 
prove to them that you are genuinely interested in telling their story. You 
shouldn't have too much trouble. The real stumbling block is LIGHT! Many of 
the places I worked in had a combination of sodium halide / fluorescent 
fixtures that cast very unflattering shadows and colours on people's faces. 
Using flash is out of the question - way too intrusive, so you just have to 
wait for those little gifts that come your way once in a while. Really, the 
guidelines are the same for almost any photo project involving people. 
Respect, transparency and, whenever possible, "shoot from the shadow side"!
 
I have a lot to learn and a there is so much that I want to photograph, but 
those rules seem like good starting points for any project. Thanks again for 
looking. I'll be posting more images as well as captions when I have a 
chance (midterms are making my life difficult right now!)
 
Liam
 

                
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
 Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term'