[Finding Refuge in a Visual Language](http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/a-refugee-embraces-a-visual-language/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog Main&contentCollection=Multimedia&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body&_r=0)

[20150302 lens sylvia slide L4H6 superJumbo](http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/a-refugee-embraces-a-visual-language/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog Main&contentCollection=Multimedia&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body&_r=0)

Sylvia Plachy’s approach to photography has remained constant, even if her gear or technique has changed at times. She tries to make everything disappear, to forget who she is. For one, she does not like to talk when she takes pictures. “Of course, you have to with people,” she said. “Sometimes. But I usually prefer just to smell it and be there and understand it through instinct.”