ix
ic tricks, as he did with a group of monks when he
was photographing in Bhutan.
As you spend time with his photographs, you will
notice that in most of them there is direct eye con-
tact between the subject and Rick, and subsequent-
ly, between the subject and you, the viewer. People
in his photographs have a real presence, and you
can experience a feeling of openness and trust on
the part of the person being photographed. Minor
White underscored the importance of rapport and
trust when he wrote, “Creativity with portraits in-
volves the invocation of the state of rapport when
only a camera stands between two people … mu-
tual vulnerability and mutual trust.”
The eyes are the “windows of the soul,” as the say-
ing goes. But the eyes are seen in the context of the
face. The many possible expressions of the face,
with its 50 or so muscles, make you realize how
important the instant of clicking the shutter is.
Being able to read those subtle and rapidly chang-
ing expressions and quickly respond to them is es-
sential. For me, Rick’s photographs are more than
“Face to Face.” They are also “Eye to Eye.”
An interesting aspect of looking at his photo-
graphs is that, as a viewer, you can spend as much
time as you want, eye to eye, with a photograph
and not break eye contact. In a person-to-person
situation, such staring would be uncomfortable.
As you look at Rick’s photographs, you will notice
that he has been careful to position his subjects
against a background that pro ...