Prostitute & Drug Dealer. © Donald Weber

Last year, Colin Pantall and Prison Photography ping-ponged some responses with Donald Weber about his series Interrogations.

Now, Tony Fouhse at drool has had Weber’s ear.

In an enclosed room of interrogation, subjugation and bullying, audiences are likely – again and again – to pose questions about the photographer’s responsibility … or his sanity … or his stomach. Tony Fouhse does so but in a way to give Weber a platform to explain his approach to photography as it relates to Interrogations:

“I think the only way to get anything of sincerity or honesty is to dedicate yourself to something. I guess it’s an old fashioned concept, this idea of sincerity in an age of strict irony. I am a believer in a very slow working method.”

“I believe there is no judgment in these pictures, and that is what is strong and makes an iota of sincerity. Don McCullin called it the “Composition of Empathy,” a direct counter to the Bresson way of photographing, where often it is about the “Composition of Composition.” I take that to heart, and truly I am just interested in who is in front of me.”

“I am not a stylist or even a very sophisticated photographer, compositions are left to the detritus of the roadside… Time allows you to journey past a superficial creation, to “make” a photograph really isn’t that difficult, but to move beyond, and try to offer at least a glimmer of your subject, who they, what they feel, what they think, is the mark of a great photograph.”

Read the full interview.

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Donald is represented by the photo agency Vll Network. Donald Weber’s book INTERROGATIONS will be available this fall. Donald’s website is here.

Dvafoto’s Interview: Donald Weber, inside the Imperium from 2008 fleshes out Donald’s influences, philosophy and trajectory up until that point.