The Subject - The Minds Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson (Extract)

There is subject in all that takes place in the world, as well as in our personal universe. We cannot negate subject. It is everywhere. So we must be lucid toward what is going on in the world, and honest about what we feel.

Subject does not consists of a collection of facts, for facts in themselves offer little interest. Through facts, however, we can reach an understanding of the laws that govern them, and be better able to select the essential ones which communicate reality.

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a leitmotiv. We see and show the world around us, but it is an event itself which provokes the organic rhythm of forms.

There are thousands of ways to distill the essence of something that captivates us, let’s not catalogue them. We will, instead, leave it in all its freshness...

The Subject in The Minds Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Originally from The Decisive Moment (full text here).

Intersection - Airport Tarmac / Lyon - Mon 7 Sep 2009 (picasa)

A photograph of a person will always.. - Looking for Snapshots (Mon 16 Sep 2013)

Darcel (*) - Cafe Sofia (*) / Erskineville (Fri 08 Feb 2013)
Looking for Snapshots (*) writes on Portrait Photography (*):

a photograph of a person will always tell us something about the relationship between the photographer and the subject—that is, it will show the relationship as well as the subject. In most kinds of photos the relationship is so attenuated that the subject is really all that’s left. But in a snapshot the relationship is a real and enduring one, not a merely professional one that exists only for the purpose of the shoot. We can see it clearly in the photo along with the subject, and we can also see that the photo occasion itself is tangled up in it.

via Relationships (*) by Looking for Snapshots (*).

A few ways to increase your connection to your photography - Kirk Tuck (Thu 23 Feb 2012)

A3 Prints - New York - Aug 2011
Kirk Tuck (*) writes:

To do what you like in your work, separate from the buzz. [..]

• slow down [..] If you slow down and concentrate on the kinds of images that bring you real joy you'll find a tighter bond with your own work.


• Stop looking at all the sharing sites - When you turn off the outside influences and sit quietly with your own thoughts about art and photography you begin to understand the way you like to see and share art. That's valuable. Everything else is unconscious imitation.


• Do a project - Consistency of vision and subject are worthwhile goals for all artists. Set yourself to the task of creating a body of consistent work. Choose a subject that you love and explore it in depth. Ignore everything else.


• When you choose to do a project have a a goal - Wouldn't it be great if it changed some lives? But no matter where it ends up I will have met interesting people who've taken charge of their own lives and excelled. What fun role models. And the art will be my souvenir of my time spent with them. The prints will be part of the sharing.


• Start thinking beyond the screen - [..] When you slow down and do your art try to go through the whole process of bringing an image to life before you rush out the door to fill up more memory cards and hard drives.


• Really explore the images in front of you. Edit them down. Make them perfect and then print them large [..] Print them till you love them. And learn from the process of presentation. Learn what you like to see, big. The art becomes both portable and present when you pull it off the screen and onto paper. Be sure to go through the whole process so you understand in your gut what you've really created. It will slow you down [..] and focus it on doing work that makes you smile. You are the first audience.


• Finally, forget the online critiques - Find people in your own town, city, region whose work you admire and approach them about forming a sharing circle. Just like a writer's group.

Having a project will move you to take chances. [..] You'll need to discipline yourself to do the [..] And you'll need to learn how to finish.

Having a goal for your work gives it extra meaning.

Sharing the work with live people standing in front of you builds real confidence in the work. Having real critiques is painful but helps engender real growth. Helping real, human, non-virtual friends succeed with their own art is part of a rewarding virtuous circle. Embrace it.

From A few ways to increase your connection to your photography (*) by Kirk Tuck (*) - Thu 23 Feb 2012.

On Street Photography - I Wonder If - Larrisa Archer (Tue 02 Apr 2013)

Untitled - George Street / Sydney (Sun 31 Apr 2013)
Larrisa Archer (*) on viewing Garry Wingorand's (*) current Exhibitiion (*) writes On Street Photography (*):

I'm wondering if even street photography (*) can be trusted to tell us anything beyond what is in the photographer's own heart at the moment--

I wonder if it is in fact the most deceptive of all genres, for the very reason that it posits a certain objectivity, not rehearsed and posed but candid and full of accidents, an imprint of a reality that is out there for anyone and everyone to witness together.

I wonder if, regardless of the literal elements of the scene, the tone an image takes on and expresses is due to the photographer's own moods, his own prejudices, enthusiasms, "abortive sorrows and short-winded elations."

