Event Photography is something special. Not to be confused with Wedding Photography where ulcers are created and explode on the same day. (That is a different kind of beast.) Some think shooting an event means showing up and shooting whatever you see, which is not the case. Or SHOULD not be the case. There are a whole lotta great things about shooting events...perhaps it is a different city, a different building, new room, lighting conditions....and different people. ALWAYS different people. Not many people discuss this interesting topic framed within photography..... how one person will change the dynamic of a group. Not just change the vibe in little ways but in magnificent or tragic or amusing ways; that transfer to the image in a wondrous and fascinating way. The photographer is invited into a private world. Your private world.
Have you heard of "Elevator etiquette"? There are a surprising number of Google pages just on this topic, (like this one: Elevator Etiquette). You can learn a lot about a person by how they behave on an elevator full of people OR at an event. I have seen it all (I think!).
Let's say you are having a funny conversation in the elevator with your coworker...the door opens and your boss enters, smiles, and turn his back (or perhaps turns towards you and stares at you). What do you do? Either case....You probably fall silent and become your super-professional-self. This may be an obvious case, but it happens at events too. Someone who is nervous and self conscious will behave totally different in an elevator than, lets say, the head of the high school football team. Or Donald Trump. Next time you are in an elevator, watch and see. If you DO watch someone, I don't care WHO it is, if you are on an elevator, it will make them nervous and twitchy. Something about being locked in a box with a stranger will do that to a person. (Sorry...now I am off topic...but just a bit.)
Going back to Event Photography.... I get to see this. ALL of these interactions. They are small, sometimes fleeting looks of terror, disdain, distrust, joy, sadness, doubt, anger...every feeling...wash over a person's face in milliseconds. People try to hide their thoughts, but the camera is faster; it catches looks and feelings; the smallest muscles reacting to a thought. It can't be helped.
When I enter a room to shoot an event I am not only looking at lighting or for distractions, but at groups of people. How they are interacting together...and what happens when a new person joins the group; how the dynamic changes. I can tell who likes who. Who has a crush on who, or if someone does not like or trust someone else. I study the groups of people to see which group is the most lively...perhaps the group who is the most emotional or who perfectly frames the feeling of the event. I circle the many groups continuously; watching as the groups evolves throughout the event. Who enters or leaves the group? How does that person change other peoples behavior? The changes are fascinating!
It is the only time and place where I can stand, camera up near my face, and just stare and study humans. Sometimes someone will smile, or blush, or nudge the other members of the group to look over at me. Sometimes I get a disapproving or angry face and with that, I move on. Occasionally I wave and smile, but I want to catch people being people...not showing off for the camera or posing. Being natural. Which is to say, being naturally nervous, or happy, or sad, or frustrated....Whatever is going on. Whomever has the best expressions; I am all over them..."secretly" watching. Being a spy.
damn! what an interesting post! I have never thought of these things as far as being an event photographer would go. I am super fascinated by group dynamics, too.
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