Photographer’s Notes

Print Page

Photographer’s Notes from Rag Theater

Rag Theater contains a "Notes" section after the plates. These notes are keyed to specific images and touch on a variety of topics. Over time I will be uploading the images from Rag Theater in the order in which they appear in the book along with any associated notes. The introduction to the Notes section follows below.

There is a sense in which this kind of photography involves taking something from people without giving them something in return. People reveal something to me, however subtle, which they would normally reserve for those much closer to them. My photographs then show this to others. But this is not so simple. Long after the moment of exposure, when the incident has been forgotten by the subject, I am confronted by it again and again—on the negative, on contact sheets, on proofs, and in prints. The images in this book have become my family. My feelings about them run too deep to be expressed objectively. The notes that follow may seem technical or detached, but they reflect my thoughts when I look at the images now. My feelings about the people then must be in the photographs themselves.

Nacio Jan Brown, April 1975