Today I was browsing through a old edition B&W magazine from 2000 and came upon to Jock Sturges photographs. The 2 shots were part of and advertisement promoting a photography gallery but they got me thinking. Sturges who I have talked to numerous times records images of power and beauty amongst the main groups he photographs, the naturists of France and California. Why not try to show the true beauty of the average person in Asia. The people of the Mae Sot dump even thou they live in appalling conditions are beautiful, the people in Klong Toey slum live in poverty but have a regal beauty to them as well.
A friend from the past told me how he despised people and thought them evil, not worthy of photography etc. I feel the opposite of my old friend (probably why we parted from each other), people are the most important subject for photography, and have the most compelling stories to tell. I should be trying to tell those stories with my large format portrait work. I should be showing the underlying beauty of all people, regardless of economic condition, gender, age, religion, how photogenic they are or nationality. There is always an underlying beauty to human beings, what they are is enough, it makes them beautiful.
When I return to Asia with my 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 cameras in the coming years, I want to try to tell that story, the story "People Are Beautiful".
I found this quote online when I did a search on the subject. It was written by Markus Zusak a Australian writer.
“Sometimes people are beautiful.
A friend from the past told me how he despised people and thought them evil, not worthy of photography etc. I feel the opposite of my old friend (probably why we parted from each other), people are the most important subject for photography, and have the most compelling stories to tell. I should be trying to tell those stories with my large format portrait work. I should be showing the underlying beauty of all people, regardless of economic condition, gender, age, religion, how photogenic they are or nationality. There is always an underlying beauty to human beings, what they are is enough, it makes them beautiful.
When I return to Asia with my 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 cameras in the coming years, I want to try to tell that story, the story "People Are Beautiful".
I found this quote online when I did a search on the subject. It was written by Markus Zusak a Australian writer.
