It’s easy to become inspired by modern photographers and all the great work that they do. We profile many of them here in our interviews. But at the same time, some of the earliest photographers have a purity about them that removes all of the ambiguities around modern photography today. One of those photographers is Diane Arbus. For her time, she was very pioneering photographer who worked to tell very important stories. Her images often were a slap in the face to conventional standards of what was considered normal. But most of all, she didn’t give into the idea of documentary-porn or the idea of making the image all about herself. Instead, her images were all about the people in front of her camera.
The important lesson about this is the idea of building a rapport with the people that you’re telling stories about. Diane Arbus worked on doing this to tell authentic stories and make images that are totally different than the ones that don’t feel real. But most people don’t understand the idea of building a rapport.
So how do you build a rapport? Well, based on things that Diane Arbus did, here are some tips:
- Get emotional and real: start out by saying that that’s how you want to be about your images and that you don’t want to tell a story that clearly looks manufactured, posed, or otherwise superficial.
- Have the camera around you, but do a whole lot of talking. I want to call this the 90:10 rule, which comes from photographer Larry Price. Whatever your assigned time is for the shoot, spend 90% of the time speaking with your subject and asking them genuine questions about somethhing. And when you’ve got 10% of the time left, cram it all into getting only a few great frames. Ideally, shoot no more than 36 images. You should aim to get somewhere between 24 to 36 images and narrow those down to even less than that. This is based on the idea that you might dedicate an entire roll of film to one portrait subject.
- Have a real dialogue and conversation with them. Photographers like Peter Hurley and Tony Gale do a phenomenal job of capturing people while having a conversation with them. It helps them find real moments, and also maximizes the shooting time. But try doing a separation based on what they’re saying. Diane Arbus often shot less and spoke with the heroes in her images more.
- Have questions ready that really stir up emotions in someone. More specifically, ask questions that will get a particular mood being felt in someone. While they’re talking with you, use your imagination and build a world that can be photographed.
Of course, these ideas are best done for environmental portraits, but they can really be done anywhere and anyhow depending on how you adapt them. Making your subject appear natural, effortless, and authentic is the key to better portraiture. You do this by developing a rapport with them. Rapports are built through emotional connection. Lots of other photographers, like Jamel Shabazz and German Roque.
Most importantly, don’t shoot most of the time. This is how you get better photos in-camera vs needing to rely on tools like Photoshop, Lightroom variants, or Capture One. Remember: shoot like these tools don’t exist and all you’ve got is your humanity. Only then can you make images that will truly be artistic instead of revolving around content trends.
And always remember that you’re not going to get it on the first try.