She was with her mother and grandmother at the farmers' market last Saturday. The two older ladies had headscarves on and I thought maybe they were Muslim, but more probably Indian now that I think about it. Maybe the young girl saw a person who was causing a disturbance or irritating in some way. Vallejo is a town with lots of problem people. The girl was walking slightly ahead of her two companions, and perhaps she is an explorer, a new wave of female independence in Indian/American society: a look of curiosity and assessment on her face. I hope that is it and not one of apprehension.
Sometimes, as in this picture, I paint out the backgrounds if they are really distracting from the expression on a person's face. This girls expression, with the shadow creeping in from the side and darkening her eyes and mouth - the expressive features - reminded me of a Rembrandt. Rembrandt never had a farmers' market jumble of detail in the background of his paintings to distract from the inner life mystery of his sitters and the visual dialog between portrait and viewer. This young girl deserved his treatment I decided. I usually suppress a lot of detail for the same reason, and consequently, as you have certainly noticed, sharp focus is often lacking. Lots of surface detail is interesting to most people, but to me it feels like lots of noise, and not what I want the pictures to be about. And really, pictures tell as much about the photographers' choices and inner lives, as of the subjects' lives themselves.
Anyway, thanks for the comment. That young girl... viva! Good luck to her in her life. Maybe she'll be like you.
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Date: 2014-03-26 08:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-26 03:19 pm (UTC)Sometimes, as in this picture, I paint out the backgrounds if they are really distracting from the expression on a person's face. This girls expression, with the shadow creeping in from the side and darkening her eyes and mouth - the expressive features - reminded me of a Rembrandt. Rembrandt never had a farmers' market jumble of detail in the background of his paintings to distract from the inner life mystery of his sitters and the visual dialog between portrait and viewer. This young girl deserved his treatment I decided. I usually suppress a lot of detail for the same reason, and consequently, as you have certainly noticed, sharp focus is often lacking. Lots of surface detail is interesting to most people, but to me it feels like lots of noise, and not what I want the pictures to be about. And really, pictures tell as much about the photographers' choices and inner lives, as of the subjects' lives themselves.
Anyway, thanks for the comment. That young girl... viva! Good luck to her in her life.
Maybe she'll be like you.