By Gary Fong

Photographer: Stefanie Gomez, www.stefaniegomez.com

 

 

 

Facial expressions tell us a lot about the person inside. But we shouldn’t discount what may also speak to the viewer…body language. A raise of an eyebrow, a tilt of the head, the position of the arms, all speak in unison of the universal language. 

 

Stefanie Gomez, a young photographer in Latin America, has been intrigued by how the eyes communicate different emotions in her subjects. She crops tight to bring the attention to the eyes, which in turn illuminate the expression that translate to the viewer emotions. But it’s not only the eyes that have something to say.

 

 

 

The hands, the arms, the relationship of other people in her photo have a great deal to say as well. Sometimes cropping too tight eliminates visual dialog (top) that allows understanding.  The unbalanced crop of a hand or an eye of a second subject, changes the context of the image.

 

Cutting off arms and limbs, or half an eye, creates tension, where tension is not needed. Each frame should have a visual balance.  The viewer’s eye should gracefully flow through the composition, lead in part by the eyes of the subject, the hands, or secondary subject(s) in the frame. 

 

The solution is to watch and wait as the movements between subjects are balanced before making he exposure. Sometimes, it may or may not happen. 

 

Yes, it’s unnerving waiting for the right moment.  But each image should be a unique moment, a slice of life, or a moment to be appreciated by those yet to come. In life and photography, patience is a virtue.