Talk to Wooster
Spring 2007
World View
Engagement
“I want to engage people in the process. It’s the human interaction that gives me great satisfaction.”
McCarthy uses skills developed in her years as a counselor to get her subjects to open up. “I want to create an atmosphere where people are accepted—not objects to be studied,” she says. She often begins a pantomimed conversation by expressing admiration for jewelry or clothing. She asks permission before photographing, by bringing the camera up to her eye and quickly taking it down. “If they stop smiling, or turn away, or put their hands up, I move on,” she explains. “ If they’re still looking at me and still engaged, I continue.”
Sometimes she mirrors the actions of her subjects. “When I was in Papua, New Guinea, I saw some women with baskets on their heads, moving in a dancing way. I started dancing myself, and they started giggling. The photographs are wonderful.”
Light
Many of McCarthy’s photos are featured in a coffeetable book, On Safari, by David Anderson. In September, she and her husband Bruce will accompany Anderson on a trip to Ethiopia, where they will explore and photograph remote areas. “It’s going to be rugged— and incredible,” she says.
