Notes

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1-

“There is nothing
in this world which does not have its decisive moment”.

The Decisive Moment'ın belgesel tarzı videosunu izledim(gruba da atmışsınız şimdi gördüm). Dediği bazı çarpıcı sözler dikkatimi çekti
HBC kendisi şunları diyor:

*** " Fotoğraf çekmek de çizim yapmak gibiydi, benim için aralarında bir fark yoktu. "

*** "Benim değerli bulduğum fotoğraf, 2 dakikada uzun süre bakabildiğiniz fotoğraftır. 2 dakika bir fotoğrafa bakmak için son derece uzun bir süredir. Tekrar tekrar baktığınız fotoğraflar ise, onlardan pek fazla yoktur."

*** "Fazla fotoğraf çekmek iyi değildir. Fazla yemek yemek gibidir, ihtiyacın vardır ama fazlası fazla. Çünkü mükemmel fotoğrafın deklanşöre bastığınız ilk anla ikincisi arasında kalması tehlikesi vardır. BU BİR İÇGÜDÜDÜR
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2-

John Suler'ın The Psychology of the "Decisive Moment" adlı makalesinden önemli alıntılar: (hepsini tarayıp uzun vakit geçirmeniz yerine önemli kısımları sıralıyorum. 2 çok çok önemli kısım var makalede.)

[Bu yapılan çıkarımlar kitabın özeti niteliğinde]
*** And so, here, as I see it, are the ten key features of the “perfect” DM photo:

1. A sophisticated composition in which the visual coalescence of the photographed scene capitalizes on the principles of Gestalt psychology to create a “prägnanz” atmosphere of balance, harmony, simplicity, and unity.

2. A sophisticated background to the subject that interacts both visually and psychologically with the subject in a synergistically meaningful figure/ground relationship.

3. The visual as well as psychological anticipation of completion and closure, which often surfaces as a visual gap, interval, or suspension of some kind.

4. An element of ambiguity, uncertainty, and even contradiction that rouses the viewer’s curiosity about the meaning or outcome of the scene depicted.

5. The capture of a unique, fleeting, and meaningful moment, ideally one involving movement and action.

6. A precisely timed, unrepeatable, one-chance shot.

7. An unobtrusive, candid, photorealistic image of people in real life situations.

8. A dynamic interplay of objective fact with subjective interpretation that arouses meaning and emotion about the human condition.

9. The overarching context of a productive photography session - or “good hour” - that starts with tension, then culminates in a personal and artistic realization that is the DM image.

10. The DM photo as a product of a unique set of technical, cognitive, and emotional skills developed from extensive training and experience in photography, as well as from a psychological knowledge of people.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Makalenin en önemli kısımlarından burası.

Skills in Capturing the Decisive Moment

Now that we’ve explored the various dimensions of the DM photo, let’s consider the skills a photographer needs to consistently capture such images. Outlining that skill set follows logically from the ideas discussed so far:

1. Camera handling proficiency

Everyone interested in DM photography agrees that you have to know your camera inside and out. Without even having to think about it, you quickly and efficiently adjust the settings to capture that brief moment. All the technical knowledge is second nature. It’s all muscle memory. The camera becomes an extension of oneself.

2. Compositional intuition

Similar to camera handling proficiency, the photographer has enough training, experience, and natural talent to instantly recognize the visual coalescence, figure/ground relationships, and overall Gestalt field that constitutes the DM image. Some might claim that the DM shot comes from serendipity and luck. Indeed there is an element of truth to this idea, but as Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”

3. Physical adeptness

Certainly the DM shot doesn’t require the ability to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but it does entail a variety of more subtle physical skills. Besides efficient camera handling and eye/hand coordination, you have to be in the right place at the right time – in some cases, being agile and fast on your feet. The uniqueness of the DM image in part comes from the unique body location of the photographer when taking the shot. The photographer’s body posture fits physically, visually and perhaps even conceptually with the DM, as in Cartier-Bresson peering through the fence to capture The Puddle. In his doing so, I wonder if he had to stand on his tippy-toes, or balance himself precariously on a rock, similar to his subject.

