bmattock
Veteran
BrianShaw said:
Six Fifty, please drive around.
The Decisive Moment and Other Mutterings
- Thread starter bmattock
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 67
- Views 3K
Six Fifty, please drive around.
peterc
Heretic
I was basing my use of the word 'art' on the following, rather broad, definition that requires no input from a viewer.bmattock said:
But, point taken.
Peter
jan normandale
Film is the other way
Nutella crepe? Very Euro!
kbg32
neo-romanticist
"I forgot to duck but I got a wonderful shot of those who did... my policy of standing up when the others are down finally caught up with me."
"...I am always torn between the attitude of the journalist, who is a recorder of facts, and the artist, who is often necessarily at odds with the facts."
- W. Eugene Smith
"...I am always torn between the attitude of the journalist, who is a recorder of facts, and the artist, who is often necessarily at odds with the facts."
- W. Eugene Smith
bmattock
Veteran
kbg32 said:
I often consider myself a miner. I am searching for the irony in any given street scene.
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
Wayne R. Scott
Half fast Leica User
I can totally understand the Zen reference with shooting sports, be it long range rifle, skeet, archery, or hand gun shooting.
Wayne
Wayne
Jerevan
Recycled User
I have to say; what you wrote Bill, hit a certain string in my heart. It is eloquently written and I smiled when I read the Winogrand quote. 🙂 You put a finger on the thing I am not always able to convey in words - the quality of the moment, and how to enjoy it.
bmattock
Veteran
Wayne R. Scott said:
Those targets will never threaten anyone again. Well done, sir!
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
bmattock
Veteran
Jerevan said:
Thank you, and welcome to RFF! I have never been to Sweden, but the company I used to work for (seven years) is based in Malmo. I suppose I'll have to visit, one fine day.
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
Wayne R. Scott
Half fast Leica User
bmattock said:
Bill,
I wish I was the one who shot the targets, but I am not. This is my Uncle Mike.
A short story if I may. He works at a Casino in Reno, NV. One of the owners wanted to get a concealed weapons permit and asked Mike to go with him for the classes. At the end of the saftey and law sections there is a practical shooting session at the pistol range. Mike took his Ruger .357 and his Ruger .44 Magnum to the range. The instructor looked at the .44 magnum and said out load to the class "There is always one that thinks they can handle a .44 Magnum." 30 Shots are fired at the target, 6 shots each at 5 different yardages. When Mike was done shooting the 30 shots with the .357 and the 30 shots with the .44 the end result was 60 bullseyes and a public apology from the instructor. The instructor said, "Class, earlier when I told that if you ever shoot some one you need to double tap them (shoot them twice). Mike is the exception, if he shoots you once you will be a dead MF."
Mike has the ability to concentrate and exclude everthing else in the world when he is shooting, he becomes "one" with his equipment. I guess this is Zen like.
Wayne
BrianShaw
Well-known
Wayne R. Scott said:
Now *that's* ZEN!
yossarian
Well-known
Hell's Bells. I always seem to arrive late to the really good stuff. Bill, not knowing what prompted you to tackle this or how long you've been pondering it, there could
not be a more clear or lucid account of the "DM" than your tome here. Discussion
of the philosophical aspects of art and the artist can result in chaos or revelation.
Try listening to film critics on opposing sides of the "auteur theory" without wanting
to ram an ice pick through your skull. Everything you said just had that "right" feel
to it, with the result that my own thoughts on the matter were both reinforced and
clarified.
It's the sort of thing I want to read over again, partly to see if I understood it all, but
largely because it's so well written.
Thank you,
Fred
not be a more clear or lucid account of the "DM" than your tome here. Discussion
of the philosophical aspects of art and the artist can result in chaos or revelation.
Try listening to film critics on opposing sides of the "auteur theory" without wanting
to ram an ice pick through your skull. Everything you said just had that "right" feel
to it, with the result that my own thoughts on the matter were both reinforced and
clarified.
It's the sort of thing I want to read over again, partly to see if I understood it all, but
largely because it's so well written.
Thank you,
Fred
Sparrow
Veteran
Please forgive the impudence of a new member here and a born again RF photographer.
