De-centering

As an artist, I find it compelling to place a person off-center in a portrait. When I am making a photograph, the composition is instinctive. But when I am asked to be deliberate and analytical, I say de-centering a primary figure is a powerful way to draw and direct the viewer’s eye. In this particular image, de-centering the warrior with his spear and beads serves also to emphasize the enormous space in front of him. We look to him first, then secondarily join him in honoring the space before him as he bows his head in reverence.

In the next moment, we realize we are seeing his desert environment exactly as he does: expansive but not distracting, barren but also plush with possibility. Soon, he will shepherd his goats and cows to find water in the dry, dusty terrain. Note how the horizon line where sky meets land has hue and contrast, but the mind’s eye is more aware of how they connect and co-exist within the enormity of the open space.

As I move through my day, busily preparing for travel, I feel how the space around me grabs for my attention. The clutter of calendars, to-do lists, traffic, and road signs pulls me out of the now. I want to flee to be beside this warrior once again. I recall his energy was calm, kind, quiet, observant, gracious. I spent several full days accompanying these warrior men and It was for me restorative: a time of renewed awe for land, animals, people. They lived in simple harmony with the earth. They reminded me to inhabit the vast moment in the present.