Cameraperson Extra Credit

     Kirsten Johnson’s film Cameraperson is a film that connects different settings at different times. It is similar to a  travelogue, which brings us to a plethora of locations. Such as a maternity hospital in Nigeria, Yemen’s Sana’a detention center, Afghanistan, a Muslim family’s farm in Bosnia, Darfur, a Texas courtroom, Guantánamo Bay and Manhattan’s Ground Zero.
     At first, these numerous scenes seem connected by only the photographer, who’s occasionally heard in the background discussing her various camera setups, focal points, and movements with the directors. Although Johnson only appears on-screen during two late passages, her presence is felt throughout “Cameraperson,” thanks in large part to the way she cannily assembles her material to raise a number of thematic inquiries that — due to the fact that they repeat throughout her projects — resonate as highly personal.
   One question that Kirsten Johnson explores is "I ask for trust, cooperation, and permission without knowing where the filming experience will lead the subject." For instance, during a scene, a Bosnian toddler is playing with, and then wrestling away from his older brother, an ax. As the child’s hands reach perilously close to the instrument’s blade, Johnson can be heard saying a concerned “Oh Jesus!” However,  the fact that she doesn’t interfere with the actions that are happening — instead opting to simply record whatever transpires, good or bad — which results in an example of how filmmakers balance the thin line between compassionately recounting others’ tales, and actually doing something to improve their subjects' situations.