Photographing People, Part 2

Whenever I travel, I try to get out of the big cities as soon as possible and hit the nature and smaller villages.  Walking through a small village in a remote area which does not see many tourists brings attention to you.  People are curious and if you are open-minded, you can make the curiosity of the people and turn it into great photo opportunities.  Once in a small Hmong village in Laos we encountered to young girls dressed in their traditional costume.  We stopped and started talking to them.  Through an interpreter they wanted to know where we are from and what we are doing.  After a short time we started photographing.  Without saying anything one of the girls ran away and I was hoping that we did not offend her.  A minute later she returned and we noticed that she got her headdress which made her traditional costume complete.  Now we could take all the photographs we wanted and got a big smile.

A Hmong woman in a village in Laos.

Two teenage Hmong girls in a village in Laos.

After getting her headdress which completes the traditional costume, we are getting a smile.

If I know that people have beautiful traditional costumes, I sometimes ask the local guide if he or she knows someone I could hire to pose for my group.  The hotel in Luang Prabang had a beautiful garden and I was able to arrange a photo session with two cousins of our guide.  They showed up the next day in their finest outfits and even brought matching parasols.  We positioned them all over the hotel grounds and got nice photos.  Afterwards I pulled out a model release and had our guide translate asking the mother if she could sign it for the daughters.  The looks I got were not very trusting and I knew that people in most countries don’t like to sign model releases.  Once they give you the verbal permission to photograph them, it is fine and trying to explain to them about our legal system is very difficult for them to understand and it is going totally against their customs and culture. I rarely get releases now, even though the agencies always ask for them.  I find it disturbing and it is like breaking the trust you established with the person when you give them the release to sign.  I also noticed that I never saw higher royalty fees for released photos…..

For more photos and information about my upcoming trip to Burma and Laos please visit: https://phototours.us

A Laotian teenage girl (MODEL RELEASE 2006-10-04) in a traditional Lowland festive costume in the garden of the La Residence Phou Vao Hotel in Luang Prabang, central Laos.

Laotian teenage girls (MODEL RELEASE 2006-10-04) in traditional Lowland festive costumes walking down a path in the garden of the La Residence Phou Vao Hotel in Luang Prabang, central Laos.

Portrait of a Laotian teenage girl (MODEL RELEASE 2006-10-04) in traditional Lowland festive costumes in Luang Prabang, central Laos.

Laotian teenage girls (MODEL RELEASE 2006-10-04) in traditional Lowland festive costumes walking down a path in the garden of the La Residence Phou Vao Hotel in Luang Prabang, central Laos.