This shoot was especially trying for me because of Ed, my reporter’s’, and his rancid beer farts during the car ride to the vineyard.
When we arrived, I still didn’t know exactly what I was going to be photographing. We were pointed towards a rolling hill covered in rows of grape vines. The leader of the group drove up, gave us clippers and buckets and set us to work. I asked if there was anything I needed to know, worried that some mistake I might commit would ruin the whole season’s worth of wine. “I think not,” he answered. “You cut the grapes, put them in the bucket.”
After I collected a few buckets worth of grapes I set down my clippers and replaced them with cameras in my sticky hands. The workers were clearly shy and not very used to having their pictures taken. I had to begin by taking pictures of the landscape and scenery so that they didn’t feel like I was only there to photograph them. I set down my camera and returned to grape picking, now alongside the other workers’ to build some sense of camaraderie.
With a few more buckets picked, I once again picked up my camera and with broken Spanish introduced myself and asked if I could take the workers’ pictures. They agreed, but there was clearly hesitation, so I had to make the most of what pictures I did take to keep them from becoming too uncomfortable.
When we watched the other side of wine making, photographing was much different. Outside of introducing myself when we first met them, I never interacted with the interns or the workers. While Ed chatted and asked his questions, I moved around the machines and the conveyor belt, letting him draw the attention so the workers would not focus on me while I took pictures. It was as if Ed was the only one there, and they never took notice of me, even when I climbed atop their forklift to get an overhead shot of the massive
bins of grapes.
Although the inside of the winery was interesting, the experience in the fields was certainly more valuable to me as a photographer. Working alongside subjects builds trust and usually results in the best photographs.