Photographing the Moment: It's a Vision Thing

There is one thing that photography must contain: the humanity of the moment. This kind of photography is realism. But realism is not enough; there has to be vision, and the two together can make a good photograph.                                                         

      Robert Frank

What is it exactly that Frank is saying here? I think, put simply, he is telling us that for a photo to be potentially (my italics) successful, it must contain not only a moment of the life of the person or people being photographed, but it must also contain something of humanity as it was expressed in that moment.

We see a lot of Street photography that clearly is made with the intention of producing a kind of technically correct result. (Disclaimer: I'm not going go anywhere near debates such as the "sharpness in Street Photography is overrated" paradigm doing the rounds at the moment).  And of course we do have to have some technical expertise and aspirations for our photography. But oftentimes we try so hard to copy the styles of the "masters", or the latest "trends" in street photography, or to get our heads around "zone focus", or "depth of field" and "bokeh" and the rest,  that we, either lose sight of the vision we brought to street photography in the first place, or we deny ourselves the opportunity to develop our own unique vision and voice 

But even worse than all this in my opinion is the missed opportunities to celebrate the humanity in the moments we are so fortunate to share with the people we photograph. At the same time we disrespect and objectify those people; we begin to treat them as simply one more (but not any more special than any other) element in our photos.

Now, I'm not saying that people in our photos are not to be considered as compositional, aesthetic or narrative elements; what I am saying is that at least for me, people must be the primary element. Or to put it more precisely: in order to inject humanity into our photos we have to make the moment as the people in our photos are living it the focus and the most important consideration when we make a photograph. 

Not all my photos are "tack sharp" (though for me the people I photograph deserve to be seen as clearly as possible whenever possible in a way that doesn't detract from the meaning of the moment); not all my photos are composed in accordance with the Rule of Thirds or the Golden Mean and the rest (though I study composition and I hope it informs that unconscious part of me that "sees" while I am in Street photography mode. Again I owe it to the people I photograph); lens aperture is only important to the extent that it allows me to show the people I photograph in the best light (to coin a phrase). No need to go on: I'm sure you get the picture (get it? picture? haha)

At the end of the day it comes down to finding a balance: My choice is to work towards a balance that favors the humans and their lived experience in my street photos, while still making a photo that is as technically good as I’m able. As Robert Frank says ‘… realism is not enough; there has to be vision.’ 

Your Camera: An Instrument of Your Sub-Conscious Mind

Only art penetrates the seeming realities of the world. There is another reality, the genuine one, which we lose sight of. This other reality is always sending us hints, which without art, we can’t receive.
                                Saul Bellow (Nobel Prize lecture 1976)

Whenever we read something there is a part of our minds that immediately interprets what we are reading through our stored knowledge and experiences; through the unique filters we all have.  Same thing happened to me when I read this little excerpt from a famous speech. Immediately I saw how it relates to my own art, street photography. At least to the street photography that I practice.

Of course for many street photographers this is simply not the case. Much street photography is planned, searched out, hunted for (now this is a term I loathe when it’s used for street photography. We really have to do something about the language we use.), designed to highlight technical skills or even as an act of compliance with the current paradigms in the genre.  None of this is criticism, not at all. I’m just saying that while I consider what I do to be art, many do not. Fine I say.

Naturally I am alert to and aware of (not to mention constantly trying to learn more about) light, composition and the other factors that go into making a technically correct and decent photograph. The people I photograph deserve no less. But, I would say that more than this, or rather, before and in addition to these considerations, I try to open myself to the people and situations I photograph, to the moment. Yes, the moment. Again, pretty much like a lot or most street photographers.

My best hope is that I am open to receive moments that, while on the surface appear to be ‘ordinary’, and without any special or obvious meaning, are nonetheless able to reveal in some small (or perhaps not so small) way something of the essence of humanity, some small (or again perhaps not so small) insight into the human condition.

I think it’s true to say that for the vast majority of the time as we all go about our ordinary lives, we do not notice even a fraction of the moments that flow around us in the lives of the people who cross our paths.  (not to mention the amount of time we aren’t even aware of moments in our own lives that go unnoticed.)  And even if we become the flaneur as so many of us street photographers try to do, we still cannot on any kind of conscious level see and register every tiny little thing that goes on in our field of awareness.

But it seems to me that, at what we can call the sub-conscious level (I know that’s a huge space, there are levels below levels. Besides, let’s not get too technical here!) we do see more; we do take in a lot of the small, quickly moving and changing tiny details of things. Of gestures, of looks; all kinds of things enter into us at those sub-conscious levels.

This ability is inherent in all animals, including human beings. I think we all know that we would not have survived this long as a species otherwise. I know this is all pretty broad, but I think you get where I’m going, so stay with me while I get there please. Thanks!

Anyway, suffice it to say, we all take in all kinds of things, all the time, and at all kinds of levels from the glaringly obvious conscious level, right through to the very deepest of sub-conscious levels (and some say there are levels below that).

