Dan Bailes

Stories, Musings & The Vision Thing

Tag: taking photographs

Window on the Soul: The Portraits of Dawoud Bey

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On August 14, 2012

In creativity, photography

Dawoud Bey

Dawoud Bey was hoping to be a jazz drummer when he went to see “Harlem on my Mind” and was struck by the images of everyday people displayed on the museum walls.  As a 16-year-old he’d just received a camera and was inspired to do his own street photography in Harlem.  That collection of work, exhibited in 1979 as “Harlem, USA,” was the beginning of an impressive career exploring the photographic portrait.  A retrospective of “Harlem, USA” is now at the The Art Institute of Chicago. This image “Man in a Bowler Hat” was taken at that time.  

A Man in a Bowler Hat, 1976

Notice the man’s open, friendly and curious expression and how the gesture of his hand at the bottom of the image adds a sense of relaxed  elegance.  Those elements give voice to the subjects’ personality and character and are a hallmark of a Dawoud Bey photograph.

The image below, taken a few years later, has all the elements of his recent color work:  the girl is posed, as are all his subjects, but natural and relaxed.

A Girl in a Deli Doorway, 1988

Unlike street photographers who try to capture an unguarded moment, Bey wants his subjects to participate in the photograph.  “A Girl in a Deli Doorway” is at once simple and complex.  She offers a wistful curiosity tempered by uncertainty.  While she appears open and engaged, she’s also holding back, and partially hidden with her hand closed. Look at the background and framing.  It’s very dynamic, with strong angles that take you into the background and the hard vertical of the wall that brings you back to the girl.

Just capturing a person’s essence with your lens is difficult enough – but working with teenagers?  Once again Bey has a deft touch.  Here are some portraits of high school students from his exhibit, Class Pictures.

This work led to a position as artist-in-residence with Emory 
University.  Part of his time there was spent in portraying the University’s commitment to diversity, called The Emory Project.  To make his point, he posed unlikely couples such as the ones below.

Kali Ahset-Amen, Sociology Grad Student and Geshe Ngawang Phende, Buddist Monk
Paula Biegelsen, Student and Shirley Simms, Custodian
Here’s a link to a video showing Bey working on the Emory Project.  Here’s a link to Bey’s website, which has lots of images of his other work.  In all, you can see a real celebration of everyday people – and a deep respect for honoring their place in the world.  

Dauwoud Bey
I like seeing the world though his eyes and meeting the people who inhabit it.  It reminds me of how much we have in common with each other.  And about those sometimes subtle qualities that we all share on our journey though our days.   

Opening to Grace at Richmond Hill

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On June 6, 2011

In creativity, photography, vision

A few weeks ago, I decided to spend an afternoon wandering around the Church Hill area of Richmond.  Some of the city’s oldest homes are there, by the church where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech about liberty or death.  I happened upon this place called Richmond Hill, intrigued by it’s well-worn brick wall, a barrier that made me curious about what lay beyond.  



I wandered into the entry way and asked a man there, “what is this place?”  He explained it was a former convent and now a religious retreat, devoted to the city of Richmond and healing.  He said they had a lovely garden and a labyrinth and, noticing my camera, offered that I might enjoy taking pictures there.  When I asked the lady at the desk, she welcomed me in.  



It was warm, overcast with hints of rain all afternoon.  The moist air was rich with birdsong as I opened my eyes to what was there, and after a while, I could “see.”  As a filmmaker, it would be the sum of all the pieces of that experience, captured moment by moment.  Each to be revealed and honored.  Later I would find an order for the images and create a slide show.  You’ll find a link below. 

I was on a journey, inward towards a stillness I sometimes feel after yoga or meditation.  And outward towards a quiet beauty, a serenity marked by the weight of years… and all the seekers who tread upon these paths.   




Photographing a place that “speaks” to me puts me in a space without time or borders.  There’s just that fragment that beckons, catches my eye, and the time spent is without measure, save what is captured as a way of remembering.  



And I position myself to find the right framing, sense the tonalities and structures that will form the composition, and find an exposure that blends the light dark values.  I can feel when the framing works, almost hear a click as it locks in, and rarely crop after the fact.  I may shoot a few different exposures, especially when I’m using shadow and light as a means to focus the eye.  And perhaps a modest color correct, mostly to add a little contrast and richness to the image.  






These images are part of a larger set I’ve placed on Flicker, called Richmond Hill.   If you go there, you’ll get a more complete sense of that afternoon.  Opening to grace.