7. Working with People
Jonas Bendiksen:
Curiosity in Practice
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 2
Contents Approaching People	 4
Being an Outsider	 7
Connecting	10
FAQ: Model Releases	 11
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 3
Meena Lohar, a mother of
one and carpenter’s wife
in their one room dwelling.
Mumbai. India. 2006. From
the project The Places We
Live.
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 4
“I try to always be honest about why I am there, what my intentions are,
what I’m trying to do. Because in my experience, people smell whether you
are creating a sort of story [or] a narrative that’s supposed to please someone
or it’s trying to camouflage what you’re really trying to do. People smell
that from five kilometers away.”
In the opening section of this lesson, Bendiksen explains why his approach
is upfront and honest when it comes to working with people. Establishing
himself clearly as a ‘photographer’ - he does not hide away his camera
and is clear in his intentions, even explaining where an image could end
up down the line if asked. He warns that if you are over-elaborate in
explaining yourself, or come across as insecure or ashamed of what you are
doing, then, simply put, people will sense it. This will only have negative
implications; it will put people into a cautious or wary state, and you will
not get very far.
Approaching People
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 5
“I’m trying to [photograph] totally openly with a smile. And I look [my
subjects] in the eye, and I explain exactly what I’m doing. Normally that
gets you a lot further.”
If you go about it openly and positively, in Bendiksen’s experience, you’ll be
far more likely to gain access to people and locations.
–Be friendly and polite. A smile can go a long way toward putting
somebody at ease.
–Make eye contact with the people you are photographing.
–Be open and honest about what it is you are doing.
–Be confident in what you are doing there, and what you are asking of
people.
–Have your camera out when you approach people, rather than it appearing
hidden.
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 6
Tursin (24), his wife Wurla
(25), and son Eneral in their
self-built house. Tursin is an
expert skier and skimaker.
Hamlet of Akorum. Altai
Mountains, Xinjiang. China.
2013.
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 7
Much of the same can be said about the situation of a photographer
entering a new environment, such as a small community. Bendiksen
jokes about how bizarre it might appear that ‘the photographer’ who
is there to photograph, isn’t taking pictures at all!
While he may not take pictures intensively from the start, he will at least
try to establish that he is there to take pictures, by having his camera on
him at all times.
“I’ll take pictures also to get people used to that action. You know,
normally when you start taking pictures in any given situation in the
beginning, everyone will be sort of like, oh yeah, click, click, click.
‘Oh, I heard that. Oh. What did you take a picture of now?’”
By doing this fairly early on, you may be able to remove the novelty
factor of ‘the photographer’ sooner. Though Bendiksen does not believe
the ‘fly on the wall’ doucmentarian or invisible photographer can be a
reality — you will always be a part of the “fabric of the situation” no
matter what — you can effectively get to a stage where the people you
are photographing are no longer as fascinated by what it is you are doing
the novelty wears off. At this stage, you may be presented with more
genuine candid moments, even in formal portrait situations.
Being an Outsider
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 8
Babushka Tanya’s run down
apartment. Her building was
on the front line between
Abkhazian and Georgian
forces during the 1993 war.
Abkhazia. Sukhum. Georgia.
2005.
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 9
Til Bahadur Gurung, a former village-level
administrator who was labeled ‘an enemy of
the people’ by the Maoists. The Maoists shot
him in the spine, and he has spent the last
seven years in this bed, unable to move. His
wife Manmaya is in the background. Nepal.
Kathmandu. 2005.
At the Thickwood Arena during game night.
The stadium is the home of Fort McMurray’s
junior league ice hockey team, the “Oil Barons.”
Players getting ready in the locker room before
the game begins. The game was a deciding
play-off game, which the Oil Barons lost. Fort
McMurray, Alberta. Canada. 2007.
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 10
“If I were to say exactly what it is that I like about being a photographer,
one of the top things would be that it gets me out there. Near and far.
It gets me out there in the world outside of my own head and my own
space. I get to meet really interesting people, and photography is a reason
that I can have an interaction with them and just look at the world with
their glasses [on] a little bit, and visit their reality and their world. So
to me, it’s that meeting with people, which is sort of attractive about
photography. Yes. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes it makes me
nervous and all this. But there is that feeling I’m meeting real people and
we see again and again out there that reality is so much more rich and
strange than most fiction you can dream up. And I just love, love, love
connecting and touching that.”
Connecting
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 11
Model release forms are used as legal confirmation that the person
who has been photographed consents to their image being used by the
photographer. The text will specify the details of this usage. Release
forms may also allow for the photographer to use the subject’s name
alongside their image. In most situations a release is not required:
however, there are cases where it is essential, for example for commercial
or advertising assignments.
It is advised to be clear and concise on your release form, such as below:
In exchange for consideration received, I hereby give permission
to [PHOTOGRAPHER] to use my name and photographic
likeness in all forms and media.
Full Name:
Contact Information:
Signature:
FAQ: Model Release
Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice –Working with People	 12
In the Kumbharwada,
the Gujarati potterers
neighborhood, a potter’s
son plays among hundreds
of drying clay plates. The
gujarati potters are one of
the original inhabitants of the
area, and are among those
who stand to lose the most
in the city’s redevelopment
plans. Mumbai. India. 2006.
From the project The Places
We Live.
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