| Posted in » slice of life. china.
I realize it’s been a few months since I was in China, but I’ve only recently finished processing the personal images I took while I was there. So I am only now sharing a few of the best images I got when I was out and about in the gallery below. Click on any image to enlarge it. A few have been featured on this blog already and a few are new. As always, all images © Cat Norman Photography. Please do not steal from me.
The Glance.
Man at a local market. Tianjin, China.
“What is your favorite thing to take pictures of?”
That’s a question I get a lot. I always give the simple and true response – Hands down. People.
I explained in an old post how my father taught me the value of the human element inside a photo (go here to read it), but now I want to elaborate on the one thing that I can never get enough of in my photos… the one thing that makes me keep coming back for more… the one thing that makes me utterly incapable of tearing my eyes away…
What I’m talking about is ‘the glance’.
‘The glance’ is the look that I very occasionally am fortunate enough capture on a subject’s face just as they gaze in my direction. It is unique from any other look, because the person hasn’t yet had time to become naturally self-conscious in response to the camera. Because of this, I feel as though I am recording them as who they really are. The honesty of their gaze opens up a window to their soul and the image I capture transcends the moment to become totally timeless.
But that’s not all of it. That’s too simple. Even though I am trying, I really can’t fully explain what it is that is so captivating to me about these photos. I know from experience that few other people look at these photos and feel the same connection to them that I do. But I feel the gaze of the person as though they were really still sitting in front of me and have a somewhat emotional response. I would go so far as to guess that it is because I often feel as though the subject is peering into my soul in the same way I say that I can see into theirs. I feel as though they are truly seeing me, and not the camera. And when they see my soul, they lock onto it with that questioning gaze that makes me feel challenged to do more and be more and love greater…
I suppose it may only be the ‘Grand March’ that I’ve ascribed to and now seek for things to support, as Franz does in the Unbearable Lightness of Being, but, either way, it keeps me coming back…
The Streets of Shanhaiguan – 山海关
Shanhaiguan, China