And then I wonder if this is in fact any less reliable than the notion that the images can say something objectively true about their over-arching subject (for instance, America) when that subject is itself so complex, many-sided, and open to a seemingly endless range of interpretations.

via 'We Have Not Loved Life': Garry Winogrand at SFMOMA (*) by Larrisa Archer (*).

Empathy - Eric Kim (Sun 26 Mar 2017)

Vic - "10 years since I was last here, but he remembered me" - Downtown Milkbar and Coffee Lounge / Manuka / Canberra (Mon 27 Mar 2017)

Eric Kim on Empathy:

To shoot personal street photography is to only photograph what appeals in your heart. To use your street photography as a tool to empathise with your subject. To show your own soul through the photos you shoot of others.

via How to Shoot Personal Street Photography by Eric Kim.

On Photography - Garry Winogrand and People Photography - Blake Andrews (Tue 12 Mar 2013)

Hands - Park Street / Sydney (Tue 12 Mar 2013)
Blake Andrews (*) writes about Garry Winogrand (*):

I think Winogrand's attraction to photographing people was psychological. He liked to play with figures as compositional figures, but more importantly he liked to get inside their heads. Many of his photos are like X-Ray visions. They burrow right into the thoughts of the characters. It's not easy to make photos like that without bogging down in sentimentality, without the thoughts becoming the primary subject. I see a lot of portraits nowadays concerned with that penetration, but they often leave the rest of life behind. Winogrand somehow combined X-Rays with surface level reality in a way that I think is rare. I know I can't do it.

via More thoughts on Winogrand (*) by Blake Andrews (*).

On Street Photography - Alex Webb (Wed 25 Jun 2014)

Untitled - Oxford Street / London (Sun 18 Aug 2013)
Alex Webb (*) writes On Photography (*):

I'm a street photographer (*) at heart, so I approached Rochester (*) [the subject (*) - see HCB post (*) specifically] the same way I often approach somewhere I'm shooting, [..] Walking, meandering, allowing my camera and experiences (*) to guide me.

via Last days of Kodak town: the decline and fall of the city photography built (*) by Dave Stelfox (*).

On Success and Searching - Bruce Wrighton (1988)

Poster Boy - Erskineville Road / Newtown (Wed 13 Feb 2013)
Bruce Wrighton (*) makes the following observation On Success (*):

Success is, of course, as an internal factor – a connection that we, or I, have made with whatever I am searching for.

Sometimes it can be elusive.

Sometimes it can be immediately self-evident.

The expression. The pose. The posturing. There can be windows that open up that are surprises.

But it’s that connection.

It’s the connection between having a sense of what you are working for, but not really having it defined well enough, so you always have to search, you always have to dig a little bit, it’s always a little bit unknown what you are looking for.

which leads onto a rather interesting observation about the relationship between Success (*) and Searching (*):

If you know what you are looking for I’m not sure what the value of finding it is.

That is to say, I’m not sure what’s the value of doing the search. At that point that part of you has been ‘played out’ so to speak.

If I find myself making the same images over and over again,

I begin to suspect that I have to dig a little harder or deeper to find what the next level of mystery is in a particular subject matter or go on to a different one.

via INTERVIEW: “An Interview with Bruce Wrighton” (1988) (*) by Sean Phelan.

As always, Bruce is talking about his experiences with photography, but these simple observations can be applied to all aspects of our lives.

Margaret - Exhibition Tour Guide - The Black Rose / Trent Parke (Mon 23Mar 2015

Margaret P - The Black Rose Exhibition Guide / Art Gallery of South Australia (Mon 23 Mar 2015)

James Brickwood on Portrait Photography:

I like to keep it quite close and intimate and I like to highlight the subject, that's why I have a clean background.

via Spectrum Now: photographer James Brickwood captures Ed Sheeran's softer side by Sophia Phan.

Margaret you are a champion: a fantastic tour - I loved your enthusiasm and I learnt so much more about Trent's work. Keep doing what you are doing. Thanks for allowing me to take these photos - I think your enthusiasm for what you do, shines through strongly in these photos. Again, with thanks for the Tour and Photos.

PS - What I took from Trent's Black Rose Exhibition: The Circle of Life: Conception, Birth, Living, Dying, Death and what follows - Fate and Destiny - Luck, Chance and Serendipity (my own Trent Parke Serendipity Story).

Mark Cohen - Street Photography (YouTube)

Mark Cohen - Street Photography [Youtube (*)]
A bit of a preamble to this but it is worth the wait in order to see his working method on the street and the ensuing interview of which there are many great quotes On Photography (*). I have scribbled a few down here:

[..] They are snapshots and they are made in a very simple way. But the thing they see when they continue to look at the pictures, they start to see the closeness is one of the things they see. Some one is making pictures that are really close on the street and its that kind of taking the camera so close to the subject and making pictures and not in a studio way. in a flow of life on the street or field kind of way. And they see that closeness and that is the thing that gives the pictures there uniqueness and their agressive sort of character.

