About a decade ago, I was watching this camera series on the ABC. It was a kind of competition. Each week, contestants would try their hand at a different genre. And, yep, wedding photography was amongst the mix. But what made the most impact on me was an episode that I think was on editorial photography. One of the aspiring photographers headed on down to an aged care home, and he spent the first hour doing tea and biscuits with the residents.
The narrator of the series jumped between the different photographers, commenting on their progress and ratcheting up the tension by highlighting the ticking clock. I think maybe they had an hour to take their photos, and then a judge would pick the winner.
At the last minute (or what felt like the last minute), the fellow at the home seems to remember he has a job to do, and so he picks up the camera and fires off a few casual frames. And, of course, his photos were judged the best that week.
The tea and the biscuits was his secret. He had taken the time to get to know his subjects, so they had grown comfortable around him. Their natural personalities shone through on camera.
