Thanks to Mike Johnston for pointing to this video about Henry Wessel's photography.
For some reason I was not aware of Wessel's work, but it's really wonderful. Exemplary "street photography".
The video itself is also impressive. It shows the difference between the typical U-toobe video and a professionally produced one. Even in the sheer image quality: you can view it at 200% and it's still sharp and no artefacts.
I would debate this, though:
Henry Wessel: "In the still photograph you basically have two variables—where you stand and when you press the shutter. That's all you have."
Well, you also have:
* Choice of B/W or color.
* Direction in which you shoot.
* Contrast.
* View angle of the lens.
* Aperture.
* Shutter speed.
* Focus.
* Exposure.
* Framing. (Though this is a result of a few of the above.)
* Camera format (influences sharpness etc).
Notable also that Henry uses the kind of camera that we are still waiting for in digital photography: compact, high quality build and high image quality, light weight, very responsive, fast, simple to use.
Dah, missed it. I've been wanting a trip to SFMoma for a few months now. Seems like when I suggested it as an Anniversary destination in May the Wessel exhibit was there.
ReplyDeleteNeed real player, fume!
Hank, born in New Jersey, is a funky street photographer cut in the same vein as Friedlander and Winogrand. He was also in that Snapshot book that was edited by Jonathan Greenberg-- I think. More power to him.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, there's another of those weird nick names: "Hank" for "Henry".
ReplyDeleteIs there any chance the video is available in another format other than RealPlayer? I uninstalled my RealPlayer a while back because it kept crashing my system, and the video sounds like one I would really like to watch.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Wayne
Doubtful. You can try asking the site's webmaster.
ReplyDelete