Cameraperson

As a cameraperson, Kirsten Johnson must have trust, cooperation, and permission from her subjects to have full access to their narrative. In “Cameraperson,” there were many scenes that could not have been captured without this established relationship. Although neither Johnson nor the subject knows where filming will take them, they both have to be willing and open to getting there.

One of the first scenes of the film that shows the trust between Johnson and the subject is when she is speaking to a young woman who explains why she is aborting her child. She requested anonymity, so the camera does not see her face, but her emotion is captured as she picks at her hands and pulls on the loose strings of her ripped jeans. The viewer can see that telling her story is nerve-wracking and painful, but the woman chose to tell it to Johnson. She was given permission to film and was trusted with the young woman’s story.

Kathy Leichter, the woman who goes through her mother’s belongings, had an outburst that Johnson was able to record. She expresses her frustration by throwing her mother’s papers and the pins across the room. Leichter must have had trusted Johnson enough to show this angry side of her, and was comfortable enough to share it. 

James Wilkins, the boxer who has lost a match, also has an outburst that Johnson recorded. He was cursing, screaming and slamming objects. As I watched the scene, I expected him to tell Johnson to turn the camera off. But Johnson follows him down the hall and back into the stadium when he speaks to his mother. Wilkins did cooperate with Johnson and her camera, even when he was pushing other people away and did not want to be touched or spoken to. Johnston had complete permission to record Wilkins’ lowest moment. 

Johnson is able to get these stories from her subjects because she has their trust, cooperation and permission. She does not know what she is going to get from them, so asking for this much access into their stories can be difficult. But her film shows how effectively a story can be told with this relationship between her and the subject.