A Morning at American Camp by David Grant Best

A Morning at American Camp by David Grant Best

From A Morning at American Camp by David Grant Best
From LensWork #14
© 1996 David Grant Best. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the photographer.

Commentary
I have two related stories to tell about this photograph.

I interviewed David Grant Best about this photograph and he told me this story about his experience of photographing at American Camp. He was there with a group of other photographers all of whom hit the ground running — buzzing about, making pictures, flurry, flurry, flurry. By contrast, David found a nice comfortable spot in the grass, stretched out, and took a nap. He simply observed that the light was not yet right and knew that it would be in an hour or so. Sometime later, he woke up to find these delicate clouds and the beautiful angle of sunlight perfectly illuminating the white buildings and picket fences. He photographed intently for an hour or so, and when he was done he was done. He went back to napping. Nonetheless, in the short time he photographed he collected enough images for a wonderful little portfolio which we published in LensWork #14. It's not activity that counts, but rather the right activity at the right time — even if that includes napping and rest!

Some years later, I was interviewing the Magnum photographer David Hurn. I asked him how Magnum photographers work when they're in the field. I'll paraphrase what he described as follows:

You won't see much activity from a Magnum photographer for long periods of time. They walk around with their camera slung over their shoulder, just looking, observing, but not photographing. Then, all of a sudden, in a flurry, you'll see them leap into action. For a few minutes — maybe even a half an hour — they'll photograph intently, quickly, changing angles, changing lines, changing perspective, working fast. Then they'll just stop. The camera will go back over the shoulder, and they'll continue looking, observing, again perhaps for a long period of time. It's that ability to know when the photographic moment appears that is the real talent.

I was, of course, instantly reminded of Cartier-Bresson's famous decisive moment train of thought.

I'm fascinated by the parallel between these two anecdotes. The obvious conclusion is that a talented photographer knows when to work and when to watch, when productivity is called for and when it's best to wait. When we think of the term "photographer," we tend to think of someone who makes pictures, i.e., someone who presses the shutter and makes exposures. The lesson from these two photographers, however, is that the term photographer means much more than that. It means one who looks and sees, one who knows the difference between clicking the shutter and making a photograph, in other words, one who doesn't confuse activity with photography.

The portfolio can be seen in its entirety in our back issues — print (while still available) and our PDFs for computer, iPad, Android, and other devices. Plus, bonus audio commentary about this image is available to members of LensWork Online.

Discussion
Add your comments and observations to the discussion by using the "Comments" link at the bottom of this post.

Comments

[Henkki Zakkinen]

I keep coming back here looking at the image and thinking ... it is too small. Too small to see what you describe in your audio comment. Will have to get me the PDF, maybe.
Best
Henrik