Of course, every situation is unique and sometimes it is necessary to shoot first and ask later when you are documenting an event, but on the whole I would say that I do choose to photograph people and things with which I have empathy so that a degree of trust exists between myself and the other. This is very important to me because amongst other things, I wholehearted believe that trust is the key to capturing intimacy in your images. Generally, if I feel that someone does not trust me then I will not take their photo because that sentiment is not something I am usually trying to portray in my images. In reality this means that it is most often necessary to take the time to connect with people in some way before ever thinking about bringing out any cameras.

Coincidentally, for the last few weeks I have been compiling a post devoted solely to the subject of photographing people in which I touch upon this issue quite a few times. It is taking a lot longer than I thought to finish but I will post it as soon as I can. Stay tuned.

I wasn’t there and may be wrong but I’m pretty confident that the lady being photographed had already given her agreement for Timothy to photograph her.

Photographers who shoot this kind of image tend not to get such intimate portraits without exhibiting respect for the people they are photographing. Timothy can tell us more accurately of course but I’d be pretty confident that a photographer who consistently produces such engaging images would not be able to do so without a great deal of empathy for their subject and their surroundings.

That’s not to say everyone works like this. I know, sadly, that not everyone who picks up a camera always exhibits such restraint but those who do are invariably the ones able to produce the best photographs.