The Spy
Somewhere in West Africa
The crowd of men shoved and pushed each other. They were interested in the camera, perhaps thinking that it possessed magical powers. A common reaction was to hold their hand to their eye as if they, too, were looking through a lens.
What should your reaction be in this situation? Press the shutter, of course.
Most times you won’t get anything but here I’ve struck gold and here are the reasons:
The eye is dynamic: it seems larger than life, but has not been altered in any way.
There is a sense of motion in the blur of the background.
The man’s blurred face in the right hand corner looks like something Munch might have painted.
And then the extended hand in the foreground that is made grotesque by the harsh contrast.
Plus if you look closely, you will see a boy’s face and scattered highlights that could be interpreted as even more eyes.
One of my photography teachers used to ask himself as he went through his proof sheets, “Is this a picture?”. If you’ve got a photo that keeps revealing new facets the more you look at it then, Yes! It is a picture!