“I love the work of Mr. Haas, and in this particular book, the pairings of photographs on adjacent pages are magical,” says photographer Teri Vershel to the Phoblographer in an interview. Teri’s new book, Relative Strangers, is inspired by Ernst Haas — and dedicated to her children. “During Covid, when shooting on the street wasn’t feasible, I decided to try and make my own book of photographic pairings. I searched my archive for photographs that might play off each other if placed next to each other in a spread.” So, she went about getting images that worked for the photo book.
All images by Teri Vershel. Used with permission. For more, please visit her website and Instagram @terivershel. Relative Strangers by Teri Vershel is published by Daylight Books. It can be purchased on Amazon.
As a realist, Teri thinks that every photographer or artist is drawn to certain subject matter. For her, it was all about photographing people. “…I find the street to be the perfect place to observe the often delightful and always surprising behavior of our fellow humans,” she tells us. “Truth is indeed stranger than fiction and often quite beautiful. In my street photography, I am drawn to particular subjects.” What brings Teri joy is finding the things that she thinks are whacky, humorous, or anything that makes her laugh. This also includes the photography she does of children — partially because they wear their hearts on their sleeves. The list continues to go with urban decay, dogs, light, geometry, etc.
“Sometimes I will wait 20 minutes or more if I like the scene. So, I click the shutter when I think there may be magic, but most of the time I fail and miss the moment I was trying to capture. That’s part of the learning process.”
Teri Vershel
Considering that she was inspired by paintings for much of this book, she deeply involved herself in the human aspect of it all. “It is taking me on a journey outside of my own perspective into someone else’s.” she says about the moments she looks at paintings from Van Gogh or Kandinksy. “That is the beauty for me.” Because of this, she was strictly against using AI for these images.
Street photography is supposed to be about the decisive moment. While it’s not exactly as strict about editing as documentary photography, there’s an underlying understanding that you are not supposed to edit your images by removing items, changing colors or perspectives, even cropping is frowned upon (though I do sometimes crop). I was taught that when editing it is ok to do what was once done in a dark room. So, I try to stick to editing highlights and shadows, dodging and burning, and simple edits to enhance the photo.
Teri Vershel
From a place of love for the arts, Teri also dedicated this book to her children. She’s been working to help them understand art and photography in a world where technology wants to undo the authenticity the format has built. When Teri goes to museums, she often brings them along. Plus, they go to theater, movies, concerts, etc. Her daughter likes to draw while her son plays the piano. “I know some people don’t think of photography as an art form, but that doesn’t bother me,” Teri states. “Photography is my way of connecting with the world and having a creative outlet and it truly brings me joy. I dedicated the book to my children because they too have brought me much joy, but also because I want them to know that you can always find your passions anytime in your life.” Specifically, Teri that’s that she’s a great example of it.
Teri Vershel originally got into photography in high school as the editor of the yearbook. She used a Nikon FE film camera at the time. In college, she dove into computer science — but she stopped taking photos once she got into the workforce and tried to raise a family. Then, when she was diagnosed with a serious illness, she got back into photography.
“I’ve always thought art can heal and transform, and that is what picking up a camera again did for me,” she states. “It gave me a purpose, a creative outlet, and a passion that I hadn’t felt in the high-tech world. I immersed myself in learning the digital side of photography and went back to school to earn an A.A. from Foothill College (2015).”
For a while, she used a Nikon D750 with a 35mm f2 prime. But she switched to a Nikon Z6 with a 35mm f1.8. The primes let her be unobtrusive on the streets.
Authenticity Statement about Teri Vershel
As part of the Content Authenticity Initiative, The Phoblographer works with human photographers to verify that they’ve actually created their work through shoots. These are done by providing us assets such as BTS captures, screenshots of post-production, extra photos from the shoot, etc. We do this to help our readers realize that this is authentically human work. Here’s what this photographer provided for us.