Those of us lucky enough to be roaming the streets of the world with a camera, have an instrument in hand that works very well in recording some of these little things (gestures, facial expressions, movements, and the rest) that under cameraless circumstances would only be received at some sub level and perhaps remain buried there never seeing the light of day.

So, many of these little details, while they may or may not be important to our survival, or even to our ability to navigate in our environment,  can be for street photographers the extra ingredient that makes an okay photo suddenly become a little more than an okay photo.

I came across one such photograph recently. This one was made back in 2011.

A Decisive Moment Best Forgotten

(Echuca Australia Nov.2011)

  

I spotted this parent sitting on that wooden wall with her children (there is a toddler to the left of the frame in this photo). The nice little family scene drew me in. I made one image of her sitting and including the toddler, then, suddenly, she stood up and went to grab her bag. I instinctively pressed the shutter again. To me looking at the camera screen after the event it seemed to me to be a good image of a parent’s burden, as she strained to lift the baby, grab her bag, watch her toddler and get moving all at the same time.

These are the things I saw on a conscious level. What I didn’t see till later on the computer screen was details of the baby’s face. Now, it’s a bit out of focus or blurred, but there, plain as day, we can see the baby being sick. Gross, you might say. Why make a photo of that for goodness sake?

Well, that’s the point you see: I didn’t make a photo of a baby being sick. At least I didn’t know I had at the time. But, looking back, I thought I must have seen that little detail at some level. And you know, I think it makes for a better photo. It tells that story of an overburdened parent even more strongly. Don’t you think? ‘Oh hell,’ you can hear the mother sighing. ‘What next?’

So, perhaps some deep level of my mind saw the whole story while my conscious mind (and my eyes) only saw the overall scene and my mind took action and made me press the shutter at that exact moment. Hence the title: A Decisive Moment Best Forgotten.

This sort of thing has happened to all of us. Share those moments with us!

Peace

Paul's Pictures Hits the Beach and a Lesson is Learned about what Street Photography Really Is

Longboard Walkers (Sydney Australia February 2015)

There is so much debate going on around the question, "what is street photography?". And, don’t worry, I have absolutely no intention of entering into that debate. I don't mean to say that I don't have my own definition, my own interpretation; far from it: I know precisely what it is for me. If any of you are interested, just type in "define street photography" into your search engine. You will come up with enough reading material to last a lifetime. And, don't even think about looking at the differences between street photography and social documentary: some people say there are a heap of differences, others say the genres overlap. For me, or rather for the majority of my work, the genres are more or less the same.

Anyway, moving along a little. I was rereading the definition of street photography on Wikipedia, and really liked the first paragraph (on the whole):

Street photography is photography that features the human condition within public spaces. Street photography does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. Though people usually feature directly, street photography might be absent of people and can be an object or environment where the image projects a decidedly human character in facsimile or aesthetic

The "human condition" and "within public places" are two of the elements that speak to me. No need to be "on the street" (though I have to say, that's where I spend most of my time and do most of my work), and not even in urban environments, though my street photography is almost exclusively in urban areas. Just my preference really.

And, for me the second paragraph also resonates: 

Framing and timing can be key aspects of the craft with the aim of some street photography being to create images at a decisive or poignant moment. Street photography can focus on emotions displayed, thereby also recording people’s history from an emotional point of view. Similarly, Social Documentary photographers document people and their behaviour in public places for the purpose of recording people's history and other purposes; 

I think it's probably fairly clear that the image above does reflect the ideas expressed in these quotes from Wikipedia. Of course, for me this definition might be a little limited in its scope. For instance, I would add that my work seeks to not only record but to celebrate humanity and the human condition in a way that is guiuded by love, compassion and empathy.

I've written before that, while the focus of my work is not on the camera or the technical side of things, I do feel a responsibility to make the best possible photograph I can in order to do justice to the people who are gracious enough to appear in those photographs. So, I do take careful notice of framing and timing when I can. And, while I do believe that there are no ordinary moments, I do try to make my photographs at what we might call a "decisive" moment; that moment that allow for the expression of that extra something. It's hard to explain, but you know it when you see it. 

Longboard Walkers is for me one such image. On a day threatening to storm, some surfers walk along the sand while surfable waves roll in (odd as it may sound, the waves which look pretty tame in this photo, are actually at least six feet. And who says cameras never lie?). You can almost hear the conversation: where should we get in? Who's going first? And you can almost sense the emotions: the excitement and anticipation; even a bit of anxiety: after all it was a wild day.

Above all, the photo for me shows us a moment in time, a moment in history even. Longboards seem to be back in fashion after a long while out of sight, at least from what I've seen anyway. The photo says to me, this is life being lived; it says that, for some, there is excitement to be had in connecting with nature; it speaks of freedom, friendship, challenge, open spaces. It also gets me thinking about life, and how I really should carry on doing the things I love, cherishing the freedom I have, along with the love and connections in my life.

I know, this is my own photo, I made it; well along with the surfers and the waves and the stormy sky. So, you might think, it will obviously mean something special to me. But, if people looking at it get even a fraction of what I've been able to, then I will be well pleased and know that I have done my job.

Peace