Telling Story through Hands
How do the hands below help you to look differently at the subject.
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Photographing hands can be one of the hardest things on a person to photograph, but one of the most rewarding. Hands can tell so much of the story without telling WHO the story is about. The obscurity of hands often allows your viewer to become more attached to the image because they are not associating with WHO the photograph is about but trying instead, to connect to what the subject is doing, time and place, or where the subject is. The hands can show emotion, naturally. The hands can show the passage of time, naturally. The hands can show skill, naturally. You just have to play around with angle and be willing to put a little extra time into the photo to make it happen.
If taken at a wrong angle, hands can look abnormal. If taken in the wrong lighting they might not even look human. So it's important to work with your focus and your exposure to make sure you can get the best shot that tells the story you want to tell. It can be frustrating so don't give up!
One recommendation from 500px: "One great tip I want to instill when photographing hands is capturing realistic, spur-of-the moment hands that are performing their usual duties. Hands with character, dirt, paint, or just generally messy can convey a sense of craftsmanship and dedication." So don't just rule out the dirty, dry, cracked hands when selecting your subject. Often it's those characteristics of hands that tell the most about a person. the most important thing to remember that the hands can add a human element to many of your photos. There is no "perfect" human- so there can be no "perfect" hands. Consider the story you want to tell with the hands and how eliminating WHO the person is by not having the face in the photo, allows the photo to be more unique and abstract.
If taken at a wrong angle, hands can look abnormal. If taken in the wrong lighting they might not even look human. So it's important to work with your focus and your exposure to make sure you can get the best shot that tells the story you want to tell. It can be frustrating so don't give up!
One recommendation from 500px: "One great tip I want to instill when photographing hands is capturing realistic, spur-of-the moment hands that are performing their usual duties. Hands with character, dirt, paint, or just generally messy can convey a sense of craftsmanship and dedication." So don't just rule out the dirty, dry, cracked hands when selecting your subject. Often it's those characteristics of hands that tell the most about a person. the most important thing to remember that the hands can add a human element to many of your photos. There is no "perfect" human- so there can be no "perfect" hands. Consider the story you want to tell with the hands and how eliminating WHO the person is by not having the face in the photo, allows the photo to be more unique and abstract.
"HAND PHOTOS" |
Photos with hands in the picture |
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These are pictures that are truly about the hands. These hands don't tell you who the photo is about but allow the hand to be the subject. The hand tells you about the person and shares with you a story. It shows texture, shadow and light. It creates shapes and lines.
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These photos have hands in them, but the rest of the information in the picture tells the story- not the hand. So consider just photographing the hands in these photos, and allowing them to tell the story.
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Why hands?
Take a brief moment and stop and look at your hands. Not only are they unique, but they share more about you then you are aware of. Photographing hands can capture a person's hidden details and stories, from calluses created with hard labor, leftover paint stains of an artist, to tan lines of a never-removed wedding ring.
As humans we use our hands to talk, weave stories with our hands through pencil and paper, we cry into our hands, use them to show love, and affection, to climb mountains, and to stifle laughter.
Take a brief moment and stop and look at your hands. Not only are they unique, but they share more about you then you are aware of. Photographing hands can capture a person's hidden details and stories, from calluses created with hard labor, leftover paint stains of an artist, to tan lines of a never-removed wedding ring.
As humans we use our hands to talk, weave stories with our hands through pencil and paper, we cry into our hands, use them to show love, and affection, to climb mountains, and to stifle laughter.
