The Art of photography

RespondingtotheSubject

Assignment:Love

Yourassignmentis

tomakeaphoto-

graph

thatcommunicateslove.

Itmightappear

thatthephotographers

whoweregiventhisinstructioncouldnot

respondasfreelyasthose

whodealtwith

themannequin

orthecity—forthetopic

itselfisaresponse.Butasit

turnedout,

"love"asan

assignmentyieldedare-

markablevarietyofsubjectsthatranged

fromrelativestoanimals.

Leonard

Freedwasoverwhelmed

at

firstbythefeelingthat

theassignment

evokedinhim.

"Whatpotencythisword

has!"hesays."Itbringsforth

uncontrol-

lable,tremendous,

untappedemotions

—both

terribleandlovable."Hedecided

tofindavantagepointfrom

whichhe

couldobserve

manykindsoflove.From

experienceheknewthat

aperfect"trap"

forallsortsof

humansituationswasclose

at

hand—rightintheelevatorofhis

own

apartmentbuilding.

Oneday,ridingitup

anddown

dozensoftimes,heencoun-

teredoldmarriedcouples,
motherswith

youngchildren,
passionateyounglovers.

The

youngcouplesstirredhim

most

strongly.Buttheir
self-involvedquality

kept
eludinghim,eventhough
hetook

manyphotographs.Then
hesawasolu-

tion.Byincluding
athirdpersonalong

with
theembracingcouple

—apassen-

gerwhowas
embarrassedandalltoo

eager
toescapefromthe
elevator—he

communicatedthe
heatandheedless-

nessof
youthfullove.