Profiles: Mary Fons, Interpreter

Simultaneous Translation: Magic I’ll Never Understand

Mary is an interpreter. It’s one of those jobs I find completely baffling—listening to one language and speaking another almost simultaneously? My brain hurts just thinking about it.

I always think of the Babel fish from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy—that’s about my level. People have occasionally asked me to translate things on the spot and it’s always a mess. If someone doesn’t pause, I’m sunk.

Inside the Booth (Yes, With Her)

Mary was calm, focused, and seemed to possess the patience of a saint. Good thing too, because we ended up in a very small sound booth together. It was a portable setup made from scratched plexiglass—surprisingly claustrophobic. And yes, I had to climb in with her to get the shot.

Lighting was kept simple: a single flash bounced into a brolly just outside the booth for general illumination.

Wardrobe Dilemma: White vs Leather

We started with Mary in a white jumper, which caught the light well and didn’t need any fill. Then she wanted to try it with her leather jacket. A great look, but tricky—without fill, it was getting swallowed into the shadows.

My workaround? I borrowed a large tablecloth from the conference room and hung it just out of frame to the left. It worked—just enough bounce to give the jacket some edge and lift it from the background.

I let a bit of ambient light in too, to help set the scene and avoid making it look like she was trapped in a black box.