Lessons of Awareness

Recently I have been purchasing photography books.  It was never something I much did when I was younger.  Perhaps it was the money was better spent on film or chemicals back then.  IDK.  Even the books I purchased were different than those I am adding now.  Back then they were how to books, cook books for chemicals, informative of the tools available in the art.  I sought books that were instructional in nature.  These days I am purchasing books by photographers demonstrating their work.  Perhaps back then I wasn’t ready to learn from others in an evaluative way.  Now that I know a larger share of the how to’s in the cookbook, I can look at one of the greats and learn from what they did and appreciate the achievement and take the lessons with me into my own compositions.

The first book in the recent little binge was Europeans by Henri Cartier – Bresson.  A classic by one of the greats.  As I begun to flip through the pages and look at the photographs themselves (a skill in and of itself), one thing hit me quite frequently in the images.  How much was going on in so many of the images.  There can be many stories going on at once, sometimes de-marked by the physical linear elements in the frame, dividing the images into several little glimpses each worth examining on their own.  Sometimes the glimpses are layered upon each other.  Sometimes the glimpses interact, sometimes they juxtapose, telling a story or making a comment.

I tend towards minimalism and juxtaposition in my favorite work.  The contrast of textures, a neat orderly pattern broken by a disruption.  These have been primary themes of my composition, but invariably I have had the slow pace of inanimate objects to make the observation.

Cartier – Besson uses fleeting human subject matter to convey the themes of composition.  In an image from a tower of Notre Dame a pair of lovers sitting on the bell supports, look down at a group of school children who gaze over the railing with fascination across the river at the city below.  Are these lovers remembering a past or dreaming of a future? 

A Paris tour boat, the sightseers on the upper deck focused on the marvel of a tall steel tower across the river.  A deck down, black crew members dressed in working attire meticulously polish the windows of the dining compartment so the views may continue when events move inside.  Among the crowd, a single blonde male tourist looks away from the tower and behind him, down at the men cleaning below.  What does the expression say about his thoughts?  Is it a lament of disparity or a scowl of disdain? 

Some lessons about photography must be practiced to be learned.  Some must be learned so they can be practiced, but in that instance the photographer must have the awareness to see the opportunity to practice the lesson. 

In the back of my mind I have had the hope to capture the kind of juxtaposition of the human condition that Cartier – Bresson saw.  The opportunities are either fleeting or my senses are not as attuned as would be useful.  Or perhaps both.  That is why I mentioned in last week’s post about antique film that there was a bittersweet moment to have been shooting with that film and not digital or fresh emulsion. 

Jenny and I were walking together, through University Park on our way down Meridian towards Monument Circle.  We heard the sounds from two blocks away, we weren’t certain what we here hearing.  As we got closer, we realized what it was.  As we got closer we realized there was more to see.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw another element potentially in the mix.  When it hit the frame, I pressed the shutter.  Shooting analogue, you never really know if you caught the instant or not.  I had to wait until I developed to see if I got what I was hoping for.

Through the grain of the antique film I had it.  On the top level of the monument’s pedestal the affluence of a six attendant bridal party was on display as wedding photographs were being staged and made.  At street level, a praise service pleading for racial justice, arms raised, perhaps to the pedestal towards equality of economic and social opportunity, perhaps to something higher still.  Meanwhile, a millennial on a battery powered rental scooter zipped by.  Was she happy with the pleasure of her excursion or did she notice the cultural juxtaposition going on around her?

I had, and for just that instant, I saw what Cartier – Bresson saw so often.  For that moment, studying his work had taught me a lesson of awareness even in the most fleeting of moments.