4. Unobtrusiveness

In order to obtain candid photos of people, the photography must possess skills at being the invisible observer. This ability is another aspect of physical adeptness, but it’s also entails the psychological, visual, and spatial understanding of how and when the subject might notice you. How close can you get before they spot your intention to shoot? What movements of yours might draw their attention? How do you follow interesting subjects without their knowing? This perhaps doesn’t sound like a laudatory comment, but successful DM photographers, under some circumstances, must master the habits of a stealthful spy. In other situations, they might simply need to be an unassuming, benign presence whom people notice, but then forget about.


5. People Knowledge

If we assume that DM photos always involve people, then the photographer needs to be knowledgeable about human behavior, including the physical aspects, such as body language, gesturing, movement, and vocal patterns – as well as the understanding the underlying emotional reasons why people do what they do. One can’t simply be a detached observer looking for a nicely composed shot. In addition to seeing the purely visual aspects of the scene, you need to immerse yourself into an understanding of what is happening psychologically within a person and between people. You need to listen to and comprehend conversations in order to understand where the situation is going. Some photographers claim that training in theater performance helps a lot in developing these skills.


6. Anticipation

Because the DM passes by in a flash, you have to see it coming in order to capture it. That ability to anticipate the DM culminates from the intuitive knowledge about human behavior and the Gestalt visual field in which it occurs. Instinctively, you know what’s about to happen, or that SOMETHING is about to happen, as well as where and how you need to capture it. You could be in the right place at the right time, but not even know it.
decisive moment humor

7. Mindfulness

The skill in anticipation comes from a wider state of awareness that some people call “mindfulness” – a topic that is the focus of another article here in Photographic Psychology and that currently is spreading rapidly through all areas of psychology. Of all the abilities needed to capture the DM, this one is probably the most crucial.

Mindfulness is the ability to see things clearly, freely, as they truly are in and of themselves. It involves the full awareness of oneself – one’s own sensations and emotions as encompassed in Gestalt perceptions, as well as the insights of the Good Hour; but it also entails the ability to transcend those things in order to experience the moment for what it is, rather than for just how one’s mind shapes it. One’s “self” might get in the way. As a process of noticing and discovery through a transcending fusion of objectivity and subjectivity, mindfulness is being selflessly present in the world and in the moment, openly receptive to both the seemingly insignificant as well as the overtly surprising events surrounding and within you.

Photographers who talk about the decisive moment often describe their experiences in ways that strongly resemble these ideas about mindfulness. They mention being totally aware of their surroundings, at one with it, losing themselves in it, not thinking, planning, desiring, or expecting anything, but simply experiencing what is happening around them. They talk about developing a peripheral vision or panoramic sensitivity to the environment. Even forget that you are carrying a camera, Cartier-Bresson suggested. It is this state of mind leads to the DM shot – not unlike the fully aware, spontaneous, unpremeditated, and undesired letting lose of the arrow that Eugene Herrigel described in his classic account of Zen in the Art of Archery. A variety of quotes from Cartier-Bresson point to this selfless, meditative state of mind that culminates in the DM:

“It is a way of shooting, of freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting one's own originality. It is a way of life.”

“I'm not responsible for my photographs. Photography is not documentary, but intuition, a poetic experience. It's drowning yourself, dissolving yourself, and then sniff, sniff, sniff – being sensitive to coincidence. You can't go looking for it; you can't want it, or you want get it. First you must lose your self. Then it happens.”

“Thinking should be done before and after, not during photographing. Success depends on the extent of one's general culture, one's set of values, one's clarity of mind, one's vivacity.”

“People think far too much about techniques and not enough about seeing."

“Photography is an immediate reaction, drawing a meditation."