How a documentary photographer works

Have you ever wondered how a fit scene came to be? How did they make the scene, what’s behind it?

It happens to me all the time. I’m curious about how the director of the scene set the scene, and how the actors follow the instructions. I’m intrigued by how a scene is developed, settled and then released.

My genre of photography it’s unusual. When I speak with my clients, I tell them I’m a documentary photographer. I capture daily rhythms. I reveal how beautiful life is in its craziness. I do this using a photojournalistic approach, never interfering with the scene that naturally unfolds in front of me.

But sometimes when I explain what I do, people still are left with a look of confusion. Granted, there’s a language barrier in play, but regardless, I think it’s a tough genre of photography to truly grasp. In favor of being polite, people often don’t inquire deeper so that they’re able to fully understand what I do.

A photo can say more than 1000 words.

Perhaps a photograph can portray what I truly do. People see the final result of our work, but they rarely get a glimpse of how it came to be.

Before a session, people often have so many questions…

• How should I dress?
• What about my messy house?
• Should I do something special?
• Will I feel judged?
• Should I move myself around the room to give space to the photographer?
• Should I turn off/on the light?

And I’m sure so many more…

Photography Round-Robin

To help people better understand what Documentary Photography is, I joined a group of amazing photographers here in Atlanta who use the same approach and we had the idea of photographing each other while we work! Our aim is to educate people about our unique approach with photography. We decided to follow each other capture photos of each other while we were doing our job! The extraordinarily talented Kaleen (from Kaleen Enke Photography), the brilliant Kristin (from Kristin Watkins Photography) and myself joined eascother on this adventure. We had a blast!

This is me photographing Kaleen’s family.

Perhaps you’ll be afraid of your kids “fighting” during a session. You may be concerned that you’ll be judged for your kids behavior, or your parenting style…but I confess I’ll confess two secrets to you:

• I love capturing these moments! They’ll become treasures for you and your kids down the road!
• I have two children and they fight 90% of the time!

“I have more than one kid, how can the photographer capture a photo with all of them in the same frame without posing us?”

This is a typical example of a family documentary portrait. Yes, nobody is looking at the camera, and nobody is saying cheese, but this is not the purpose of my approach. All of them are interacting each other, and I am sure that when they will look back at this photo in some years they will remember the moment in that corner of their home. The girls fighting over mom’s lap, the little one staring at the scene, and the dog intimidated (maybe indifferent) to the scene!

This image might look uninteresting, but it says me so much about the rhythms of Kaleen’s family, and how well she equips her kids with independence. Her smile on her face says a lot:

• calm
• happiness
• childhood

Why would I photograph a child sipping from a vintage cup? I found this moment so interesting. I remember when I was a kid, my mom would not ever allow me to drink from a cup like that (in Italy we are a little bit apprehensive). I was so jealous of this kid!

I’m so glad I took this photo. Kaleen shared with me that the cup was important to her, and it broke a week after the session! Now there’s some preservation of the little cup for her.

Yes, I follow the family everywhere, even in the bathroom. And yes, I can go into the tub if I have to catch something I think it’s meaningful.

And luckily I’m not afraid of hight, so I can jump on stool if I need a different point of view!

What I also try to do during my family session is to gift the family with a family portrait. At this point you’ve probably realize that I don’t prefer the posed portraits (even as a kid, I loathed staying still for so long…waiting until everyone in the frame was in the perfect position!). So, I wait until all the components of the family are in the right spot and hopefully are doing something meaningful for them and then I click!

This was my final shot: a photographer photographing another one!

I hope that seeing this behind the scene session makes you feel more confident and comfortable in having your next session with a documentary photographer, hopefully with me!

This photo session was a round robin that included three families of documentary photographers in the area. To see photos of the other families, follow the blog circle to Kristin blog and Kaleen.