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October 1, 2007
Pamela, Druid, New Zealand, part of the series Observance by Nicola Dove
Photographer Nicola Dove has made an interesting collection of more than 100 long-exposure portraits of people gazing intently through the lens of Dove's 4 x 5 camera as they silently recite a prayer or mantra to themselves. The people represent many religions and come from areas all over the world. As they pray, they try to engage the viewer directly, outside of time and place. Some seem to be able to transmit their calm wisdom and unquestioning faith through the energy of the photograph. Others look downright frightening.
Lens Culture is pleased to be able to share 16 of Dove's images plus a text by the photographer.
You may find it interesting to compare Dove's portraits with those made by Robert Lyons of convicted murderers from the Rwandan genocide. Humanity cries out in all of them.
They are haunting. The attempt to capture the energy of prayer during a long exposure is a facinating concept... like the 19th century attempts to photograph auras... Dove's pictures have a thoughtful intensity, though the subjects direct stare toward the camera is so strong that I don't have a sense of the private (prayer) thoughts behind the gaze. A lot of them do have a self contained thoughfulness that is really evocative.
I've been making portraits using the 19th century wet plate collodion process, which also requires quite long exposure times - often 30 seconds to a minute. I find that the long time required does create a different relationship between the subject and the camera. It seems like the sitters leave more of themselves behind during such a long collaboration...
All they're doing is hypnotising themselves. Big deal.
Seriously - I think it's a problem if photographers just make images, with no understanding or critique of their subject.