When you make an exhibit of this work, you walk around in a room filled with it and you see all these strange pictures. You know there is a certain excitement to it, There is a certain quality in that room about an artists mind, and an artists work that comes from the pictures and touches the viewer in some way. That's why it works. I don't know why exactly it works. A lot of physcological reasons, sexual reasons. A lot of things are going on in those pictures.

It is not some kind of exact analytical science going on here, its right on the edge of meaninglessness, but its in there and that is what makes it so fascinating.

It feels awkward for me to try to talk about my work, frequently. Once in a while I do it. I do a slide show and I describe how I take the pictures. Describe how I think they fit into things socially and formally, in the context of photography in America. Different kind of things.

You usually don't think about that kind of stuff. You dont think about that. You think about when you are taking pictures the most important thing is to get new pictures.

The pictures you already took, you already took those pictures. My main drive is to do something new. To make some new kind of picture. [..]

A copy of Grim Street (*) is on the way.

Humble Obsessiveness - it's never summer (Fri 05 Aug 2016)

Notice - Glebe (Fri 05 Aug 2016)

it's never summer on Obsessiveness:

Humble subject matter does not exclude obsessiveness

via Mapplethorpe’s “Kitchen Sink” by it's never summer.

The Minds Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson (Extract)

For photographers, there are two kinds of selection to be made, and either of them can lead to eventual regrets.

There is the selection we make when we look through the view-finder at the subject; and there is the one we make after the films have been developed and printed.

After developing and printing, you must go about separating the pictures which, though they are all right, aren’t the strongest.

When it’s too late, then you know with a terrible clarity exactly where you failed; and at this point you often recall the telltale feeling you had while you were actually making the pictures.

Was it a feeling of hesitation due to uncertainty?

Was it because of some physical gulf between yourself and the unfolding event?

Was it simply that you did not take into account a certain detail in relation to the whole setup?

Or was it (and this is more frequent) that your glance became vague, your eyes wandered off?

The Picture Story in The Minds Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

What struck about this passage was not the regret that is felt at losing an opportunity to have a great photo, but what we have learnt from why the photo is not as strong as we would like. I have felt this in not only in my photography, but also in my paddling. If you know you have made a mistake and know why, then you have learnt a valuable lesson and you will become better at your chosen activity.

Graffiti - Brick Lane/London - Wed 2 Sep 2009
Window and Books - St Ives/Cornwall - Tue 8 Sep 2009

Lady in Red with Black Cat (1 and 2 of 4) - Bruno Dutot - Edgecliff (Fri 23 Mar 2012)

Lady in Red with Black Cat (1 of 4) - Bruno Dutot - Edgecliff (Fri 23 Mar 2012)
Lady in Red with Black Cat (2 of 4) - Bruno Dutot - Edgecliff (Fri 23 Mar 2012)
Had to go to Double Bay recently. Caught the train to Edgecliff and walked down to Double Bay. Took a detour on the way there and back to photograph this well known piece of Street Art by Bruno Duto. Got lucky with random pedestrians, one in a red blouse and the other in a blue shirt, both colours which fit nicely with the subject.

Wendy Matthews typifies much of what people think of this Sydney Landmark ..

"Every time I come to the city I drive past her, see if she's changed. Sometimes she'll have a cat or be standing in snow. Though you never see her face, she's come to symbolise Sydney for me."

The man in the blue shirt in the second photo stopped to talk to me after he realized what I was doing. He told me that me that he had lived in the area all his life and that as far as he can remember, Bruno Dutot, comes back on the 1st Jan each year to touch the piece up for another year.

More to come soon ..

2011 Inspire Award - Pacific Dragons (Sat 16 Jul 2011)

Geoff, Lisa, Nicola and Joanne - 2011 Inspire Award Winners - Lisa and Nicola (Sat 16 Jul 2011)
Lisa, Jenny and Nicola - PD's Women Post Final Win Celebration - CNY 2008 - Darling Harbour / Sydney (Thu 06 Nov 2004)

Jo and I thank Pacific Dragons for Jenny's Memory to be remembered through the annual presentation of the Inspire Award (*).

Jo and I were honoured to present the 2011 Inspire Award (*) to Nicola Frowen and Lisa Green at the Pacific Dragons AGM held on Sat 16 Jul 2011.

