The Art of photography

Photography

andTime

Suspended

Animation

Thegreat valueofpicturesthat

seemto

suspendtime

istheirabilitytogeneral-

ize.Theycansuggestideasthatchar-

acterizethewhole

experienceofthe

human

race.Theyspecifynouniquein-

stant

—

ifmadeearlieror

later,they

couldlook

aboutthesame.Yettheydo

notbyanymeansignoretime.

Takethepicture

attheright:Like

most

photographsthatsuspendtimeit

offersclearcluestotime,and

thefirst

thingitsaysis

thatitwasmadeatnight,

notindaylight.Also,aswith

mostpic-

turesinthis

section,onecanmake

other

generalizationsfromitscontents.

Itisastreetscenein

acity—SanFran-

cisco,asit

happens

—

anditisamod-

ern

city,asthetruck

proves.Yetit

couldbea

streetsceneinanyAmeri-

cancityinthemid-20thCentury.

Soitis

emblematic—standingfor

dormant,ac-

tionless

nighttimeinallsuchplaces.

Justbeforeorjustafterit

wasmade,

thestreetmight

havebeenalivewith

activity,

thetruckmight

havemoved,

thelightinthe

doubledoorwayatright

might

havebeenswitchedoff—

except

noneofthatmatters.

Likethe

picturethatopensthischap-

ter
andtheonesonthenextsix
pages,

thisoneisspecific
enoughabouttime

tostand
asanevocative
symbol.All

movementisbanished;
indeedalllifeis

suspended—
itisasiftheclocks
had

suddenlystoppedticking
andweseem

tohearthesilence.

Just

as

ifhe

wereworkingwithaviewcamera.

moreoftenusedforsuchmeticulouslyarranged

picturesasthis,WilliamGedney

mountedhis

handier35mmcamera

onatripodtoframewith

greatcare

thisnocturnalSanFranciscoscene.In

it,time

—

andeverythingelse

—

standsstill.The

timeissignificanttothephotographer,

whothinks

that"streetstake

onacharacteratnight,and

there

isasortofprimevalthingaboutdarkness"

mmmm