Good question. It's impossible to pick a single moment. What photography does for me is take me to places I wouldn't otherwise go, and to events I wouldn't otherwise take part in. I love travelling, although I haven't done much exotic recently, and photography and travel are natural partners which feed off each other: travel inspires photography inspires travel.
So my best times have been when I've travelled somewhere to photograph something specific. When it goes well you get into a zone where the world passes through your viewfinder like a movie. You feel connected and yet separate from the events going on around you. Mostly when this happens you can get a great set of pictures from the event. For me these include photographing a funeral in a Transylvanian village, photographing the Timkat festival in the mountains of Ethiopia - watching dawn rise over the mountains and gorges having spent the night out in a field with pilgrims during their all-night vigil; going out with peasant fishermen on their boat at dawn in Puri, Orissa; photographing druids in London, and a riot in London; women farming seaweed in Zanzibar; a wildlife safari in South Africa - it just goes on. Wandering around unknown cities, lost. The Mahalaxmi dhobi ghat in Mumbai; the Moscow river at sunrise on a -20 November morning... Photographing the children of my family and friends as they've grown up. All these things and many, many more are due to photography. Sometimes the pictures don't work, but you still have the experience and the memories - so you can't lose. The fishing photos from Puri turned out to be hopeless, but I had a wonderful experience and met some wonderful people. By the time I'd visited every house in the Transylvanian village I was so drunk I couldn't focus, and messed up what could have been one of the best photos of my life, when the chap who'd 'adopted' me for the day broke down in tears at his parent's grave. The composition and light, and the event itself are beautiful in this photo, but it is hopelessly out of focus. But it doesn't matter much because in the end I don't really need the photo - I have the experience. -- Bob > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Christine Aguila > Sent: 09 February 2008 01:42 > To: pdml@pdml.net > Subject: Your Great Photographic Moments? > > Hi Everyone: > > I hope you don't find this request tiresome, but given the great > international reach, the delightfully varied life experiences and > photographic interests, and the endless talent of the list, > I'd love to hear > stories about your greatest photographic moments. Anyone > willing to share a > story or 2? > > Cheers, Christine > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly > above and follow the directions. > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
