Photos are like a return ticket back to the utmost precious moments of our lives which are encapsulated in the photo that lasts through a lifetime and for generations to come. A professionally captured photo is made up of the subject, space, time, along with the professional photographer’s skills, knowledge, and creativity, which freezes the moment, creating precious memories, making it timeless and unique. They convey messages that cannot be sufficiently or accurately expressed through verbal means, such as emotions, memories, needs, desires, and wishes.
Moments encapsulated in the photo can evoke feelings, such as comfort, love, familiarity, reverence, inspiration, grief, or anxiety, depending on the subject and event in it. The evoked emotions and memories are what we associate the elements in the photos with. At the same time, they also bring attention to the deeper layer of mind and things unseen, taken for granted, forgotten, or lost in time. Moments are made up of emotions, expressions, and body language amid the myriad of interactions within the image.
During an interaction, one tends to be more conscious of the conversations, verbalized emotions, and expressions. As such, the body language is often forgotten or neglected. One may control their speech and body language to a certain extent, but physical movements convey feelings that aren’t verbalized, because they are unconscious or one is attempting to hide the actual feelings. Thus, body language conveys messages that have an unconscious effect on people.
In the event of photography, the photographer is like a “link bridge” of the subject to the viewers, freezing the moment for the viewers and subjects. At the same time, the body language of the photographer has a subtle effect on the subject as well. Therefore, a photographer can indirectly affect the viewers' perception of the photo.
In conclusion, body language affects the emotional aspect of psychology, which in turn affect one’s perception of a photo.
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