This is going to be an all text post, but I'll tell you now, its the one I've thought the most about, and contains things which have affected me the most as a photographer. Its what I would tell you if you knew me well.
A Question:
Are tears of disappointment beautiful?
The most common answer here is no. Witnessing anguish, pain, fear, disappointment... seeing these things make us uncomfortable. In some ways we find them as a society to be unacceptable in the general forum of human interaction. THIS IS A FALLACY. The entire spectrum of human existence and experience and all its emotional ins and outs is worth witnessing and relishing. I am not advocating the nauseating level of sharing that occurs via twitter and facebook, and sometimes even blogs, but I AM advocating the applause for human strength when it is shown so powerfully through images.
The entire spectrum of emotion, and its fullness of depth (and height), the weight of it, is worth considering. Smiles and met expectations are what we pursue, but what of the failed attempts and unrealized goals? Isn't the search, in itself, worth a look? What about the surrender, and acceptance, of the path that must be taken, even if it wasn't what you had in mind?
These things CAN be beautiful in their own right when we change our paradigm of beauty. Its not the flawless, commercial view of life. LIFE IS BIGGER than the limits imposed by flawless advertising. We've somehow become so divorced from the laudable glory of real life that people seem to baulk at the sharing of REAL LIFE, choosing instead the fluff that is of no consequence. This needs to change.
Let me tell you about three images by photographers I respect and admire:
The first is by Sebastiao Salgado. It is a photograph of a boy in Rwanda, after the massive genocide the country endured. The boy is lit from above, and he is falling onto his knees as his hand is raised. His mouth is open in a cry, a sob, and the reality of these events is translated to the viewer so clearly and undeniably that many people weep with him upon seeing the image. Many more turn away or avoid the photograph all together when it is displayed in galleries of his work. His captured pain is at once, moving (and therefore a kind of beautiful).
The second is by Ami Vitale. It is, again, a portrait of a child. In Kosovo, during the conflict there, she captured the pain of a boy who is holding the framed portrait of his father, who has been killed. Though he is sitting with other children, and many adults are standing around him, his blue, tear-filled eyes strike the viewer. The reality of shared and uninhibited emotion is undeniable.
Both of these images make me weep every time I see them and give me goosebumps to describe. They have never left me.
A third image has entered my mind's eye never to leave. It is by Kiera Haddock. A woman this time, strongly, shows COMPLETE emotion. Its during a birth, one of the most marginalized events in female experience.
We are told-- you should feel no pain. Somehow this has translated into ALL female existence. Women are buttoned up in so very many ways. However, I'm so grateful to this woman for showing it. For letting it be documented. Especially documented by a REAL photographer who could capture it. For showing the pain and the redemption and the strength of being honest in one's emotions, the disappointment and its dissapation in the face of a new life. The strength of the "weaker" sex could not have been more clearly stated.
THE REASON THESE IMAGES ARE MOVING AND UNFORGETTABLE IS THAT THEY WERE CAPTURED COMPLETELY. There are two parts to the equation of trueness and the "darker" side of emotion. Firstly, when you have someone who photographs regularly and well, someone who SEES images instead of merely clicking a shutter, the capturing of a scene is composed, analyzed and removed of excess. When this person chooses the settings on the camera, these compositional elements are kept in mind. The emotion deserves the RESPECT of having it captured well. The composition, lighting, ALL things the photographer considers, are aids to conveying the worth of the emotion and experience.
When pain is captured well, it gives the viewer something to aspire to. We aspire to prevent genocide and war in the name of religion. However, with birth, the aspiration isn't to prevent, but to BECOME. Only respect, admiration, and the recognition of the strength of women are the responses to this last image.
Seek something out. Find your own examples of FULL human existence. They must be found amidst the fodder. Anything of worth must be.
(p.s. i left out the images intentionally. You may email me at alisha@alishastamper.com if you really just can't take not seeing them)
