Last year I was walking through a spice market in India. I looked to my left and there were two guys hauling these massive bags of spices off the back of a truck. Looked to my right and another guy was carrying one down the street like it weighed nothing. That's the kind of moment I'm always chasing. It's not just a photo of a person. It's a slice of how they actually live.
I've been shooting for over 12 years now and the photos I'm most proud of all have one thing in common. There's a story in them. Not because I got lucky, but because a few things lined up. So here are the ideas I've picked up over the years that actually help with this. None of this is from a textbook. It's just trial and error.
Your lens changes the story
Lately I've been shooting on a 40mm. It's wide enough that I have to physically get close to my subject, and that changes everything. When you're close, you pick up the little details that a zoom lens just flattens out. The hands, the expressions, the stuff happening in the background. That's where the story lives.
I get why a lot of newer photographers reach for a 24-70 or a 70-200. Walking up to a stranger is confronting, even for people who've been doing this a while. Trust me, I get it. But the closer you can get, the better you can tell their story. Put simply, distance kills detail, and detail is where the story is.
Figure out what you actually want to say
This sounds obvious but it's the part most people skip. You can read every storytelling tip on the internet and it won't help if you don't know what story you're trying to tell in the first place.
For me, I'm drawn to Eastern countries. India, Vietnam, places where life is happening on the street. The cooking, the working, the social stuff, all of it spills out into public. That's what pulls me in, so that's what I shoot.
If you have no idea what your thing is yet, here's the easiest way to find it. Go on Instagram or grab a photo book by someone whose work just stops you in your tracks. Look at what they're shooting. Then plan a shoot around something similar. Before I went to India, I spent weeks looking at photographers who had shot there. Something inside me just said yes, I want to do that. So I did. Follow that pull. It's almost always pointing at something real.
Candid beats staged every time
The second someone notices you, the moment is gone. They either freeze up, get awkward, or do that fake smile thing your aunty does when you point a phone at her. You can feel a forced photo. Everyone can.
When someone doesn't know they're being photographed, you get something honest. It almost feels like you're catching a bit of who they actually are, and the person looking at the photo picks up on that. So I keep it quick. See the moment, take the shot, keep walking. Don't linger. Don't hesitate. The hesitation is what kills it.
So if you take one thing away, pick a photographer whose work you love, look at what they shoot, and plan one shoot this week around something similar. Get closer than feels comfortable. And when you see the moment, just take it.
Watch the full video on YouTube.