Photography is all about the nouns; all photographs are of a person, place, or thing. Sure, you can hint around at intangibles (adjectives and verbs) with mood and everything, but that interpretation is the audience’s, and what you’re really taking a picture of is just a noun. Maybe it’s my frame of reference from being a person, but it seems to me that the most difficult noun to capture in an image is a person. Places are dynamic, but generally on a much longer scale, and Things are pretty much static, whereas people are changing second to second in millions of very visible ways. How can you capture a still image of something like that? I’m asking seriously, because I certainly never figured it out. The best I can manage is to take cute photos of my dog before she can wander off to lick her butthole on my pillow.
So I am always impressed by those that have managed to photograph people beautifully, like Benoit Paillé, a French Canadian portrait master. His series of portraits of strangers especially surprised and delighted me, and led to me ponder if the subjects were still strangers after he shot them. Don’t you need to empathize with someone to capture their essence? And the best way to empathize is to learn about that person, their life and times, the story they’re in. Or maybe I’ve got it all wrong, and it’s better if you know nothing. I wouldn’t be surprised, since I’ve never managed to shoot a decent portrait in my life. Not even of myself. Whatever that means psychologically.
Benoit Paillé
