Truth and vision

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I feel this is true as I watched the documentaries’ about two very different photographers - Annie Liebovitz and James Nachtwey - who both take the most wonderful pictures.

Cover photographer Annie Liebovitz and war photographer James Nachtwey  

(Left picture is borrowed from jsj.dk/blog and right picture from nationalgeographic.com)

They both seem very aware of the fact that a picture can tell a story, and that in this case the photographer is the author. While Liebovitz tells a story of hidden potential and fairytales, Nachtwey cuts to the core of danger to portrait the truth of war and poverty. They both have a message to tell and a picture to sell - and they know how their audience tick.

One common thing that strikes me as common ground is respect. Both Liebovitz and Nachtwey expressed how they respect the individuals they photograph. And one can see this respect as a silent act of communication between the photographer and photographed. When it comes down to the very base of picture taking there is the two respect and communication.  

Picture by Nachtwey (borrowed from nationalgeographic.com)

Picture by Nachtwey (borrowed from treeatwork.blogspot.com)

Respect and communication is one of the most important common grounds for Liebovitz and Nachtwey, but to compare the two photographers is like to compare fire with water. One might be compelled to think that Nachtwey, with his calm and focused search for the truth, is a more significant person then Liebovitz.  And that might be true, but Liebovitz’ pictures are also significant. She passionately captures the small and big details of the changing society – and the people in it.

Picture by Liebovitz (borrowed from bealencastro.tumblr.com)

Picture by Liebovitz (borrowed from susannekober.wordpress.com)

To wrap it all up in shortness; It is fact that they both document the world that we all live in – and most important- they document the people of thät world. And this fact is one that never must be forgotten: It is all about the people. It doesn’t matter if you are a war photographer as Nachtwey or a cover photographer as Liebovitz, respect for the people is key. To be a good photographer and even a good anthropologist one can learn from Nachtweys calmness and the way he prepares his mind – researches – before he leaves for the war grounds. At the same time there is also much to learn from Leibovitz. Her compassion for the small things that represents her vision of the person in front of her lens and the way she gets under the skin of other people. There is a whole lot to learn from both and a whole lot to learn about the rigth way to see people through a lens.

A portrait + a family portrait

Taking a portrait of a person is something unique.  Suddenly the photographer has the power to define the person in front of him/her. But at the same time taking a picture can be something intimate, a memory of a moment cheered.  As author Susan Sontag wrote back in 1973[1] taking pictures has become a social rite , to connect and cheer, and a tool of power , power in this would where most things only are define by their looks. Both things which I found combined in the act of taking these two exact pictures.

The first picture choose to take, is a picture of my former host mother, Taeko-san, to me only known as Okaasan (Okaasan is Japanese for mother).  

[1] Sontag, Susan: On Photography, 1973, New York, Penguin Books

---

I wanted to take it as a sign of affection and in some kind a way of securing our social bounds – and to remember. Five years ago Okaasan (the mother of three grown children, a wife and co-runner of a dry cleaning shop with her husband) was mother for a year. I am amazed, how she helped me through everyday life of Japan, while she still managed to handle full time work and kept to be the center of a large family.  As I thought of this I realized, that I could not simply just take a portrait.

In my perception of Teako-san, she is first of all Okaasan – and there is no Okaasan without a family, and there is no family without Okaasan. So I choose to take first a portrait and then a family portrait. It may seem strange, but to me there will always be something missing if not Okaasan is surrounded by family.  

Post Scribtum: And so I cheered my little moment of Japanese family life, and yes after I took my picture, I myself had to get in front of the camera, to get my picture taken - the social circel is closed.

Picture taken by former host father Yoshiyuki Kamakura

Neighborhood Hirakata - a place near Sanko

The elder of the neighborhood playing Power Golf and a little chatting

Hirakata is a city noticeable for its university and the many, many foreigners that reside here – temporary or long term.  But other than that Hirakata is a rather average city.  As so almost one fourth of the city population has passed the age of 65[1], if it follows the static’s for Japan as a nation.

And as a fact in a little corner of Hirakata, near the supermarket named Sanko and around 15 minutes on foot from Makino station, a group of elderly Japanese men and women gather. It is 8 in the morning and for the next hours or so they will enjoy each other’s company and a game of Power Golf. They meet 3 times a week (among these days is Saturday where I had the opportunity to meet them) and practice for the tournaments, they tell me. It is not a group only for elderly, but it has just become so, one of men says.

The Power Golf group is not the only group of elder Japanese that have close bounds. It seems that the importance of sticking together is still strong among the seniors. My host mother tells me that around 20 elderly men and women live on their own in the neighborhood, but they are never lonely. The youngest of the seniors will go for planed visits once a week. It is no something they are forced to do, but something they enjoy to do. Everybody keeps an eye out for each other in their little network. Even though a man or woman has no family nearby, they still have they neighbors.  Just like the Power Golfing group will keep each other at company, while all the youngsters are studying, working or just out and about.   

---

[1] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2010.html