Humans in action
I had the good fortune to photograph a conference in Kraków, Poland. Let me share a few photos of the wonderful humans my lens caught there.
My mantra these days is that I must practice photographing humans. It's a special challenge: the subject creates a relationship between the person being photographed and the photographer. There are legal challenges, too. In today's Europe, you can't just take a photo of someone in the street or at the railway station: you need their permission. If you plan to publish the photo, it's required by law; if you just want to take the photo and keep it private, it's good manners.
A conference is a special opportunity. People there know they will be photographed and they know the photos will be published. If the hosts are meticulous, they even get them to sign a form where they officially allow this.
The conference in question was Meet Central Europe, one of the smaller regional events about organized translation. We also celebrated Pink October, the breast cancer awareness month, through locinpink, which is an initiative for this within the translation community.
So, when it turned out the event does not have an official photographer, I jumped right in. I had no flash with me but then you wouldn't use a flash when people focus on something else, it's distracting at best and annoying at worst. So it's best if you just work with the light and the subjects you get. For me, it meant I had to photograph active humans in low light.
Humans are beautiful but they do not always appear in their most advantageous form. The challenge with public photos is that the subject must like the photo, too. So, I can't just snatch a shot of any facial expression: I need to use the rapid-fire mode, something that surprised the friend who used my camera to take the group photo. And then choose the best photo or delete all of them.
From the conference, I have loads of photos that show someone on stage talking or members of the audience intently focusing on the presenter. And then there are other photos that show a bit more action.
For this post, I chose photos that tell a story or show an interesting interplay between the light and the human figures. I'll write more about each photo below the gallery.
Portrait of a friend. Dena's face is lit from the right side, hence the chiaroscuro effect. Normally, I don't like taking posed photos but it isn't always bad and this photo is an example of that.
Action. Csaba looked up something and now tells the people around him about it.
Action. Oleg dons a costume to keep the attention of his audience.
Is this action or a portrait? Aleksandra is clearly interested in what is being said on stage, but there is someone blocking the view.
Action. Diana hands the floor to Carlos but first the mic and the headset needs to be migrated.
Geoffrey introduces the next talk, which will be given by a friend of his, and the anticipation shows on his face.
The attentive faces are well visible despite the lens facing direct light.
Three levels of lighting in this photo. The stage wall behind István is black; Matouš stands in front of a concrete wall section, and there is this lamp lighting up the front of the stage.
You can tell that Nertila is talking about a topic close to her heart. It's Pink October, breast cancer awareness month and her initiative called "locinpink" that brings this awareness to the translation community.
One is posed, another is not.
Another example that it isn't always a capital sin if your subjects know they are photographed.
Two Spaniards in low light.
Action. What will Agnieszka ask about?
Action. A typical scene at a conference: two acquaintances exchange opinions.
Action: Aleksandra takes a selfie with the boys. I get the natural picture because they focus on the selfie, not me.
Mocking the selfie: focusing on the phone that takes the photo.