I've noticed in the last few weeks how conditioned humans are to smile when they see a camera pointed in their direction. I'm not foreign to the concept, and I've definitely dealt with it before. It just seems that lately there has been an overwhelming amount of tilted heads with smiles, facing my direction - ruining the moment that I kneeled down to capture.
I remember when I first began doing photojournalism and I didn't know how to deal with this. Many times I would run away and decide not to continue photographing that particular person. It would always throw me off because as a photojournalist I strive to be "the fly on the wall" - capturing moments as they happen in front of my eyes and documenting them as they are - rather than having my presence be a factor in the photograph.
But the more I shoot, the more I try new tactics. And a new tactic I've tried is to humor those who I am photographing by snapping a picture of them smiling. Sometimes that's all they need or want is for you to get a quick photo of them. After that, they go back to their natural poise and you have all the freedom to move around the room and they don't acknowledge you for the rest of the shoot.
Other times, however, it's a little more tricky - especially with children. They are programmed to pose for a camera - it's all their parents ever say is "Say Cheese." OR I've even heard parents yell at their kids for not looking at the camera. So in these instances I either try to talk with the people I am photographing and try to get them comfortable with me so they will go about their daily lives. Or I'll sit there and let them smile at the camera... Believe it or not, EVENTUALLY people do get tired of cheesing it up - and in seconds a moment can unfold in front of your lens.
A few days ago I photographed a story about the Wellington Heights neighborhood in Cedar Rapids. A portrait of someone smiling at me would not have worked in the context of this photo shoot...and even though I tried explaining that I wanted pictures of them hanging out on their porch, like they had been when I came up to the front lawn, I had to humor them for awhile before I eventually got the moment that I was hoping for. Luckily, I had found a great group of people. The kids had a lot of fun with it, and I did as well...which made it a lot easier for me to be patient and wait for the shot that I was seeking. Take a look at the steps I took before getting the moment that I was waiting for.
At this point they were done posing for photos...but they were still paying more attention to me than I hoped for.
And finally they had a moment that had nothing to do with me standing off to the side holding up a camera. I was pleased. This is the photo that ended up running in the paper:
