A Few People
Environmental Portraits, 1970–2025 Soft Cover
by Dan Biferie
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About the Book
A Few People gathers environmental portraits made over more than fifty-five years, primarily across rural Ohio and the backroads of Florida. These photographs move between the personal and the observational, shaped by brief encounters grounded in attention, conversation, and trust.
For the photographer, portraiture begins not with likeness, but with presence. Each image marks a shared moment—an exchange between two people, often strangers, who come into quiet awareness of one another. What remains is not performance, but something more enduring: the feeling of being seen.
Many of these photographs were made when the artist was young, guided less by certainty than by curiosity, and by the belief that respect might be enough. Over time, this way of working deepened into a sustained practice rooted in patience, empathy, and an understanding that people and their environments speak together.
The individuals in these images are encountered in grocery stores, on porches, along back roads, and in small towns and city streets. What connects them is not spectacle, but a quiet tension between public appearance and private life. Often, what is most present is what remains unspoken.
As time passes, photographs do not remain fixed. Images once understood as simple documents begin to carry other meanings—social, historical, and personal. This shifting is part of their life. A photograph is shaped not only by what it shows, but by what we bring to it.
At its core, A Few People is a record of looking carefully. Of standing before another person and attempting, however briefly, to see them clearly.
For the photographer, portraiture begins not with likeness, but with presence. Each image marks a shared moment—an exchange between two people, often strangers, who come into quiet awareness of one another. What remains is not performance, but something more enduring: the feeling of being seen.
Many of these photographs were made when the artist was young, guided less by certainty than by curiosity, and by the belief that respect might be enough. Over time, this way of working deepened into a sustained practice rooted in patience, empathy, and an understanding that people and their environments speak together.
The individuals in these images are encountered in grocery stores, on porches, along back roads, and in small towns and city streets. What connects them is not spectacle, but a quiet tension between public appearance and private life. Often, what is most present is what remains unspoken.
As time passes, photographs do not remain fixed. Images once understood as simple documents begin to carry other meanings—social, historical, and personal. This shifting is part of their life. A photograph is shaped not only by what it shows, but by what we bring to it.
At its core, A Few People is a record of looking carefully. Of standing before another person and attempting, however briefly, to see them clearly.
Author website
Features & Details
- Primary Category: Fine Art Photography
- Additional Categories Portfolios, Arts & Photography Books
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Project Option: Standard Landscape, 10×8 in, 25×20 cm
# of Pages: 62 -
Isbn
- Softcover: 9798240545665
- Publish Date: May 11, 2026
- Language English
- Keywords environmental portrait, documentary, presence
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About the Creator
Dan Biferie
Daytona Beach, Florida
Dan Biferie is a photographic artist and educator whose career centers on the expressive and humanistic power of photography. His work has been exhibited in more than 150 exhibitions nationwide and is held in major public collections, including the National Museum of American Art and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Over a 45-year career at Daytona State College, he helped shape one of the nation’s leading photography programs, serving as Chair of the School of Photography and earning the title of Professor Emeritus in 2021. A founding member of the Southeast Museum of Photography, he remains an active advocate for the arts.
