Karen Kasmauski: Photo Op

The 300-Pound Gorilla

The conditioning starts early. I was photographing a five year old in a kindergarten class, and she turned toward me when she was supposed to be napping. She knew I was seeing only the top of her head, and she wanted her face seen even if she was pretending to sleep. Ironically, her action created a better image. I hadn’t asked her to do anything, but my presence, and my camera, had an effect.

I encounter similar behavior at every age. If a camera is present, cheerleaders are more energetic, teenagers with lost pets cry louder, mothers hug their children harder.

In this media-savvy world, where is the line between journalism and photo op, between objective and subjective, undisturbed and manipulated? How do we keep our pictures honest, especially when we know that our presence frequently sets choreographed action into motion?

When I go into an area or work with an organization, I often talk with my guides or the organization directors about what I need to make the story complete. Sometimes there is no response, but often situations will suddenly appear, in seemingly spontaneous fashion.

At a nursing school in Bangladesh, I told the director I wanted to represent the heightened interest among Bangladeshi women in nursing education. Would there be any large gatherings of students while I was visiting? I was also interested in showing how the school used it’s students in the adjacent hospital, making it one of the few in Bangladesh with abundant nursing care. About an hour into my visit, the director called an assembly on the school roof. The nurses in their crisp white uniforms lined up in neat rows under a brilliant blue sky, while school officials gave a talk. The light was flattering and the graphics made for a good group shot. Afterwards, many of the students went to the hospital floors and worked with the patients. I followed along and got the rest of the pictures I needed.