1. DON’T MOVE

  • Stay in one productive spot rather than constantly wandering
  • Let moments come to you
  • Observe patterns and anticipate action
  • Position yourself near janitor closets, security posts, service entrances
  • Wait for workers to enter/exit their spaces
  • Capture repetitive routines (daily arrivals, shift changes)
  • Workers will relax and ignore you if you’re stationary
  • Better understanding of light in one location
  • Can pre-focus and compose
  • Capture natural, unguarded moments
  • Workers become comfortable with your presence

2. FOCUS ON BACKGROUND

  • Background tells as much story as the subject
  • Environment reveals context and meaning
  • Use background to create layers and depth
  • Institutional spaces: hallways, service corridors, loading docks
  • Signs and labels: “Staff Only,” “Authorized Personnel”
  • Equipment and tools: mop buckets, cleaning carts, security monitors
  • Architectural mundanity: fluorescent lights, concrete walls, utilitarian design
  • Background shows the system workers exist within
  • Include workplace signage that defines/restricts workers
  • Show scale: lone worker in large, empty institutional space
  • Architectural repetition emphasizing monotony
  • Environmental details that reveal class divisions

3. COMPOSITION

  • Deliberate arrangement of elements within frame
  • Use of lines, shapes, patterns, balance
  • Rule of thirds, leading lines, framing
  • Leading lines: Hallway corridors drawing eye to distant worker
  • Framing: Doorways, windows framing workers in their spaces
  • Rule of thirds: Worker positioned off-center for dynamic tension
  • Symmetry/patterns: Repetitive architecture mirroring repetitive labor
  • Negative space: Isolation and insignificance of workers in large spaces
  • Foreground elements: Shoot through/past objects to add depth
  • Create visually compelling images of mundane subjects
  • Use composition to emphasize worker’s position in space
  • Balance documentary honesty with artistic consideration

4. TENSION

  • Visual or emotional conflict within the frame
  • Something feels unresolved or charged
  • Creates viewer engagement and reflection
  • Scale tension: Small human vs. large institutional space
  • Class tension: Worker in uniform vs. well-dressed passersby
  • Temporal tension: Stillness vs. surrounding movement
  • Visibility tension: Present but unseen, there but ignored
  • Labor tension: Physical effort vs. thankless invisibility
  • Juxtaposition: Worker cleaning luxury vs. their poverty wages
  • Capture moments of isolation in crowded spaces
  • Show workers’ effort contrasted with others’ indifference
  • Uncomfortable proximity between social classes
  • Moments just before or after interaction

5. AVOID DISTRACTIONS

  • Remove elements that don’t serve the story
  • Every element should have purpose
  • Clean, focused compositions
  • Watch edges of frame for distracting elements
  • Avoid cluttered backgrounds that compete with subject
  • Be mindful of bright spots, colorful objects drawing eye away
  • Eliminate unnecessary people in frame
  • Wait for clean moments between distractions
  • Change angle to exclude distracting elements
  • Use shallow depth of field to blur background distractions
  • Wait for cleaner moment (person walking through frame)
  • Move closer to simplify composition
  • Use negative space strategically rather than accidental clutter
  • Worker + their immediate environment = essential
  • Everything else = evaluate if it adds or distracts

6. PERSPECTIVE & ANGLES

  • Camera height and position changes meaning
  • Different angles create different emotional responses
  • Perspective shapes viewer’s relationship to subject

Eye Level:

  • Equality, respect, dignity
  • Direct connection with workers
  • Standard for environmental portraits

Low Angle (shooting upward):

  • Gives subject power, monumentality
  • Elevates overlooked workers
  • Heroic perspective on mundane labor
  • Counters society’s dismissive view

High Angle (shooting downward):

  • Shows vulnerability, smallness
  • Worker diminished by system
  • Emphasizes isolation in large space
  • Use carefully – can feel condescending

Dutch Angle (tilted):

  • Unease, instability
  • System feels off-balance
  • Use sparingly for specific effect

Close-Up:

  • Intimate, detailed
  • Hands at work, worn uniforms, tired expressions
  • Emphasizes humanity and physical toll

Wide Angle:

  • Context and environment
  • Worker within institutional space
  • Emphasizes isolation or scale
  • Shows relationship between person and system