Photo Contest 2002 | Palo Alto Online |

11th Annual Palo Alto Weekly Photo Contest
Third Place, Peninsula People

"Warren, Redwood City"
By Josh Haner

About Josh Haner

To Josh Haner, it was so important to get the name of his subject right that he submitted his photo under a different title before being able to confirm the spelling of the name "Warren."

Click on photo for larger image.

"Pictures are necessarily about two people: the person taking the picture and the person whose image is being taken," he said. "There's a tendency for photographers to want only their own names under their photos, but I think it's terrible when the subject is forgotten, because it gives the impression that you don't spend enough time with them."

"In the majority of the community surrounding Stanford, success is often defined by having a fence, a house, and not knowing your neighbors," he said. He therefore wants his photos to show a slice of society that he finds close-knit, with everybody helping each other.

The photo was taken when Haner and Warren were sitting in the latter's house, talking about football. It struck Haner that "the light was coming in in such a way that it gave the curtain a glow . . . the light seemed to lead into his face and he seemed very comfortable in front of the camera."

The photo was taken with a 3200 speed film, medium format, and developed at the photography laboratory at Stanford University, where Haner is majoring in studio art photography and symbolic systems.

Regarding this photo, he says: "I hope people who have to find success in terms of sheltering themselves off from the community around them will get to see that there are ways of life that are just as rich or richer."

-- Lulu Wijaya

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