The Art of photography

MINORWHITEThestateofmindofa

photographerwhilecreatingisablank A

mindspeciallyblank—howcanwedescribe

ittoonewhohasnot

experienced

it?

"Sensitive"isoneword"Sensitized"isbetter,

becausethereisnotonlyasensitivemind

atworkbutthereiseffortonthe

partof

thephotographertoreachsuchacondition

"Sympathetic"isfair,ifwemeanbyitan

openness

ofmind,whichinturnleadsto

comprehending,understandingeverythingseen

Thephotographerprojectshimselfintoeverything

hesees,

identifyinghimselfwitheverythingin

ordertoknowitandfeelitbetter

verticalelementsdemandaverticalframeforthepicture,andheturnshis

camera.Next,hemovesaroundand

triesdifferentcameraangles,seeking

thebestarrangementofthevarious

partsinthescene.Hetriescenteringthe

treesintheframe,butthisplacementseemstospoiltheillusionofa

looming

blackskyscraperbehindthetrees.Hedecidestoputthetreesinthebottom

ofthe

frame. Thisshiftincameraangleyieldsanextradividend:Itallowsthe

topofthebuildingacross

thestreet

to

beseen,sothattheviewer'sattention

willbeheldwithinthepicture.

Correctexposurewillmakeorbreakthisphotograph,

andheplansto

bracketwithenoughshotsatdifferentaperturesandshuttersettingstobe

surethathe

will

get

greattonalrange.Thetreesandwomanmustbevery

bright,asiftheyalone,inthiscold

urbanworld,weretouchedwiththefireof

life.Everythingelsemustbedark,brooding

andimpossibletolocatewith

anydegreeofsureness.Hisgreatestasset,herealizes,isthe

brilliantsun-

lightonthetrees.

Theywillremainlightlyvisibleevenifheunderexposes

to

makethereflectionsdarkand

theinteriorofthelobbypitchblack

Allthistime,thephotographerhas

beenassumingthathewillshootfroma

positionwherethecolumnwillcutoffthemirrorimage

ofthesunintheglass

wall,since

strongraysreflectedfromthesunwould

produceflare,streaking

theimagewithastar

patternoflight.Butnowhestepsafewinchesto

the

righttoseewhatmighthappento

hispictorialschemeifabitofthereflected

imageofthesunwereincluded.Theeffect

isbothinterestinganddiscon-

certing.

Becauseheintendstoobscurethefact

thatreflectionsarepresent

inthepicture,

thesunwillappeartobebehindthetrees.

Yetthisapparent

positionwillbeimpossibleto

reconcilewiththewaythatlight

isfallingon

thetrees—fromthefront.

Atonce,herealizesthatthis

"impossibility"istheingredientthat

will

makethe

picturecomplete.Themysteryofthe

scenewillbedeepenedby

theparadoxof

lightthatseemstobecomingfrom

twodirectionsatonce.It

willbuildconflictintothe

frame—ashiverofillogictoheightenthe

clashbe-

tweennatureandthecity.Andyet,

becausethesun'simagewillbe

located

near

thecenterofthepicture,itwillbea

forceforvisualstability— a

bright

centralpointaround

whicheverythingelseis

organized.

Atlastheisreadyto

shoot.Sincetheexposureis

trickyandheisnotsure

howmuchflarewillbecausedby

theraysofthesun,hetakesa

numberof

pictures,movinghisposition

slightlysothatgreaterandlesser

amountsof

mirrored

sunlightreachthecamera,

andbracketinghisexposuresateach

position.This

effortisagamble,andthe

photographerwantstogivehimself

everychanceforsuccess.

Hisdiligencepays

off.Whenheexamineshisprints,he

findsonepicture

that

morethanlivesuptohishopes

(page15).Itpresentsa

dreamlikevision