Sunday Edition: Roger Lemoyne
PHOTOSNACK #470
Every Sunday, I contact photographers previously featured on PHOTOSNACK and ask them to send me their spontaneous thoughts, observations, reflections, or advice.
Today, I am sharing the message I received from Roger Lemoyne.
Roger Lemoyne
There is the decisive moment, but there is also what I call the "transparent moment."
The decisive moment aligns action with composition and information ("the heart, the eye, and the mind" - Henri Cartier Bresson).
The transparent moment is one that allows the viewer to infer things other than those that are shown; hopefully, something of life can be read through an action, maybe even just a glance or a tilt of the head.
A photograph is made by what it does not show. By definition, it shows only a moment in time. It shows only a small portion of being in any one place. These vast omissions of information are what define photography. So how can something that shows less be better than something that shows more? By getting to the essentials. The one rule in photography that I am aware of that does work came from the British photo editor Harold Evans: “Anything in a photograph that is not contributing to it is hurting it.”
“The notes you don’t play are just as important as the ones you do play” - BB King.
When you shoot horizontally, the frame more or less mimics your vision and the composition may or may not assert itself. When you shoot vertically, you are beginning by stating that you are re-composing the world to become a photograph.
Robert Lemoyne was featured in PHOTOSNACK #423.
Sunday Editions connect you with photographers whose work you previously explored through PHOTOSNACK.
I want to reveal some authentic parts of the people behind the cameras.
I don't ask them any specific questions. I ask them to share whatever comes to mind when they think about YOU, the newsletter readers.
It makes their responses genuine and personal.
I hope you enjoyed today's Sunday Edition.
Until next time,
Tomasz