Felix wrote:how do you approach people when you're shooting them? I've always felt really awkward doing it, although regret not having more shots of people.
Felix wrote:I was traumatized a while back, in Guatemala. In one of the villages on Lake Atitlan, I envisaged a gorgeous shot of a bunch of Maya day laborers waiting for their ride to a work site. I asked them in Spanish if I could take a photo of them. They scowled at me, and a couple of them shook their heads no. I don't know why, but it was one of the most mortifying moments I've had traveling.
This is something I struggle with a lot. My sister-in-law's criticized my pictures for being mostly buildings and scenery; all she does is photograph people. For starters, I'm very interested in architecture, so I photograph buildings, but at the same time, I've always wanted to take more pictures of people. The trick is the method of doing it. For me, asking just seems to be most polite, but it doesn't always work (and can be intimidating). I remember being in Turkmenistan at the big market outside of Ashgabat, which was full of fantastic photo opportunities. The problem is, it seemed like pretty much every time I asked one of the women dressed in the fabulously colorful clothing for a pic, they vehemently refused. I think I managed to get one shot of a willing male vendor (but he of course made a ridiculous posed stance), and the rest were all of people that I just happened to photograph as part of a greater scene.
I've known people that don't bother asking . . . they just get out the camera and shoot whenever it takes their fancy. While this is more likely to "capture the moment," it's also often very rude and likely to piss people off. I know in Mongolia many tourists have had rocks thrown at them for taking pictures of people at the Ulaanbaatar market without asking. And when I was in Harlem last year, I remember watching some guy on the street that was just about to physically attack some Italian tourist that had taken his picture.
Kids are easy to photograph, as long as their parents aren't around. Others I find really difficult to approach correctly.