Thanks Ash, great video. I saw it with my girlfriend the other day (somebody posted a different link to the same video) and we both chuckled when we saw his mannerism. You could see though it worked, he took a few photos of crossing pedestrians point blank, and they weren't sure, they were looking at each other in disbelief ('What the?...did he? didn't he?').
The way he took photos also explains his choice of wide-angle lens. Hyperfocal at f11-16 under the strong Californian sunlight, and shooting at close range. It made me wonder if I need a 28mm lens after all. (why does everything have to lead to GAS :bang: )
I also liked him a lot as a person, he seemed easygoing and fun ('mad scientist' is what my girlfriend said he looked like) and his commentary on his own work was very interesting, but this was a person who obviously preferred to do photography rather than talk about it. His behaviourist philosophy about photos capturing the surface of reality, (which, according to him, is all there is to it) or about them not having a narrative but only a straightforward descriptive, ostentive function was also very revealing about the man. And the bit I agree most with him is that you really cannot outdo the theatricality that people provide for you in their everyday lives.
It was certainly educational, even a little rivetting to watch him at work - and I can tell you, the day I watched it, I went out to shoot with a slightly different mentality.
