Tate Modern
Posted on 07.21.08 to Photography, Travels by Joan
Tate Modern, London, England, 2008
The one precious thing I took home from my London/Paris trip, was this picture. It was because of this picture, I felt a the rush of excitement from taking that one satisfying photo, and it made me do a little happy dance when I got it.
I was trying to capture the light and the shadows when I saw these people walking by. And I just knew I had to get them and their shadows too. This pair happened to walk by and perfectly fit within the shadows of the windows. I didn’t even have time to change the lens nor think too much into what the picture composition was going to be. It was instinctive! I tried waiting a little while more to see if I could do a much better shot, but none came out as nicely as the first.
It made me understand fully, for the first time, what Henri Cartier-Bresson‘s decisive moment was all about.
“Photography is not like painting,” Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. “There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative,” he said. “Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”
This photo was taken at one of the entrances of the Tate Modern museum. Call me silly, but I’m actually starting to miss London a little and wished I wasn’t so grumpy during my last few days there.
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Comments ( 5 )
clapclapclapclap. an awesome catch it is!! FRAME IT BIG!!!
ead added these pithy words on
Jul 21 08 at
5:02 PM
since u’re on flickr, take the adv to show BIGGER images =)
ead added these pithy words on
Jul 21 08 at
5:04 PM
Haha…the place grows on you right? Must come back when I am there okay?
Shai added these pithy words on
Jul 22 08 at
12:06 AM
Well done you! I love this shot!
agreed with Ead, print and frame it big!
Ron added these pithy words on
Jul 23 08 at
1:46 PM
