Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision

Shoot the Details

It’s so easy to get distracted and wooed by the big stuff. You can see the pyramids at Giza from miles away. You can see the Eiffel Tower from almost anywhere in Paris. It’s massive. Buildings and statues, even the local people themselves are the obvious choices for photographing a place. But the spirit of a place resides as much—if not more—in the details as it does in the big stuff. The calligraphy stalls outside the Temple of Literature are as much a part of the Hanoi I experienced as all the French colonial architecture. By all means, shoot a wide shot of the monastery in Kathmandu. But you’ll create a more intimate photograph of the place by shooting the butter lamps or the hand of the Buddha holding an offering.

Hanoi, ...