Senegal Day 3: Saving for Change Group Meeting

Today we flew from Ziguinchor to Dakar and then hired a car to drive us to Thiès (pronounced “chess”; Wolof: Cès).

Georgraphy lesson, then photo lesson, hang with me….

Thiès is the third largest city in Senegal with a population over 320,000. It lies 60 km east of Dakar. Before colonization, the Thiès Plateau was a wooded frontier between the kingdoms of Cayor and Baol inhabited by the None, an ethnic sub-group of the Sereer. The Sereer None still inhabit the Thiès-None neighborhood of the south-west city today.

After arriving Thies, we set out to a nearby village to observe a Saving for Change group meeting which was to take place under the big tree across the road from the market.

OK, now the photography lesson….I’m going to talk photography today, since many of you folks following the blog are either already shooting for NGOs or  have indicated an interest in doing so.

Wait, first let me digress….

It’s 11:30 pm, it’s been a long day…shooting for NGOs usually means long days. We got back to the hotel tonight at around 9:00 pm, grabbed a bite to eat (mutton) and then Brent and I sat here and edited, blogged, uploaded, wrote captions, did research and caught up on email. Mind you, I am not complaining..I love my job, it’s the best job in the world, but it’s not always easy.

Anyway, I’m writing this tonight so that I can post it tomorrow..no use changing my blog post in the middle of your day..so, I am going to let yesterdays stay up and in the morning I will post again. But sometimes it’s all about preparation.

So, today, like I said, I’ll give some random thoughts and insights and tips about what I shot…

Collaboration and communication are a big part of how NGOs work with partners and those who they’re trying to help..so, how does one show that in a frame? Well, showing people working together, peraps talking or brainstorming is a good start. Showing two women walking to the group meeting was one way to capture the feeling.

Technical note, shoot plenty of shots of people walking in order to get good foot position in your image…there is nothing worse than a static “flat footed” shot of people walking, it will kill the shot.

Candid moments. I’m always looking for opportunities to grab shots that might be useful…not necessarily what’s happening “on the main stage” but stuff around the edges. Watch for complimentary colors like the orange dress and orange wall, it makes for nice subtle images that are less “busy” and look nicer in Annual Reports and such.

Thoughtful expressions, usually shot through the crowd, in this case over a shoulder are quite useful to my NGO clients when they need to convey a feeling of “thought”.

Eye contact: today as opposed to yesterday…today I was looking for more eye contact. You need to deliver both styles to a client. Last night after looking at yesterday’s images, I felt like I was a little light on eye contact, so I hit it hard today, and I love shooting eyes.

Position is so important! You can’t just stand there and shoot, you gotta move around…a position from above eyes on me has nice impact (think of yourself as viewing the final image in a brochure or report ….the NGO who will use the image, perhaps as one where the person receiving the aid is looking directly at the donor) with an expression of pride, hope and satisfaction. Showing extended family in background to emphasize the impact and responsibility of the bread winner.

A sense of pride in having one’s own business. This is what I call a standard environmental portrait..in this case, a woman in here shop. I didn’t stop there. I went into her shop and photographed her interacting with a client (seller’s perspective). It really pays to “expore” the subject. I probably spent 10 minutes but could have stayed even longer but we had other work to do.

Kids always follow me around..so I try to entertain the children in-between shots with a few pictures……actually what I am doing is gathering useful fun shots for splash pages in Annual Reports, etc..it’s a win-win. Don’f forget to give the NGO some negative space around the subject to drop in some text or their logo.

NGO can always find a use for smiling faces of all ages and genders…for this shot of of teen age girls, I looked for a simple background color and without saying anything, I motioned that I would like their photo…they instinctively put their heads together and began giggling…don’t stop shooting, you want to capure a range of emotion..just after this shot the girl on the right shyly covered her mouth..it’s a nice shoot too, which the NGO might also use.

After the girls did it, the adolescent boys knew just what to do…same background…same shot, different kids.

I’m looking through the lens on this one, trying for the right moment when the children’s hands are not in front of their faces, while also looking for some extra “eye candy” in the background …it took 4 shots to get the child in the back, right corner framed in the crook of the arm of the boy in the foreground, but it’s worth working for. The same shot with the background boy’s face partially obscured just doesn’t cut it.

This shot is another that I shoot quite often (similar to the USAID FrontLines Winner from a few months ago). I grabbed my 17-35 wide lens, held it up above the children and shot. Fast shutter speed (250th or faster) ,Auto focus really helps. Tip: shoot a lot, the kids are always moving

An overall, iPhone Pano shot of the scene of the meeting as it occurred in the village. I shot another series with my Nikon D3S but at this hour, I don’t have the desire or energy to stitch them together.

One last item: If you’ve made it this far you may be asking, “why no “Fly in the eye” shots”? Many people assume I shoot a lot of sad looking, poverty images of children in difficult living conditions. Although I see quite a bit of that, the photo needs of an NGO are quite different. Brent Farrar, Manager, Creative Services for Freedom From Hunger says. “we understand that poverty and suffering are realities, but that’s not where we want the focus to be in terms of our communications…the fly in the eye, speaks to a reality but it’s definitely not our messaging, we want to show hope, diginity, and empowerment.”

Thanks, I know I’ve been rambling and free thinking….I suppose if I had more time, I could have made it a bit more focused and concise…but I gotta’ get some sleep.

Good night.