PROJECT 2 -
EXERCISE 5.3: Looking at photography
‘When somebody sees something and experiences it - that’s when art happens’1
(Hans-Peter Feldman)
If photography is an event then looking at photography should also be an event.
Look again at Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photograph Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare in Part Three. (If you can get to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London you can see an original print on permanent display in the Photography Gallery.) Is there a single element in the image that you could say is the pivotal ‘point’ to which the eye returns again and again? What information does this ‘point’ contain? Remember that a point is not a shape. It may be a place, or even a ‘discontinuity’ - a gap. The most important thing though is not to try to guess the ‘right answer’ but to make a creative response, to articulate your ‘personal voice’.
Include a short response to Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare in your learning log. You can be as imaginative as you like. In order to contextualise your discussion, you might want to include one or two of your own shots, and you may wish to refer to Rinko Kawauchi’s photograph mentioned above or the Theatres series by Hiroshi Sugimoto discussed in Part Three. Write about 300 words.
It’s interesting to look again at this photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson. It becomes apparent what I missed the first time around and how you can look at something completely differently when you have a significant gap from the last time you viewed it. How do I respond to a photo that has been looked at with a fine-tooth comb by millions of people before me and make this a creative response, whilst articulating my ‘personal voice’?
Firstly, what do I already know about this photo?
The photo is called ‘Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare’. It was taken by Cartier-Bresson
in 1932 and has become a pivotal part of the photography concept, The Decisive
Moment. Gare Saint Lazare is a train station in Paris. At first look the image
contains a man in silhouette trying to leap over the water, which we know will
not end so well. The setting of this photo looks like a building site of some sort
behind the train station.
Forgetting what I already know about Bresson’s image and analysing it in depth
highlights a mammoth amount of detail within the frame. I have used coloured
circles to point out the parts of the photo that I think are the pivotal points and
where my eyes linger just a bit longer with questions about what is unfolding
within the frame.
At first glance, Bresson’s image is simple – a silhouette of a man trying to jump
over the water. It’s when my eyes start to move across the photo that I realise
there is so much more unfolding. Within the frame there are multiple echoes
happening, symmetry, which alone makes this image visually pleasing.
For me, the pivotal part of this image is the man leaping across the water, circled
in red. The fact that he is in silhouette gives him an air of mystery. Who is he? Did
he think he would make the jump across the water? Where is he going? My eyes
then move to the left towards another man in silhouette, circled in green,
standing further back. At first glance I thought he was standing behind the
railings but on closer inspection I think he is in front of the railings in the same
vicinity as the silhouetted man. Is he watching the man leaping? Does he know
him? Why is he there? There are so many unanswered questions within the
frame.
Next to the man by the railings is a poster of a dancer, circled in blue. This is where my eyes travels to next. This may also be classed as a pivotal point of the image. I have circled in white the poster and the leaping man. They are a reflection of each other, or maybe the leaping man is an imitation of the dancer in the poster. These two parallels add to the impact of the decisive moment within photography. The fleeting moment that has been captured here could have been very different if it had been taken just half a second later and that symmetry would not have been there, making this a completely different photo.
Next to the poster of the dancer are the words ‘Railowsky’, circled in purple. This makes me think the image has something to do with the railway but when I looked for the translation of the word I found out that ‘Railowsky’ was actually a circus, which makes sense with the adjoining poster of the dancer.
The leaping silhouette, the onlooker by the railing, the poster of the dancer and the ‘Railowsky’ poster are the most engaging points of Bresson’s image for me. These points are where my eye travels to first. Where my eye returns again and again.
Once my eyes have explored those four main points, I want to investigate the image with more extent. This is where coming back to this photo was beneficial. I noticed a lot more within the frame after time away from looking at the image. I realised how much symmetry there was. The reflection of the leaping man, the reflection of his onlooker and the two posters. Not only are those four pivotal points reflected but there is also the reflection of the railings and the wheelbarrow. If this photo was turned upside down, it would create an almost mirror image of itself.
Each time I return to this photo I find more information within it, whether it be more unanswered questions or things I have missed.