I believe that the most compelling photographs capture an instant of non-verbal communication perfectly. What I think makes this idea so interesting is that the breadth and depth of a non-verbal exchange come together in the blink of an eye. Capturing it requires either the ability to of the photographer to illicit this more comprehensive communicative response from the subject, phenomenal predictive skills, the patience to take a thousand (or more) shots, or just the good luck to have perfect timing. Great photographers probably have to have it all.
I often see evidence of subliminal communications in our interactions with animals. In these situations, verbal language, our principle tool for person-to-person communication, is one of our least powerful communication assets. Sure, you can bark out a few commands, but animals merely tend to respond emotionally and instinctively. They do not endeavor to interpret our more complicated desires, articulated in the text of the command. And, to be clear, I suspect that their instinctive reaction is still really related to the subtext of (sub-oral) communications carried by the nature of our verbal commands. When we capture an event that reveals one of these more interesting non-verbal communicative exchanges, between either people or people and animals, the photograph is almost always more compelling.
I think the picture of the girl above illustrates the effectiveness of capturing that hidden subtext of communication. The photo was not an attempt to immortalize beauty or hold onto a memory, and in fact, I believe much more is going on: she's talking to us non-verbally. The camera, with its fantastic ability to freeze patterns of non-verbal communication, caught nuances of physical expression that speak to me through the photo. Unfortunately, I just can't completely make out exactly what she's "saying." And that is why I think her photograph warrants a continued look.
Moments before this shot, Daniel was moving about a local playground trying to take photographs of various kids eating their lunch and exuberantly expressing their youth. He wasn't really working to get their "permission" (we use this term to loosely to denote informal cooperation with the subject, rather than as a legal process) for the shot as Collin tends to do. Instead, he was almost "stealing" (another euphemism for taking the shot without the subject's cooperation) the shots. Several other young girls found his style so invasive that they were on the hunt for him with their lunches, to pelt him with food. It would have been terribly funny if it weren't so terribly frustrating for Daniel. Ordinarily, Collin (my other photographer son) can move about with his camera without drawing significant attention to himself or his photographic intentions. Daniel is still developing this skill. On this day, Daniel's in-your-face style had the kids organizing a counter attack. It wasn't safe to be a young photographer on the playground that day. In the case of this girl however, the shot was in fact given and not, as we might say, "taken". But, to be sure, she gave her permission conditionally. This, I believe, is the content of her non-verbal exchange with Daniel, while the photograph was captured (that is … given).
Her eyes held that intensity of her specific focus. They appear to be looking through the camera lens and into the eyes of the photographer. I think the photographer managed to focus her attention directly on him, and thereby removed her attention from herself - in the act of being photographed. It's funny, I think really great shots occur when the subject is focused on the photographer to the exclusion of the camera. I think the next-best shots occur when the subject is focused on something that interests them. The weakest shots occur when the subject holds their attention on the act of being photographed, or when they lack a focus for their attention. In the most compelling pictures, the future viewer of the photograph feels the weight of the subject's attention right through the photo. When the subject, as in this wonderful girl, is looking past the lens into the eyes of the photographer, we appear to be rewarded with this effect.
Almost every other component of her body and posture further reinforces her begrudging participation in the shoot. Her arm and hand, as they push back her hair, seem to tell Daniel that he does not get unlimited time to capture the shot. Though she doesn't appear to be planning to imminently pitch the roll at Daniel, she does want him to understand that he is interrupting her lunch. I would expect a similar posture if he was a pesky fan asking a star for an autograph. She's saying, "yes, I'll give it (the autograph) to you, but you are imposing on my privacy in order get it. Kindly accept it with my good wishes and please move on!"
The non-verbal exchange might mean something else entirely. At this point, only the girl knows. The interesting point is, the physical subtext of this visual dialogue makes the photograph interesting and worth additional looks.
This is our job as photographers; to capture more than images from the world around us. We need to use the camera to explore the richness of visual communications.
