Apprehension.

c. David Grim (taken 4/5/08)

Here's another example of what I was talking about in the previous post about portraits. Perhaps the subject would recognize herself, but it doesn't really matter if the viewer does or does not. The point here is the emotional resonance.

I don't remember if this was posed, or if she even realized I was taking here photo at the time. I was making it a habit of dragging my camera with me everywhere I went. So my friends didn't even notice the presence of a recording device. It became part of the unnoticed background of every situation, and I believe that leads to the best circumstances for framing portraits.

Not to say that anything would be taken away from this particular shot if she were conscious of what I was doing. It's still capable of conveying a palpable human emotion. It's hard for me to look at this without wondering what she's thinking about. And there is something almost unbearably touching about the finger in her mouth.