My nomination for this award follows. As you will read, in many ways this award was a personal thank you to both Lisa and Nicola for the contribution they have made to helping me find my place in a new world.

From: Geoff
Date: 17 June 2011 1:21:04 PM AEST
To: "geoffeldridge@yahoo.com.au"
Subject: Inspire Award (*) Nomination ..

My nomination is for two people - Nicola Frowen and Lisa Green.

Why two people? I have thought about the nomination long and hard. For me, it came down to Lisa and Nicola, but when I started to write “why” for each of them, I found was virtually writing the same thing. As you will come to see, if you have not already realised – they are twins and that has meaning and implication.

Nicola and Lisa are actively involved in the running of the club, both from an administrative and paddling perspective. Both are long term committee members filling important roles, ensuring the short-term vitality and long term viability of the club. They are goal driven and process oriented, and constantly and consistently achieve results, through hard-work, effort and persistence. They are both adaptable and willing, and they will take on ad hoc and often difficult tasks at short notice. They are always approachable and fulfil the responsibilities in a collaborative and friendly way.

Lisa and Nicola have made vital contributions to the club as coaches and managers. Lisa and Nicola as OC6 Coaches – taking many club sessions and coaching the 2011 Takapuna Team. Nicola and Lisa have both helped with the Single Craft sessions. On the Dragon Boat side of things Nicola, with Lisa’s support managed the 2011 Macua bound PD’s Dragon Boat – they performed all the administrative tasks –before, during and after; arranged flights, accommodation, sponsorship, uniforms, etc. In my view we would not have left our shores, if it was not for Nicola and Lisa. The hardest thing about becoming World Champions in Macau, was not crossing the line first, it was actually getting there. Without Nicola’s drive, particularly, our world champion memories would still be just dreams. We cannot thank you enough.

As paddlers, they have excelled this year. Be it, in the Dragon Boat, OC6 or OC1, they have trained with dedication and purpose. This has resulted in PB’s in many areas and rankings in the top echelons of the various crews and craft. In this area they are twins again – often ranking within metres or seconds of each other in the various trials that are conducted for crew selections. In individual events, they are often on each other’s tail in the last metres of an OC1 race. They do all of this in a quiet, humble and modest way. I have seen them have draw confidence from their achievements and they have used them to keep improving – the best is yet to come for both.

It is easy to be inspired by their achievements as Club members. However, from a personal perspective, they have become role models to me – I see them as strong and independent people, and they have helped guide and inspire me as I try to find my place in the world without Jenny. Along with Joanne, both Lisa and Nicola have supported, guided and inspired me – they all already know this. I know Jenny would be touched by the time they have taken to listen to me, the advice they have given and the inspiration they have provided when I have questioned myself during times when I was completely lost in grief and the shock of Jenny’s passing.

When one becomes as actively involved in the clubs running, events and happenings (as Nicola and Lisa have), there are bound to be times that are difficult, and there have been a few such times. I know that they have each supported the other during such times and for that I admire them. For you see, being “twins” means they are best friends and I admire them for that and the “love” they have for each other.

I would like to think that Jenny would support me in my nomination and that the 2011 Inspire Award would be a worthy acknowledgement of Nicola’s and Lisa’s part in making Pacific Dragons what is today (and in the future), but also for helping me find meaning and direction in my life.

Lisa and Nicola - Great Wall / China (Thu 05 Aug 2010)
Jenny and Joanne - Great Wall / China (Thu 06 Nov 2004)

On Photography - Jeffrey Ladd / Jorg Colberg (Tue 14 Oct 2014)

Intersection (*) - Zurich (Thu 25 Sep 2014)
Jeffrey Ladd (*) writes (*) on Photography (*):

A photograph should be more interesting than the subject (*) and transcend (*) its obviousness.

As Jorg Colberg (*) writes:

Print this out, and hang it in a place where you’ll always see it.

via It is what it is (*) by Jorg Colberg (*).

Done.

On Photography and Ambiguity - Streetshooter (Thu 29 Oct 2015)

Shroud of Erskine Creek - Water - Erskine Creek / Mount Gower / Lord Howe Island (Mon 22 Oct 2001)

Streetshooter on Photography and Ambiguity:

The thing is, to have all three elements of the self - find and realize your intent. The Eye, Heart and Mind work together to find the subject and realize the intent. The entire process from start to finish is ambiguous and should be allowed to remain that way.

via Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 28 … Street … Deciphering and Realizing Intent by Streetshooter.

