Beatification

A profile of photographer Marie Constantin

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Photographer Marie Constantin moves between two kinds of photoshoots: commercial-style and news-style. “I might be standing on a rail car in the morning and in an operating room or a boardroom in the afternoon,” she explained.

 

Commercial shoots offer a cushioned atmosphere for the working photographer, with professional lighting, poses, and amenable subjects. “Everybody knows you’re coming,” said Constantin, a Hartford native who graduated from LSU’s journalism program and now lives and works in Baton Rouge. “You’ve got a lot of control. But you can also abandon the shot if it’s just not happening.”

With news-style shoots, however, the photographer faces another animal entirely, the task of capturing candid moments and the unplanned beauties of life. To Constantin and her ilk, the description “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” presents a challenge, not an impossibility.

The embrace of daunting opportunities led Constantin to the most storied relationship of her career: one of only two American photographers documenting Mother Teresa in her travels. Beginning in 1984, Constantin was invited to follow the lauded humanitarian during her work in Calcutta as well as her trips to the Eastern United States.

In this capacity, Constantin saw no option but to shoot news-style. She photographed Mother Teresa with a long lens, “being respectful, not intrusive. I tried to hang back.” 

The sixty rolls of film Constantin brought on her first trip to Calcutta laid mostly untouched in her bag. “I only shot two,” she said. “I just helped out. I set out to do photography, but it just didn’t feel relevant.”

At Mother Teresa’s 2003 beatification ceremony, one of Constantin’s own photos (pictured here) hung in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, selected as the official photo for the occasion. 

Constantin continues her work with humanitarians, along with commercial photos that range from headshots and architecture to industrial and medical compositions. Her gear is state-of-the-art, but she places her confidence primarily in her quick-thinking and her imagination. “I used to think anybody could take pictures,” said Constantin. “But I realized you do have to have an eye.”

View more of Constantin's work at marieconstantin.com.