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Encounters
Beyond the Ordinary.
As a photographer since the 1960s, I have always tried to make exceptional pictures of human behavior in visually interesting settings. For such encounters I look for people’s expressions, their postures, their gestures, the way they move, their interactions with each other and with their surorundings. I look for strong compositions.
For me, a photograph of an attractive setting inhabited by an interesting person (or people) is usually better than one of just the scene itself. For example, the Portuguese fisherman waiting patiently for a fish to strike, lends another visual dimension to the other graphic elements in the scene: the cobblestone pier, the foreground tree, the fishing poles, the rolling hills, the faint glimpse of a town in teh background, the wispy clouds, the stillness of the water. However beautiful the scene, it is the human presence that makes the difference.
Sometimes these encounters happen by chance, sometimes they are anticipated. (I spied the fisherman by chance and moved to find a good angle for the composition.) Either way, it is the quest for interesting encounters—with both people and place—that fills me with anticipation. When the elements come together in some esthetic way, and a particularly good picture happens, I am always grateful for my great good fortune.
