The beauty of people

Henriette Lamprecht - Capturing the magic of the mundane daily life of a family.

She loves documenting real life and taking photos that express emotion, says healing facilitator and photographer Jutta Dobler, visiting people at their homes for an intimate portrait of what a day in their lives entails.

While in Namibia, she worked for media that included the Associated Press and Agence France Press, covering everything from the war in Angola to the desert elephants, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s visit for the birth of their daughter Shiloh, and state visits of the German, American and South African presidents.

Now based in Berlin, Germany, Jutta admits her photography today is quite different from what she did as a press photographer. As she often goes to people’s homes to spend time together, it is more intimate although the way she works hasn’t changed that much.

“I still find it difficult and slightly odd to direct my subjects. Instead, I prefer if they do their thing and I move around them, often trying to stay in the background. I am sure this comes from being so used to working with what’s out in the field instead of creating a scene.”

She engages more in conversations now, she admits but has done that too wherever possible as a press photographer.



More real

“In a way, press photography did feel more real, especially when I was photographing in dangerous situations or somewhere I wasn’t wanted. I guess it’s the adrenaline rush that made me feel very much alive.”

As a press photographer, you have to tell a story with one image, Jutta says – something she now also aims for while being in someone’s home.

“I wait for them to tell their story through what they are doing. This is easier if I don’t interfere too much.”

Slowly, an aspect of her work is developing where she is trying to realise a vision she has instead of working with what’s there, and where she has to do a lot more directing, she explains.

“So far I haven’t done too many paid shoots, but it’s something I play around with whenever I find a willing model!”



New approach

When she started doing family shoots, Jutta had a Zoom call beforehand, asking questions about the family and their life as well as what they wanted from the photos. With this approach she realised she became very focused on delivering the images they said they wanted and didn’t take any risks while working.

“What is created this way are rather safe, expected images, but I feel that the more unexpected pictures are often much stronger. I go there, we chat a bit, and then I casually start taking pictures while they (hopefully) get on with their day. This works a lot better for me.”

With this approach, it is really important to be consistent and deliberate with the images she publishes on her website or social media so that people know what to expect, Jutta says. At the moment they see images that are dark and moody rather than bright and light, only booking her if they like this style.

“I am not very good at doing this right now,” she admits.

“I still use my blog to publish all kinds of shoots just because I am excited after I did them, which is not ideal because it confuses people.”



Rewarding

Being in someone’s personal space is both rewarding and interesting, says Jutta.

“I love to see how others live, how they interact with each other, what they do in their day-to-day lives. I also love capturing people when they are not posing but are just being themselves.”

Press photography was rewarding too, especially if she documented an important story. “What I did often, was to put the camera between myself and what was happening, especially if it was disturbing to me on a personal level. Seal clubbing, orphanages, victims of the Angolan war... This helped to emotionally remove myself from what was happening.”

Her favourite brief is “We love your style, do what you want!”

As an artist, it’s always a dance between doing ‘your thing’ and getting paid, says Jutta, with the latter often involving making compromises.

“So, if someone books me because they love my work and want my voice, it’s wonderful!”

At the moment, she is still doing some shoots she would like to move away from eventually, like personal branding, product shoots and traditional portraits, but admits it pays the rent and it is always interesting to meet new people.

A moment in her journey as photographer that stands out, was when she was travelling as part of a large group of journalists and photographers with the German federal president, Roman Herzog.

Herzog travelled in a Lear jet, while her group, returning from the Etosha National Park, travelled in a DC6. Plumes of smoke suddenly appeared from one of the engines as it shut down.

A journalist from [the former] Yugoslavia sitting next to Jutta shouted at her to take out her camera and “start shooting” if the plane goes down.

“We didn’t crash but instead had a bumpy landing on a desert road. For me this sums up the work of press photographers: you’re there to tell the story. And, as strange as this might sound, this calmed me down so much in those stressful moments. It gave our being there a purpose. We were telling a story that might outlive us.”

One thing Jutta has learned during her life’s journey, is that people want the same things everywhere – they want to be loved, to feel happy and to live a good life.

“So many people don’t like having their picture taken and worry that they somehow don’t measure up and won’t look good.

Seeing yourself differently

“It’s a favourite part of my job when I prove them wrong. When someone who thinks they look ugly in pictures, love the photos. Good photography helps people to see themselves differently and to be more confident.”

It’s similar to her work as a healing facilitator, says Jutta, “helping people see their own beauty and embracing who they are, inside and out”.

A new dream and ambition is to move towards creating art with images that touch people, that transcend the personal and show the universal.

Another one is to get much better at remote shoots whereby she works from her computer through the client’s phone and with the help of an app. This means she can take pictures anywhere in the world. “But it involves a lot of directing to get good pictures with a phone camera.”

She would also love to return to Namibia, Jutta admits, photographing the people, the landscape, “anything really!”

Currently she is putting together a course for photographers (professionals and amateurs) about finding their voice as a people photographer, which is one of the most important things to do if you want to stand out and get paid.

“Now that my daughter is grown up and lives in her own apartment, I would love to be more location independent with my work and become a bit more of a nomad. Both the remote shoots and the course will help with that.” jdphotographyberlin.com; [email protected]; https://www.youtube.com/c/JuttaDobler