Subject Anonymous

Photography has always been used to record the faces of people from early daguerreotype portraits to the mundane passport pictures. We obsess about photographing the human face, and with good reason. The human face holds great photographic value. Its aesthetic symmetry and beauty makes it something worth gazing over, and it identifies the subject and expresses their emotions. However, as powerful as the human face can be in a photograph, it can sometimes be the least important aspect of the subject.

Sometimes a portrait doesn't need to include the face of a subject in order to tell the story. Omitting the face can realign the focus towards something less considered about the subject. In this case who the subject is becomes a minor aspect of the photograph. What then becomes important is the overlooked characteristics of the subject. It is almost a minimalistic approach to photographing people, cutting out anything that does not contribute to what you intend to show about the subject.

My America, Photographs by Christopher Morris, VII

Leaving the subject anonymous also creates a sense of obscurity. Who the person is will always be important to the viewer, but by not defining exactly who the subject actually is, the photograph then leaves it up to the viewer's imagination to construct the subject's identity with what is given. In this case uncertainty is a good thing. The anonymous subject is almost the photographic equivalent to a poetic device used in Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Frost's decision may have "made all the difference," but whether or not the difference was a good one is left up to the reader's imagination.

Chechnya. 1996. Ruins in the center of Grozny. Photograph by James Nachtwey, VII.

The photograph above was taken during the aftermath of the first Chechnya war. The identity of the subject is for the most part omitted, leaving only the fact that the subject is a child in the midst of destruction behind him. The message is clear, many children were victim to this war. Who the child actually is doesn't concern the photograph, that is left to be made up by the viewer. He could be anyone within the viewer's imagination, even someone close.

More of Christopher Morris and James Nachtwey at VII Photo