海角大神

The universal language of a smile

I聽love collecting faces in my camera and bringing them home with me.

Faces are like snowflakes: No two are alike.

I recently visited C么te d鈥橧voire for the first time. Every new country has a learning curve for me since folks in faraway places react differently to cameras. After visiting for a while in the country, I noticed that Ivorians had resting faces that looked rather closed and stern. I wondered, Were they not happy to see me? But after a connection was made 鈥� maybe just eye contact ... wait for it ... beautiful smiles broke out again and again.

When I travel on assignment for the Monitor, one of the best parts of my job is peeking behind the curtain of a country. It鈥檚 not like being on vacation, because I get to meet and spend a little time with our subjects, sometimes visiting their homes or businesses. I see places not listed on tourist itineraries. Other times, I come across聽 people for just a quick impression, when I look out the window of our passing car or walk by them on my way to somewhere else. That鈥檚 what these images represent.

The twins! Of all the frames I shot in C么te d鈥橧voire, the photos I took of these two wonderful men are my favorites. Our connection was instant.聽 They immediately gave me permission to snap their picture. They were thrilled. Their smiles, their joy, their love for each other 鈥� it was all there. They had been sitting together outside a tailor鈥檚 atelier that I was photographing. Did they live nearby? Did they always sit there? I don鈥檛 know. I don鈥檛 even know their names. But they made me smile when I met them, and they make me smile every time I look at their portrait.

The children live in a tiny village near cocoa farms. We stopped our car for a moment on the way back to the capital. They were right outside my window. Click! In the photo one looks surprised, another not sure, one with a shy smile, and the boy, like little boys everywhere, has a gesture with a pose to match.

Later, looking out from a shop, I saw this football club warming up before a scrimmage. A couple of players spotted me with my long lens and reacted. Other players kept running, unaware.聽

I never know what I鈥檒l encounter on a photo shoot, but I try to be ready for anything. A cook was grilling fish for the lunchtime crowd at a small restaurant in the capital, Abidjan. While the Monitor reporter聽 was doing聽 an interview there, I kept going over to the cook to capture just the right moment. She laughed when I came back multiple times. I did get her name: Mariam Kone.

As with all my work trips, I am tasked with illustrating stories through my lens that a writer is reporting. In addition, I鈥檓 always on the lookout for other images that move me. I don鈥檛 speak French, so in C么te d鈥橧voire, I relied on our fluent correspondent and our local 鈥渇ixer,鈥� Albain, who helped us find what we needed. Still, there were many moments on my own and I interacted without language, using my smile and a slight lift of my camera that said, 鈥淐an I take your photo?鈥� Usually, the answer was 鈥淵es!鈥�

鈥� Melanie Stetson Freeman