How we work at birthdays, reunions and kitchen tables — and the one instruction we always give.
Start slower than feels comfortable
Most of our assignments begin with a few days of not photographing at all. We walk the same streets at the same hours, introduce ourselves, and let people decide whether we are worth talking to. It feels unproductive. It is the most productive thing we do.
By the time a camera comes out, the room has usually stopped performing for it. That shift is what we are really waiting for — not a particular light or a particular face, but the moment when nobody cares that we are there.
Let the roll tell you what it is about
We rarely know what a series is about until the first contact sheets come out of the dryer. A frame we almost skipped turns into the opening image; a portrait we were sure of quietly drops out of the edit.
A small rule we keep
Every frame we deliver comes with a name, a place and a date. If we cannot caption it honestly, it does not go in.
Jonah Brecht
Cinematographer
