You know that incredible feeling when you read something that puts words to what you’ve been thinking but haven’t been able to explain it yourself?
Garry Winogrand and John Szarkowski (writing about Garry in “Winogrand: Figments From the Real World”) made me feel that.
Winogrand: Figments From the Real World. Essay by John Szarkowski.
Here’s why.
As I’ve grown in my photography over the last couple years, I’ve been leery of simply capturing “what it is” that’s in front of me. There’s always more than the subject I’m photographing. Always.
It’s made for messier photos at times. I fail a lot. I don’t get as many likes on Instagram anymore. So sad… But I want to see some depth! I want there to be i n f o r m a t i o n ! I want to fill a frame with a story that makes the scene more interesting than what it is (without gimmicks and tricks). This photo below with the cow is a semi-successful example.
Minnesota State Fair, 2021.
So who’s this Garry Winogrand and what is his influence?
First: he is one of the iconic photographers of the 20th century. All street photographers know him. Millions of people know his images. He is a legend forever. Here are a few of his photos below.
Second: before all the fame (which happened mostly after his death), he was constantly going against the grain of what “good, normal” photography was at the time. He didn’t want to shoot static, calculated images anymore. Intuition and encyclopedic depth is what he chose to go after. Music to my ears!!!
I don’t pretend to be anywhere close to Garry in terms of our work, but I do take after him, and I did so before I even knew about him, his work, or his words. It has cost me career-wise to make images like this (it cost him too), but I’d rather love the process of my photography than to make good money shooting “what it is.”
In honor of Father Garry, I selected six of my images that somewhat resemble the shots of his above. ❤️
