“The Choice to Defect”
Photographer Samer Almadani shares behind the scenes of his award-winning Syria editorial, how the idea arose, and how casting, location scouting, lighting, makeup, and post-production came together in the story conjured by the single resulting image. In “The Choice to Defect” (top), Almadani portrays a soldier who, moments before, was poised to execute a mother and child before deciding he cannot proceed. For Polarr, I spoke with him about his process, and the larger project, where he explores “conflict between logic and emotion.”
Emily von Hoffmann: Can you share a little context for the image? Tell us a bit more about the larger project, “18 Inches: Distance from Head to Heart.”
Samer Almadani: I started “18 Inches: Distance from Head to Heart” as a commentary on human conflict between logic and emotion, as the average distance between one’s head (brain) and heart is 18 inches. I tend to do a lot of projects related to perspective, psychology, sociology or anthropology and this is definitely one of them. The project, when completed, will consist of three storylines, each with three segments.
The first segment is the actual conceptual narrative images. The second segment will be actual found objects photographed from each of these narratives. The last segment will be portraits of actual people who have been involved in each of these storylines.
EvH: Why did you personally feel motivated to create an editorial focusing on the Syrian conflict?
SA: I felt absolutely helpless watching the news in horror as the casualty count of innocent civilians was racking up exponentially every day. I tried to think of all the things I could do to help; volunteer at the refugee camps, send financial aid for medical support, etc. I was doing everything I could but still felt like I had to do more. I decided to use my skill set as a photographer to get the word out about the humanitarian crisis. I wanted people to question what was happening in the image as well as what was really happening in Syria. As a Syrian-American, I used to go there every summer and remember vividly how incredible the people, landscape and food was. I have honestly never felt more welcomed or kindness than in Syria. I truly wish that everyone had a chance to experience Syria the way that I got to before the crisis.
EvH: What’s your process like for this kind of shoot?
SA: My process varies on each project, but I usually begin with a narrative I want to portray. Usually, the narrative comes from a subject I have been thinking a lot about or excerpts from dreams I have. I then begin to build each subject and character in the image, give them a back story and personality to help support the narrative. From there, the pre-production can be very daunting and extremely time consuming. I start thinking about location, the right models, the right crew (producer, hair stylist, wardrobe stylist, prop stylist, makeup artist, assistants, etc), what kind of light tells the story (natural, artificial; time of day, etc), what type of camera and lens helps enhance the narrative, props, special effects, logistics, travel, budget, etc.
I usually will solidify a plausible location before I start locking down crew and models. From there, deadlines (if applicable) usually dictate timeline. However, if there is no deadline, I usually just try to accomplish as soon as possible to maintain momentum. Its easy to lose momentum with so many moving parts. However, every single one of those moving parts is so incredibly crucial that each one can change the path of the final product significantly. This project, in particular, had an absolutely integral group of people that saved me and the project day in and day out. I will forever be indebted to everyone involved on this project.
EvH: Tell us more about the story conveyed in this image, and how you came up with it. How do you think about making design choices that convey tension or indecision, like in this image?
SA: I came up with this narrative because even though I am biased about the crisis, I didn’t want the image to be biased. I wanted people to actual question what was really going on in Syria and educate themselves with the hopes of them ideally wanting to help afflicted civilians with medical aid. I knew I wanted a soldier, as the hero, in the moment of decision, as well as the mother and child, crumbling landscape of historical buildings and casualties strewn about. The specifics of who goes where often doesn’t really come together until you are on location. From there, every single element in the photograph plays together to tell the story. I find it much easier to make these decisions by building the narrative and the story of each character from the beginning. From there, really focusing on making sure every element is powerful on its own makes a strong, cohesive final image.
EvH: Can you share any details, logistical, technical, emotional, or otherwise, from the shoot that particularly stick in your brain? Was there any aspect of the process that was particularly challenging or rewarding?
SA: I have to admit, this was the hardest image I have ever worked on in my 12 years in the industry. There were extreme hardships every step of the way.
I first had to find an amazing crew, willing to work within a personal budget, but willing to go all out to make this the best image possible. Every single person went above and beyond.
The wardrobe stylist, Melanie Francis, sourced props from all over the world, including finding authentic looking berets and a real looking AK-47, which is what the soldiers still use. She was able to do this on a short deadline, as the image was to be featured at an upcoming art show two weeks later.
I used an incredible location scout, Lorena Petani, that researched locations all over the country and drove all around Chicago, Indiana, and Michigan to find the right spot. We landed on a location in Detroit, but had to make the decision between permitting or going rogue. We decided to go rogue because the logistics can get complicated and often shut the photoshoots down if not all aspects are possible. This also meant no security detail and we were in a rough neighborhood with a “soldier” holding a real looking gun. We had safety protocol to ensure everyone’s safety, but in the end it was risky. We ended up shooting all day between two locations, one of which we had to hike the equipment half a mile into a treacherous abandoned lot.
The hardest complication we had was the model. Our original model cancelled the morning of the shoot, after we had already arrived on set in Michigan. We scrambled to find someone else, and last minute Zach Zakar, an aspiring model at the time, happened to be available and volunteered. He also had the extremely hard task of landing on the perfect expression to relay that tension the soldier felt as he decides to defect. He was incredible! He also went along with our rogue adventure and safety protocol without batting an eyelash. Together, we all got the shots we needed safely.
The next morning we had 8 incredible volunteers come in to be our “casualties,” where the absolutely incredible Ashley Vest did their hair, makeup and special effects to make them look like real casualties. The detail on each person was extraordinary. They really should have had their own images, had we had time. We had to photograph each subject with the right lighting, smoke in front of them, accurate char marks and interacting with the objects they’d be placed on, all while using the correct lens and distance from camera.
After the studio day, I had to make all of my selects immediately to get the assets to the retoucher. Brian York is truly one of the best; it was an honor to work with him. He took all of the elements, comped them together, enhanced some stylistic elements, and pushed out the final image in time to get it printed for the show.
I was on set between the photoshoot and the art show, so I had to have this printed with accurate color and density, framed to the correct specs, and hung remotely. After a series of stressful mishaps, the show went on without a hitch. I think it really holds true that sometimes the hardest ones end up being your favorite.
CREDITS:
Retouching: Brian York
Location Scout: Lorena Petani
Wardrobe & Prop Stylist: Melanie Francis
Hair / Makeup / Special FX: Ashley Vest
Assistant: Adam Biba (studio day only)
Models: Zach Zakar, Maya Khalidi, Naya Almadani, Kareem Almadani, Bashar Almadani, Sharup Karim, Michael Ruby, Michael Seidman, Amena Qureshi, Heba Kazoun, and Arij Mikati
Samer Almadani is an award-winning photographer based in Chicago. Explore his work and follow him on Twitter.