Our group stopped here about half way up Mount Gower to rest and to refuel for the second and more difficult half of our ascent of Mount Gower. For some reason I made a photo of the water with the reflection of the over head canopy and shafts of light breaking through. It was just a photo of the water, I thought. When I saw this photo on my computer screen a few weeks later, I decided it would look better in Black and White and made the transformation. In doing so a beautiful women revealed herself out of the relections in the water. I hope you can see her. Not everyone can. For me I see photos and I see people in photos.

The words Ambiguity and Uncertainity are interesting words. Closely related but very different. I think I can understand and feel the difference. Hence I would like to substitute the word ambiguous above with uncertain. I'm not exactly sure as I feel the word ambiguity has quite a few shades of meaning in that it can be difficult thing or a good thing depending on the context of its application. Post inspired by a engaging discussion with Carla. Thanks Carla.

Favourite Photos - Intersection - Singapore - Sep 2009

Intersection - Central Boulevard/Raffles Quay - Singapore - Mon 28 Sep 2009 (picasa)
As with most of my Favourite Photos, it just comes down to colour and composition. The yellow lines of the intersection come together to form an apparent big yellow arrow. Like the effect of the painted over lines.

Reminds me of a scene that Jeffrey Smart might paint (examples). I enjoy his work and have a few of his books which have provided much inspiration, particularly while travelling. It is fun to make a photo with good composition and colour, from nothing. Will put up a selection of my favourite Jeffrey Smart influenced photos with time.

Found a couple quotes I liked about Smart's work ..

Indeed, Smart's conception of what he does is thus - "My only concern is putting the right shapes in the right colours in the right places. It is always geometry." [..]

Smart's subject matter is very urban and in many ways, mundane and often bleak, but he treats it in such a way as to make it almost special, using colour and light to make the urban landscapes/objects themselves scapes to be admired for their honesty.


Screenshot - Google Images - Jeffrey Smart Paintings

On Growth - Brooks Jensen / Kirk Tuck (Wed 09 Jul 14)

A Kiss (*) - Rotterdam (Mon 19 Aug 2013)
Brooks Jensen (*) through Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Growth (*):

And he [Brooks Jensen (*)] writes about their constant artistic growth (*). The very act of looking (*) at something through different frames may unleash a wonderful new way of seeing (*) and sharing (*). And the very act of casting your vision (*) onto a totally new subject (*) matter can change (*) everything.

via Does your insistence on using the same camera for years at a time hamper your artistic growth? How do you know? (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

Book - Joel Meyerowitz by Colin Westerbeck (Mon 16 Apr 2012)

Joel Meyerowitz by Colin Westerbeck (*) - Foreword (*)
Just arrived today. A two page spread from the book that caught my attention follows ..

Pages 42 and 43 - New York City / 1976
Page 43 Photo - New York City / 1976
Joel Meyerowitz (*) writes about this photo on page 42 ..

During this time, I was trying to make photographs about the 'all of it'; pictures without a central subject. I wanted all the information, near and far, to hold our interest equally, and I wanted colour to be an intricate part of the content. I was trying to unlock photography from the aesthetic of the decisive moment - a difficult thing to give up.

A great book to have.

Composition - The Minds Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson (Extract)

The photographer’s eye is perpetually evaluating.

A photographer can bring coincidence of line simply by moving his head a fraction of a millimeter. He can modify perspectives by a slight bending of the knees. By placing the camera closer to or farther from the subject, he draws a detail—and it can be subordinated, or he can be tyrannized by it.

But he composes a picture in very nearly the same amount of time it takes to click the shutter, at the speed of a reflex action.

Sometimes it happens that you stall, delay, wait for something to happen. Sometimes you have the feeling that here are all the makings of a picture—except for just one thing that seems to be missing.

But what one thing? Perhaps someone suddenly walks into your range of view. You follow his progress through the view-finder. You wait and wait, and then finally you press the button—and you depart with the feeling (though you don’t know why) that you’ve really got something.

Later, to substantiate this, you can take a print of this picture, trace on it the geometric figures which come up under analysis, and you’ll observe that, if the shutter was released at the decisive moment, you have instinctively fixed a geometric pattern without which the photograph would have been both formless and lifeless.

Composition in The Minds Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Originally from The Decisive Moment (full text here).

Anyone who has ever looked through a viewfinder, taken a photo and cared will be able to relate to the above.

Low Tide - "A photographer can bring coincidence of line simply by moving his head a fraction of a millimeter" - Padstow/Cornwall - Tue 09 Sep 2009
Workers - "You wait and wait, and then finally you press the button" - Lyon/France - Thu 17 Sep 2009