Project : The moment

Capturing the right time, when events and elements in the frame come together and make a photograph tell a story or become ‘special’ can involve anticipation of what will happen, and possibly waiting in readiness, or it could just be a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

In Roswell Angier’s book ‘Train your gaze’ there are lots of instances which capture ‘the moment’. Obviously Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ‘Behind the Gare St. Lazare’, 1932 features here, but also many images which capture that moment in time (Huynh “Nick” Ut’s ‘Napalm Attack, June 8’, 1972) or illustrate emotion in the subject (Dorothea Lange’s ‘Migrant Mother,Nippomo, California’, 1936). A quote from Walter Evans in this book gives the advice: “Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long”. I think this is essential in catching that moment, but it needs to be done discretely and sensitively, to avoid offense or confrontation.

The ‘In-sight’ documentary, available from http://www.sevensevennine.com/ gives an overview of how some dedicated street photographers may wait on a corner and watch for events as they happen, and always have their camera, just in case. It’s interesting to see them following potential subjects and taking images as they go, without any concern about what the subjects may think of the activity – During the previous exercise I found that the majority of people have no interest in the photographer’s activities, but the degree to which they were doing it seems almost invasive (if they were noticed). The site also has a good section of ‘The Best Street Photography Ever’ which shows seven pages of excellent photographs from relatively unknown to famous photographers – well worth a look.

‘Street Photography Now’ by Sophie Haworth and Stephen McLaren, complement the documentary, having the photographers and images they talked about included in the book.

Having looked at the documentary and the book, it’s clear that I need to change the way I take some of the images for this part of the course. It’s also clear that I’ll have to make the most of events around here – it’s quite a sleepy hollow most of the time, so I’ll have to work on it!

The moment may be an instant of elation, or recognition, or tenderness. It may freeze a point in time (like the Henri Cartier-Bresson mentioned above). It may be a documentary image which tells the viewer a story. There are many instances when this moment can be found - Catching it is the essential part of an image which makes it stand apart from others. It gives life and a story to the picture.