PEOPLE
In my opinion photographing people is one of the all-time favorite practices of photographers old and new. Studying my brothers and sisters of humanity is by far one of the most stimulating ways to get to know and to learn about people. This can also include other animals. What makes a person visually or “photographically” interesting can vary as much as any subject in photography. I have seen so many sights, monuments, museums, landscapes, skies, planets, eclipses, tragedies, and other natural forms of beauty. When it comes to people, I believe that you never run out of people no matter where you go in this world. As I age in this process of photographing people and looking at nature I have come to the following conclusion: There is an array of the different ways that an individual can appear on earth. Based upon heights, weights, orientation to movement, energy, physical structure, and shape of the physical components, I am convinced there are a finite number of “types”. I become so open that I see these characteristics across cultural, racial, and gender lines. The older and more experienced I become, the more I feel as if I have seen people before in similar roles. As I continue to mature, peoples’ visual components often remind me of someone I have already met or know. It’s just a personal perception, but entertaining, nonetheless. There is a good reason for the term Doppelganger. Maybe it is true that “the whole world really is a stage and that all of us are really playing a part.” This can also mean that many of us play the same parts in different locations. By being these characters is how we really learn about the behavior of people. I guess that the environment, class, and wiring make those who look similar different from one another. These are delightful observations and remind me of this special area of photography. We have come to trust complete strangers with our cameras to capture us in unique times and locations. It creates a brotherhood of sorts where we are all happy to contribute to the magic of this wonderful medium. Regardless of whether you use a camera or not, it seems as if we digitally record all the faces, and memories of those faces in our heads. We can go days at a time seeing people we have never seen before but remembering those that we have. Or is it just me?
