Bil Zelman - Isolated Gesture

For twelve years I obsessively carried a heavy, modified Nikon film camera with a powerful flash on it everywhere I went. I traveled to small town fairs, parades, public gatherings- Shot on the street and snuck my way into parties and gala events everywhere I could.

I never looked through the camera, but rather placed it near the scene with my outstretched arm, clicked the shutter and popped the flash. I don’t know any of the people in these pictures and I never asked anyone if I could shoot and people’s responses over the years varied from great interest and feelings of total flattery to invasion of privacy, near violence and even an unwarranted arrest.

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