Decisive Moment? No thanks! Raymond Depardon photography

Bingley said:
I like Depardon’s work very much… I’ve got Voyages and Adieu Saigon. I admire his documentary style and the fact that his photos have a pretty consistent “look” to them, since he stuck to an M3 and a 50mm lens for a lot of his photography.
Click to expand...

This is interesting to me as I'm more familiar with Depardon's wide angle work. There is a spread in 1968 showing a press conference of French New Wave filmmakers announcing the cancellation of the Cannes Film Festival in protest of the sacking of Henri Langlois from the Cinemathèque Française. Depardon says in the captions that was worried about getting too close to his subjects due to him using a 28mm Nikon lens. Much of Manicomio looks to me like he shot with 21mm and 50mm lenses. And according to the man himself, 2/3rds of Glasgow was shot with a 28mm and the rest with a 21mm.

https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/raymonddepardon/

I will have to check out Adieu Saigon and Voyages. It makes sense that a photographer would have phases where they use different focal lengths throughout their life. Lately I am working on using wide angle lenses to stretch myself, after a number of years using 35/50/90mm focal lengths (and equivalents).
 
robert blu said:
I know Klein's work but did not know about "The Indecisive Moment" . Researching a little I found this interesting article : https://americansuburbx.com/2010/06/theory-indecisive-moment-frank-klein.html worthwhile to read if anyone interested.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that link! It is an interesting article, although you can really tell it was written in 2004: very much in the vein of the same received wisdom I was being handed as an art minor in the '70s, the notion of art history as an honor roll of white guys who got famous by knowing other white guys. Still a very influential viewpoint in photography education, one that's only now being contested by people who persistently (and rightly) ask, "Where in this story are the women? Where are the people of color? Where are the people who worked outside New York and outside the publishing/gallery/fellowship/permanent collection mainstream?"
 
As a fan of HCB and decisive moments, this has been a thought-provoking thread for me.

Here's another article on the topic that I found rewarding: https://www.photopedagogy.com/the-in...ve-moment.html

This quote summarizes the piece:

There is no doubt that the twentieth century photographically has been the century of the reportage image and Cartier-Bresson is undoubtedly the greatest reportage photographer of our time. Yet his idea of the decisive moment, in which you have one chance to capture an image and either you get it or you miss it, seems dated. We live in post-modern age where non-moments have become as relevant as moments. Everything has validity and yet this idea of the decisive moment is still given credence within photographic circles. What I am trying to do is address this preconception and say that every and any moment works. You can take a picture of anything and it still holds resonance [...] There are no guidelines. Everything is open and everything is possible...
Click to expand...

I see both perspectives as valid. Respect the flow of life in front of you, without imposing yourself, your preconceptions or judgements on it. On the other hand, photographs are often enriched by planning, waiting - for a gesture, a particular light, a composition to unfold.

In debate, we humans tend to take extreme positions, when the ideal usually falls somewhere in between.

John
 
To me his work his exceptionally good (I have one of his books in my home library), but as another poster has written, it can seem tame, and to me at times stolid. But still exceptional.

Like so many photographers when trying to put words to his images, he can come across as trying to be a little too profound, in a sort of French way - perhaps due to the translation of his pronouncements into English.

In the end his works speaks for itself, and it's outstanding. In my own times of travel I've tried to photograph things as he sees them, but never could come close. For me, like the OP, closer to home is my preferred turf for making images, and I'm content with that.

PS1 His images on the Magnum site are well worth looking at.

PS2 Apropos a comment from another poster - I do like the term "the indecisive moment" - it sums up everything about me and my life!!
 
robert blu said:
ptpdprinter : yes, you are correct. This is the reason for which I wrote do not take it too seriously or too literally.
My idea was to start a discussion about, which could be interesting or inspiring. As it seems it is starting
Click to expand...

Well mate, I take it seriously in this way - that it has encouraged me to take photos of my family life, even at home because IT IS my life - and there's nothing wrong with taking a mundane picture of the bin outside on the road for example. But, yes - that doesn't mean I'm not going to put effort into getting the bin outside to look great, you know - great bokeh, superb sharpness and magnificient contrast.

Just for laughs hey - thanks for your post! 😀
 
teddy said:
Well mate, I take it seriously in this way - that it has encouraged me to take photos of my family life, even at home because IT IS my life - and there's nothing wrong with taking a mundane picture of the bin outside on the road for example. But, yes - that doesn't mean I'm not going to put effort into getting the bin outside to look great, you know - great bokeh, superb sharpness and magnificient contrast.

Just for laughs hey - thanks for your post! 😀
Click to expand...

Seriously or not what is important is we take the photo the way we like 🙂

As JohnWolf says "In debate, we humans tend to take extreme positions, when the ideal usually falls somewhere in between."

And sometimes it is nice to have a friendly discussion about something which is not the usual "which lens should I..." 😎
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom