Getting Subjects to Open Up
“Everyone asks me how I get my subjects to open up to me. There’s no formula to it. It’s just a matter of who you are and how you talk to people – of being yourself. Your subjects will trust you only if you’re confident about what you’re doing. They can sense that immediately…. I think you should just show up with a camera, to make your intentions clear. People will either accept you or they won’t.”
- Mary Ellen Mark
...but that is a significant part of your talent, Robert: your ability to quickly build rapport and help your subjects be comfortable with being photographed. That is an enormous part of this kind of work and you clearly do it well.
Robert, I have multiple years of experience with view cameras as large as 11×14 so I understand view camera advantages. And I have a friend that shoots large-format wet plate images simply because he enjoys the technical challenge. I’d like to have your thoughts on shooting large format film versus today’s mirrorless digital cameras?