Striking contrasts

One of the most effective ways to express ideas photographically is to compare and contrast subjects by juxtaposing them, to highlight either the similarity or difference

In my first example (above), I juxtapose a massive new downtown office building in Salt Lake City, Utah, against the turret of an old neighborhood church, contrasting commerce to spirituality, the new to the old. The glass windows of the office building, reflecting the deep blue Utah sky, seem opaque and blind to what is around them. They stare at the church like hundreds of blank eyes.

In my second example (facing page, bottom), two women emerge from a wedding dress store in Vinh Long, Vietnam. It is a store that trades largely on dreams. Vietnamese weddings are often massive community events, and the bride changes dresses several times during the ceremony. These women probably work there-their businesslike outfits and attitudes contrast to the stylized mannequins in the store. Like the motorbike parked just outside the store, they represent the real world. I juxtapose them against the three figures inside the store that represent the stuff that dreams are made of.

In my final example (above), which I photographed on the Mekong River near the Vietnam-Cambodia border, the iconic image of a man with a conical hat and a hoe on his back, trudging alongside a riverbank, gets an updated context. There are two utility wires hanging just over his head. Some photographers would use Photoshop to take them out because they "spoil" what would be an otherwise idyllic image. But to me, the wires are essential components of communication. By juxtaposing the traditional scene with those wires so symbolic of the contemporary world, I tell the story of what is happening to him, and, indeed, to all of Vietnam.