How To Make Pictures That Tell A Story

Most of my work as a Catholic photographer has been to document public figures: statesmen, celebrities, professional athletes, and leaders of the world religions. This is important work because what your camera is doing is telling the story of history in the making in ways that words cannot. I have had to learn to be a tight-lipped and trustworthy person who has excellent relationship skills, yet is unnoticed and doesn’t get in the way of the moment -- a fly on the wall. I've learned to remain humble in the moment, too, and not let the “power” faze me. They will pick up on it, and this will show in the pictures.

Many of my people pictures from over the years have become fine art photography. Though in recent years there has been an interest in street photography as fine art, which are pictures that illustrate a society or a culture, I try to tell a stronger story with my pictures and go deeper to transform the viewer to stop them, to make a more positive and lasting impression.

Many of you will not be in the position to photograph public people in private moments, but you may be in situations that call for you to be like a fly on the wall. The key to making pictures of people in this way is the element of waiting. I’ve mostly learned (how to do) this because of how I was born in an Italian Catholic family, as my camera has found its way into in many churches. People here are deeply personal, reverent and holy, and its important to be sensitive yet understand that a click of the shutter in the right moment will tell a great story (about today) in the next decade or century.

When I start walking around a church with my camera, for example, people will usually watch me for a while. But then after some time I start to fall into the background and they forget I’m there. I then somewhat have their trust, and, it is at this moment their heart and Soul comes to life ... An outward expression of their inner thoughts or beliefs.

Back when I shot more film, my workhorse cameras were the Nikon F3HP with a quiet shutter. It was important too for my lenses to have a lot of glass (I mostly used the 85mm f/1.4), which means they need to be really bright and let in a lot of light. Now that digital sensors see a lot more light this is a bit easier, but the rules are still the same to prevent motion and un-focussed pictures. This brings me to the key element of all this ...

You really need to be one with your camera and feel the light as your camera sees it.

For example, sometimes I will be propped discreetly in a corner with my eye on a moment and, to capture it, I’ll need to hold the camera at waist level. If the subject sees me move the camera to my eye the moment will change instantly. So, I may only get one shot and it will have to be right. You learn this by practicing it and making all the mistakes so that you know what not to do in the ‘real’ moment.

My present workhorse digital camera is the Pentax K-10D. It has a CCD sensor that collects the image as analog then converts it to digital. The results are images that look like film to me. This is how I want my images to look and feel, because I usually don’t post process any more than a slight tweak. I do most of the work (composition, lighting, and exposure, etc.) in-camera through the viewfinder, as if it where still a film camera.

I'm also now experimenting with iPhone photography in a documentary form, known as Art Phoneography.

One of the great documentary photographers, Edward Steichen, whom I studied while a student at Columbia College Chicago, has said “Photography is a major force in explaining man to man”. It is these words that really have made a lasting impression on every time I click the shutter. Because humanity needs images that are examples of hope and goodness.

Art is not a luxury, and my mission is to share hope and God's love in the world.

Why is this?

Because growing up as a Catholic, it was impressed on me that many of the Catholic Saints were born with shortcomings. How they are recognized by the Church today, through icons and illustrations, is because of how they transformed their shortcomings into virtues or goodness.

Likewise, all of us posses goodness, and (because of this) we need ‘fly on the wall’ examples that tell the story of (your) history in the making in ways that words can not.

So keep making pictures that tell a story about life.


Photo: 'At The Heart Of Everything' by Frank J Casella https://frankjcasella.pixels.com/featured/at-the-heart-of-everything-frank-j-casella.html


Caption: Cardinal Blase Cupich (then archbishop) of Chicago prays at the Tabernacle before Mass during a parish visit.



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