18 February 2016

Making Decisions in Tamil Nadu

There are two different types of environmental or street portraits, (i) interactive (aka "posed") street portraits, and (ii) so-called candid (aka "natural") street portraits. The vast majority of my portraits in Facing the World are interactive portraits, based on well-established rapport, mutual trust and respect, which includes the explicit permission from the subject to snap her or his portrait and upload it to the web, e.g. to Flickr.

(i) An interactive aka "posed" portrait is generally more than a (candid) snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position which includes a more or less meaningful background. It shows the subject looking directly at the photographer in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer. There is always eye contact between the subject and the viewer:

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; closeup; street portrait; headshot; outdoor; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruchirappalli; Srirangam; Ammamandapam; ghats; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; beggar; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; eyes; eye contact; Indian man; face; short grey beard; poor; horizontal; ethnic; modern India; Shaivite devotee; tilaka mark

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; closeup; street portrait; headshot; outdoor; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruchirappalli; Srirangam; Ammamandapam; ghats; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; beggar; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; eyes; eye contact; Indian man; grey hair; face; grey beard; poor; horizontal; ethnic; modern India; vibhuti; tilaka mark; white ash on forehead; orange turban; orange robe

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; closeup; street portrait; headshot; outdoor; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruchirappalli; Srirangam; Ammamandapam; ghats; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; beggar; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; eyes; eye contact; Indian man; face; white beard; poor; horizontal; ethnic; modern India; orange turban; orange robe

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; closeup; street portrait; headshot; outdoor; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruchirappalli; Srirangam; Ammamandapam; ghats; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; beggar; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; eyes; eye contact; Indian man; face; poor; horizontal; ethnic; modern India; orange hood

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; closeup; street portrait; headshot; outdoor; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruchirappalli; Srirangam; Ammamandapam; ghats; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; beggar; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; eyes; eye contact; Indian man; grey hair; face; grey beard; poor; horizontal; ethnic; modern India; vibhuti; red tilaka mark

(ii) A so-called candid aka "natural" portrait tends to objectify the photographed, usually unaware subject, is often ethically questionable (e.g. paparazzi) and sometimes merely the symptom of a socially incompetent and/or insecure photographer.
At rare occasions, the shooting of such a portrait might be justified when the subject's eyes are busy with something other than the photographer (e.g. reading a newspaper, examining an object, interacting with third parties):

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; closeup; street portrait; outdoor; candid; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruvannamalai; orange turban; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; Shaivite sadhu; old sadhu; Hindu; Hinduism; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; eyes; face; religion; third eye; reading; studying; newspaper; Tamil language; morning light; focused; Hill of Arunachala; girivalam; giripradakshina; red tilaka mark

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; closeup; street portrait; outdoor; candid; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruvannamalai; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; Shaivite sadhu; old sadhu; Hindu; Hinduism; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; eyes; grey hair; face; religion; white beard; white ash on forehead; third eye; reading; studying; newspaper; Tamil language; morning light; orange shawl; focused; Hill of Arunachala; girivalam; giripradakshina; rudraksha beads; vibhuti; rudraksha mala; red tilaka mark

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; closeup; street portrait; outdoor; candid; eyeglasses; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruvannamalai; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; Shaivite devotee; Hindu; Hinduism; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; grey hair; face; religion; vibhuti; white ash on forehead; third eye; reading; short grey beard; Shiva; tilaka mark; tripundra; studying; newspaper; Tamil language; morning light; focused; Annamalaiyar Temple; horizontal

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; rudraksha beads; closeup; street portrait; outdoor; candid; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruvannamalai; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; Shaivite sadhu; old sadhu; Hindu; Hinduism; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; eyes; face; religion; reading; studying; newspaper; Tamil language; morning light; orange; focused; Hill of Arunachala; girivalam; giripradakshina; orange turban; orange robe; long grey beard

Matt Hahnewald Photography; Facing the World; closeup; street portrait; outdoor; candid; Asia; South Asia; India; Tamil Nadu; Tiruvannamalai; Nikon D3100; Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G; travel; travel destination; Shaivite sadhu; old sadhu; Hindu; Hinduism; photography; colour; portraiture; person; people; grey hair; face; religion; vibhuti; white ash on forehead; third eye; reading; red tilaka mark; studying; newspaper; Tamil language; morning light; focused; Hill of Arunachala; girivalam; giripradakshina; plaid

Reactions to candid photography differ between cultures and societies, and even where restrictions on photography are not covered by statute, code, or judicial precedent, there may be resistance to the taking of photographs by individuals. The breach of the social norms can result in opprobrium, danger, and violence, and as such should be noted and respected.


Portrait photographs of Hindu devotees from Tamil Nadu in Matt Hahnewald's
Flickr Album 2016-02a Facing Lively Tamil Nadu

Portrait photographs of sadhus from Nepal in Matt Hahnewald's
Portrait photographs of sadhus from Tamil Nadu in Matt Hahnewald's
Portrait photographs of sadhus from Varanasi in Matt Hahnewald's

Even more ethnic street portraits from all over the world in Matt Hahnewald's

No comments: