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Is there anything in the world more
beautiful or expressive than a child's eyes? They are also the key to
the situation if you are trying to make a child-portrait. As little
Peter (or Anne) eyes you cautiously from the security of his mother's
arms, he is weighing you up. . .
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He is two years old, usually the most
cautious age. A false move or word on your putt at this stage and his
deep-rooted suspicions about unfamiliar people and things might appear
to be well founded and hopes of a good picture could be washed out in a
flood of tears. Here is a challenge. You have to gain his confidence.
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Your expression, your tone of voice, your
general manner, must all suggest friendliness. Your first quiet words
to him are a test of his reactions. Two bright eyes give you the
answer. Suspicion, wonder, delight, alarm - whatever the message, it is
a true reflection of his feelings. Any attempt to part him from Mum by
so much as three inches at this stage might well prove disastrous as
far as picture-taking is concerned, until you discern a hint that your
friendly overtures are being accepted.
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When his expression softens and the
suspicion melts away, when the eyes flicker into the merest suggestion
of a smile - then the child has accepted you. The key to the situation
is in his eyes. They give you the go-ahead signal and from that precise
moment the sitting can become a game and you may begin to gently impose
your will on him to do the things you want him to do and which he finds
he enjoys doing after all.
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Eyes are windows through which children
look out on to a strange world, a world of wonder and danger and
peopled by giants. But windows can be looked through both ways. And we
must strive constantly to see and understand the child's world of
fantasy and fears, a world of discovery, a strange place where anything
can happen. No single thing can help us to understand children more and
to photograph them successfully as the ability to project ourselves
into their world. The only way to understand difficult behavior, and to
be tolerant and patient, is to try to see through the eyes of the
child.
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