What makes you pull the trigger on a moment ?
Great light, interesting subject, juxtaposition, humour and/or social comment could all be viable answers to the question above ,however I'm not sure that any of these responses satisfy me entirely, as I believe something deeper might be responsible for our successful spontaneous captures.
The word capture is a interesting description, when it is used to describe the trapping of a moment in its latent form. All photography freezes a moment in time that is the nature of the beast, yet many of us dispose of these fragments of time without a second thought as we edit our shoots in search of meaning.
Lets make it clear the moments I'm writing of today are the ones that are captured in a almost subconscious way, they are inevitably what I call "One Framers " as they are so fleeting they feel as if they just happen to you rather than being the product of any conscious or creative thought process or act. These moments make me feel like I have become the fortunate benefactor at the centre of a conspiracy of elements that are not only beyond my control but challenge my understanding. The images that have been gifted to me in this way are few but they are some of my favorites, putting such captures down to luck is too simplistic in my view and this explanation does not do justice to the phenomenon I'm trying to describe here.
We all like to take the credit for the special moments we find, but what if these "Special happenings" are finding us ? What if the presence of a street photographer becomes a catalyst for unusual events to occur ?
The most skeptical among us have to admit that many of the "unbelievable" images displayed on the Street Photography web sites appear to defy the normal expectations of chance alone delivering these special moments. I do not consider myself to be religious or spiritual but I have to admit that some of my own captures feel as if they happen to me rather than being the product of a identifiable considered creative act !
I wonder if SP puts us in touch with the ancient "capture" instincts of our hunter-gather predecessors ? I wonder if I visit a part my mind that just goes into a form of auto pilot and works all this clever stuff out in a fraction of a second ?
If I had just read this piece I would ask myself if it had been written by a crazy guy, however I have just written this post and am still asking myself the "crazy guy" question.
The only thing I know is that I don't know !
Your comments are most welcome.
This image lived on my HD for more than a week before I discovered it, the capture was so spontaneous I had little memory of it !