Hi,
this question came up a few weeks ago and I sent a list of books with
some of my own thoughts about them. I no longer have the post, so I'd
be grateful if anybody who's saved it could repost it.
> ALso, isn't the decisive moment at the heart of good photojournalism?
People have read too much into this phrase 'decisive moment'. The book
which has that as the English title was originally called 'Images a la
sauvette', which is probably a much better phrase to describe what he
does. It means, very approximately, on the run, or on the fly, rather
like a bag-snatcher or one of Fagin's boys in 'Oliver Twist'.
HCB quoted the phrase in the book ('There is nothing in life which
does not have its decisive moment'), but it seems to have acquired a
life of its own and I think is rather misleading. Howard Chapnick in
"Truth needs no ally" identifies a difference in interpretations of the
phrase between US photojournalists and HCB's intended meaning. He
writes "I think American photojournalism has become overly preoccupied
with 'capturing moments'. Many people misundertand or misinterpret
what HCB meant by 'the DM'. To him it was the moment when form,
design, composition, light, elements, and events all came together in
a unified whole at the precise and perfect moment for the
photographer. We Americans, however, have tended to equate 'decisive
moments' with maximum dramatic impact derived from animated physical
expressions. We look for moments of birth, death, confrontation and
violence..." There is a good deal more, and it makes for interesting
reading. He refers to the 'indecisive moment', which is how Szarkowski
characterised Elliot Erwitt's work, photographed decisively. Chapnick
proposes WES's 'Spanish Village' as a perfect example. He contrasts
such small moments of daily life, grabbed out of the ether, with
photographs of the great events of our times.
> His photos taken in the US are also worth looking at.
Apparently he doesn't much like the USA (or the UK), so his photos of
these places, especially the US, have a certain edge to them, a
negative aspect that doesn't feature in his pictures of France, or
India, Russia, Bali etc.
---
Bob
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tuesday, April 23, 2002, 2:01:15 PM, you wrote:
> Lukasz Kacperczyk wrote:
>>
>> I love "A Propos de Paris". I wouldn't reccomend his book with photos taken
>> in India - IMO HCB wasn't a great photojournalist; he was at his best trying
>> to capture the decisive moment.
> Trying???
> ALso, isn't the decisive moment at the heart of good photojournalism?
> His photos taken in the US are also worth looking at.
> Um, yes I would say.
>> But don't get too involved, or you'll have to buy a Leica ;)
>> Lukasz
> I think he would have don'e ok with a Pentax too :)
> annsan, wondering what the younger generation is coming to.
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