The importance of intrigue
For other examples:
Joel Sternfeld p. 68
Holly Andres p. 87
René Burri p. 93
Melanie Einzig p. 103
Elliott Erwitt p. 111
Who sits in this chair? Why has the window been blacked out? There’s beauty in those clashing colours and patterns. Did someone consciously bring them together or are they just a random collection of items that occupy the same room?
Alec Soth’s photographs of strangers, places and objects that he encounters on the road never quite tell us the whole story. They serve more as glimpses into moments observed and it’s left up to us to fill in the blanks.
Don’t feel like your photographs have to explain themselves. Hold a little back. Give our imagination somewhere to go.
Here Soth made a choice about what he did and didn’t include in his composition. There’s no one in this picture, but it’s still undeniably a portrait: the magazine, the empty chair, the ruffled carpet and the glowing lamp all add up to something, or someone.
To instil a little intrigue into your pictures don’t focus too much on ‘the subject’. Instead look for those little truths that start to say so much more. Steer clear of Kodak moments and keep an eye on what’s going on in-between. Be a detective and look for the oddities that begin to hint at a story.
Sugar’s, Davenport
Alec Soth
2002