Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision

Respect: Different Isn’t Wrong

“Don’t let the fear of giving offense paralyze you into doing nothing at all.”

I realize I’m a bit of a one-sermon kind of guy. Ultimately I believe this all comes down to caring enough to take time to show respect to the people you want to photograph. This means avoiding shoot-and-run tactics. It means slowing down, drinking a cup of chai, asking questions, fumbling through awkwardness and the imposing language barrier. On my first trip to Kashmir, we spent time with the Gujjars in their family huts, talking and sipping salt tea, exchanging greetings, and laughing. Only after we did this would we ask if we could take some time to photograph them. And by then we’d laid some foundations, and they liked and respected ...