Having read with great interest this and a similar thoughtful and well reasoned thread on the forum I’m left with an overwhelming sense of inadequacy in that what I thought was a simple matter of pressing the button when the narrative and aesthetic elements of an image came together in time, is actually such a complex almost semi religious task
I would be interested to know if any other novices following this discussion have been encouraged to go out aiming to emulate HCB, or become as confused I have.
However I very much enjoyed the firearms analogy, and now have an enduring mental image of a war weary Tim Page laying down his trusted Nikon AK47 and returning to his native rolling Yorkshire hills and dales to render nature with a LF 4.5” Linhof field mortar (very, very Python to a devotee)
Respectfully Stewart McBride
Goodyear
Happy-snap ninja
Very much. Thank you for the eloquent essay, Bill. Makes me want to go out and shoot (either/or 😀 ) and provided me with an "Ah ha..." moment or two.bmattock said:
By the by (and quite, quite OT) I have shot some pistol and these days enjoy clays, but at the start of the week I shot a rifle (air rifle, actually) for the first time. I wish I'd read your essay a week ago - then my first experience with a scope might have been a little less frustrating (although I got theere eventually).
bmattock
Veteran
Sparrow said:
Stewart,
I didn't intend to say that only philosophers ought to be properly found behind the lens of a camera. Rather, I was trying to get a handle on what HCB meant when he talked about the Decisive Moment, and to compare and contrast that with my own experiences when I am doing street photography and find myself entering a particular state of mind, which I came by quite naturally.
I am not sure it would be altogether useful to try to 'emulate' HCB, but in any case, I meant this as a brief description of my understanding of what HCB meant when he described how he worked. This may be useful - or not.
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
Sparrow
Veteran
Hi Bill
To be honest I’ve not read him since college where I formed, with the certainty of youth, the opinion that while he had an exquisite eye for the image, extraordinary timing but that the text was more a self promoting aggrandising of something that came naturally to him.
I was surprised when the text and written narrative was receiving so much attention and such intellectual analysis here when the images were not. Perhaps I’ve not been around long enough.
I will have to find the books and see if I still see him as “old time European elitist” taking snaps in a Poetic Reality genre
regards Stewart
To be honest I’ve not read him since college where I formed, with the certainty of youth, the opinion that while he had an exquisite eye for the image, extraordinary timing but that the text was more a self promoting aggrandising of something that came naturally to him.
I was surprised when the text and written narrative was receiving so much attention and such intellectual analysis here when the images were not. Perhaps I’ve not been around long enough.
I will have to find the books and see if I still see him as “old time European elitist” taking snaps in a Poetic Reality genre
regards Stewart
Last edited:
bmattock
Veteran
Sparrow said:
Stewart,
I think you'll find many here who would agree with your previous assessment of HCB. I can well imagine a man attempting to describe what came, as you say, naturally to him - in the face of a press and a public that demanded to know 'the formula' or 'the method'; there must be one, right?
However, I rather suspect that HCB experienced a gestalt that is not incapable of being transmitted. He recognized it and described it as he was able. I discovered that one of my own personal experiences (being in 'the zone' as I called it) was similar - and the oft-quoted Winogrand statement about there being no photographs while he was reloading clinched it for me. In fact, I tend to believe now that HCB's 'Decisive Moment' method of street photography is actually a rather common experience - just not as often recognized as such by devotees of the sport.
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
FrankS
Registered User
"I tend to believe now that HCB's 'Decisive Moment' method of street photography is actually a rather common experience - just not as often recognized as such "
... or communicated very well, until now. I agree totally. Thank you again for this Bill.
(The only thing that could have improved this thread is if Bill had started drinking and continued to post about the decisive moment untill very late into the night. That could have been funny.) 🙂
... or communicated very well, until now. I agree totally. Thank you again for this Bill.
(The only thing that could have improved this thread is if Bill had started drinking and continued to post about the decisive moment untill very late into the night. That could have been funny.) 🙂
Traut
Well-known
... as Kevin Costner says in Tin Cup, "or you can just grip it and rip it" (or was that Cheech Marin's line)
macmac
Member
"a simple matter of pressing the button when the narrative and aesthetic elements of an image came together in time"-- Stewart McBride.
As in not "Then", not "Next" but "Now"!
David
As in not "Then", not "Next" but "Now"!
David
Similar threads
