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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Women's shelter dilemma
Chris McGathey, Photo Editor
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Dallas | TX | USA | Posted: 4:55 PM on 04.22.09 |
| ->> Ok I am going to a women's shelter with a reporter tomorrow morning to photograph the director doing something hopefully and source for the story. The main source does not want to be identified since her ex-husband was abusive, but she is a success story of the shelter now living out on her own and recovering. You guys and gals have any suggestions, pointers if you have shot this sort of thing before or overall encouragement. I wan thinking the main source in a doorway completely shadowed maybe with her and some of her mementos that kept her on solid ground (bible, photos of kids etc....) I guess I just have to wait and see when I get to the assignment. |
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Lane Hickenbottom, Photographer
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Omaha | NE | usa | Posted: 5:29 PM on 04.22.09 |
| ->> Maybe you guys picked the wrong "main source". Pick a success story who is willing to be photographed. Would she be your main source if she refused to be interviewed, too? |
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Jack Howard, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Central Jersey | NJ | USA | Posted: 5:43 PM on 04.22.09 |
->> Photos of kids is an identifier and is therefore out. So are any shots with any exterior details that may ID a location.
Honestly, this is probably a perfect chance for someone in the art dept to use their illustration skills.
Lane, suppression of names of victims of crimes is a very common practice among editorial entities. It doesn't make the story any less impactful to not know the victim's name or see her face.
Don't let a sense of editorial imperatives as a visual journalist cloud your overarching humanity ;) |
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Jeremy Harmon, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Salt Lake City | UT | USA | Posted: 5:47 PM on 04.22.09 |
->> Success story or not, she was the victim and has understandable reservations about being photographed. Rather than try to encourage her to do something she has already told you she doesn't want to do, try to be understanding. She may change her mind and decide to be photographed, but you can't make that decision for her.
Lane is right. She wouldn't be the main source if she had refused to be interviewed. So the question isn't, "How can we get her to pose for a photo?" The question is "How can I get the reporter to dig deeper and find somebody with a good story who will be photographed?" There has to be other people your reporter can talk to.
Unless the woman you are meeting with tomorrow has *THE* story about domestic abuse, I wouldn't push her to do something she's not comfortable with. I'd find someone else. |
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Darrell Miho, Photographer
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Los Angeles : SFO : HNL | CA | usa | Posted: 8:14 PM on 04.22.09 |
->> as a volunteer for a women's shelter, keeping your subject's identity a secret and her safety takes priority over EVERYTHING. all identifying items, including location of the shelter, photos etc. should also be avoided.
i had to sign a confidentiality statement outlining conduct at the shelter as well as away from the shelter. i can not divulge the location of the shelter nor it's residents, nor can i even email the address to anyone, even those who i know have signed the same agreement, in order to keep the location confidential and the residents safe.
i would suggest a neutral site or using her silhouette from the back somehow with the director. even in shadow, people can be recognized. if you have doubts about something, then imagine this was your sister or mother. then what would you do? |
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Michael Fischer, Photographer
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Rich Obrey, Photographer
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Gorham | ME | USA | Posted: 10:18 PM on 04.22.09 |
->> I photographed a recovering drug addict a while ago who also didn't want to be identified.
I put him against a strong back light to silhouette him, then put a strobe on his hand, which contained the medication that was helping him fight his addiction, and set my exposure for the strobe. He stayed in shadow, and the eye was drawn to his hand.
If your subject held her Bible or similar momento in her hand, this approach might help...
r |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Princeton | IN | USA | Posted: 10:54 PM on 04.22.09 |
| ->> My experience would suggest you can't decide how to do anything until you arrive at the shelter, get a feel for the surroundings and meet the main source. The entire scope of a project can often change after you get a look around and meet the people involved. I would say for the time being, keep an open mind and wait and see. |
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Steve Ueckert, Photographer
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Houston | TX | | Posted: 11:36 PM on 04.22.09 |
->> Sounds like a LensBaby opportunity to me. This can be done with careful selective focus, and/or silhouette.
But the respect of the subject and her privacy is job one.
With a digital camera you can show her a test shot from early on and gain her trust. I'm not saying that she should have editorial rights, just a view of what "might" be a keeper in order to put her at ease. Also, think details. Perhaps just a hand, or even a portion of a hand. But realize that spouses, even abusive spouses, might be able to identify a hair style in silhouette or a ring on a hand or other details that might not be on your radar.
This can be done, it has been time and again. But this is as much an issue of your empathy to the subject as it is your skills as a photographer. |
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Peter Wine, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Dayton | OH | USA | Posted: 11:24 AM on 04.23.09 |
->> I covered the fundraiser for a local shelter, and they required that I not use photos of the keynote speaker to protect her safety.
I did take one photo of her, using settings that would A) make it obvious which one it was (in addition to the note I made about the photo) and B) make it a photo that I would normally not use anyway (small face in the corner with junk in the rest of the frame or similar.)
I did that to make sure I could recognize her in any of the candid photos I did the rest of the night before she started speaking. Good thing, too, since she was in at least one candid that would otherwise have been used.
Remember, the reason that many people are in these shelters is because they have a giant target on their back, often from someone that knew them very well, and might recognize things that would normally be easy to think of as 'minor.'
A ring on a finger, the way the skin looks (marks, wrinkle pattern, etc.) can potentially identified by a person that was married to someone for several years.
If you're taking a photo of the director talking to a 'shadow' try and use something in the 'shadow' that would be contrary to what they normally look like.
For example, if the person would normally wear a big hat, use a ball cap. If they normally use no hat or a ball cap, get a wide brimmed hat.
If you want to get a shot of their hands holding something, (something that that would not ID them,) perhaps a pair of dress gloves would help. |
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