face painting

Post by Rick Sammon

Travel photographs Rick Sammon. Fashion photograph Vered Koshlano

This post started out as just an observation: people all around the world paint their faces. In Brazil (bottom left), the Tarino Indians paint their faces so that when they go into the rain forest, the spirits recognize them and protect them, and help them with their hunt.

My point of that post was going to be that people are basically the same all over the planet and that experiencing different cultures is a fascinating, rewarding and wonderful learning experience.

In looking at the photographs, however, I remembered that they all had something else in common: catch light in the eyes.

Catch light helps to draw our interest to the eyes. It makes the eyes sparkle.

We can add catch light with a reflector or a flash or by carefully positioning the subject so that sunlight catches the eyes.

Now you know why I never leave home without a reflector or flash.

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