I read through an accompanying piece to identify elements that can be illustrated through irony or humour. For cultural pieces, I look into both subtle and literal traits of the landscape of a story.
Humour between the minimal lines for ‘Still Waters: a Story of Survival, Science and Self-indulgence’ (text by Ashwin Retnakumar; a commissioned piece for Plates, Vol.3: Water). Concept: Alexander the Great hosting a party with modern cocktails; alcohol for sanitation
Decorative spot illustrations for ‘Name your Price’ (photo and text by Lindsay Gasik; a commissioned piece on the Thai durians for Plates, Vol.2: Durian) to both fill in and nudge cultural nuances. Concept: Durian thorns in place of temple-scape.
Breaking down technical-heavy paragraphs in ‘The Proof is in the Drinking’ with familiar labels and signals. (text by Ashwin Retnakumar; a commissioned piece for Plates, Vol.3: Water). Concept: Whiskey label; if the distillation process was a person.
Infographic research and illustration for Plates, Vol.3: Water.
In situ sketching
In locations where interviewees are happy to talk on record, but don’t want to be photographed or bringing out a camera mid-conversation would be too intrusive, sketching has served as a solution to capture details that would help bring readers into the story.
Sketching, I believe, is less intrusive, especially as a visiting outsider. Instead of rushing to stick a foot-long lens in someone’s face without so much as a ‘Hello’ (a practice I still find wildly uncomfortable) sketching has served as a gentle invitation to begin a conversation throughout my years of storygathering in remote locations.
During a backpacking trip, my camera died somewhere along Albania/Kosovo—and just before I left for Ecuador. While the rest of the tourists had their cameras to capture the surrealism of nature as-is on the Galapagos, I just had my notebook. This practice, born out of tech scarcity, eventually turned into a personal practice: observational sketching in situ.
Observational sketching forces me to stop and notice subtle details that may be missed from behind a camera lens or a phone screen. Sketching has also helped me create connections with a person or persons in a community when we don’t speak a common language.
