HCB Appreciation

[Elmarc]

Exactly! This on the other hand is raising questions I can look at it again and again.
And I heard the story behind it and is not what someone might think.

Care to share the story behind it?

 

[nikos79]

Care to share the story behind it?

If I remember well the girl was caught looking at a balloon

 

[Elmarc]

If I remember well the girl was caught looking at a balloon

I asked because this particular picture has always fascinated me but was unaware that HCB ever commented on it.

 

[nikos79]

I asked because this particular picture has always fascinated me but was unaware that HCB ever commented on it.

I also heard it anecdotally so I need to search more for references

 

[snusmumriken]

W. Eugene Smith practically lived off sales of prints of that Walk to Paradise Garden photo.

Funny, that. The title of the photo comes from an interlude in Frederick Delius’ opera A Village Romeo and Juliet, and seems comprehensively inappropriate. During said interlude, a pair of lovers - trapped in a village of feuding families - walk to a run-down pub called ‘The Paradise Garden’ for a last drink before drowning themselves!

 

[MattKing]

Funny, that. The title of the photo comes from an interlude in Frederick Delius’ opera A Village Romeo and Juliet, and seems comprehensively inappropriate. During said interlude, a pair of lovers - trapped in a village of feuding families - walk to a run-down pub called ‘The Paradise Garden’ for a last drink before drowning themselves!

Sounds like a lot of operas!

 

[Arthurwg]

Maybe ‘interpretation’ is the wrong word, and ‘understanding’ a better one. If you’ll play along with that, how do you (personally) understand the HCB Misissippi photo? Is it possible to appreciate it without understanding it? Even if it’s ambiguous, that would mean that at least two alternative ways of understanding suggest themselves.

Yes, you could write a novel from looking at the photo, and it might even be a best seller. But for me, what comes first is the stunning visual impression, akin to a flash of lightning. That might inspire me to write that novel.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I already agreed with you, Matt - I didn't even say unintelligible - I said "unreadable", by which I meant reading them is unpleasant (partly due to the repetition and the definitions and fixed references). I took a Philosophy of Law senior seminar course in university taught by a lawyer who didn't understand that that way of writing was not an appropriate model for speaking to a room full of students. Everyone was so bored they wanted to hang either him or themselves just to end it.



He's doing far better than every other famous photographer people can think of, then. Almost all of them are known for only a handful of photos. W. Eugene Smith practically lived off sales of prints of that Walk to Paradise Garden photo. Well, that and pawning cameras and lenses....

What does having only 100 or so famous pictures say about getting the decisive moment when HCB shot 100's of thousands? Most of them were meh, just like ours.

 

[Elmarc]

What does having only 100 or so famous pictures say about getting the decisive moment when HCB shot 100's of thousands? Most of them were meh, just like ours.

Quality not quantity?

 

[snusmumriken]

What does having only 100 or so famous pictures say about getting the decisive moment when HCB shot 100's of thousands? Most of them were meh, just like ours.

Do you have 100 of similar calibre to HCB’s?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Do you have 100 of similar calibre to HCB’s?

If I did, I wouldn't be here. All of mine are meh.

 

[cliveh]

What does having only 100 or so famous pictures say about getting the decisive moment when HCB shot 100's of thousands? Most of them were meh, just like ours.

The point is those 100000 crap images are experimentation and part of developing your technique. There after you may get many more keepers. It's not a question of prey and spray, as in a lot of digital photography, but having a goal in what you are trying to achieve even through taking many images that don't hit the spot. Eventually that goal will develop and reveal itself and then you have got where you want to be.

 

[pentaxuser]

I took a Philosophy of Law senior seminar course in university taught by a lawyer who didn't understand that that way of writing was not an appropriate model for speaking to a room full of students. Everyone was so bored they wanted to hang either him or themselves just to end it.

pentaxuser

 

[pentaxuser]

What does having only 100 or so famous pictures say about getting the decisive moment when HCB shot 100's of thousands? Most of them were meh, just like ours.

I suppose it depends of how you define "meh" Nearly all the shots in the Gallery are good shots but some are just interesting to those who may know the scene from experience or for whom it excites memories etc

pentaxuser

 

[MattKing]

I took a Philosophy of Law senior seminar course in university taught by a lawyer who didn't understand that that way of writing was not an appropriate model for speaking to a room full of students. Everyone was so bored they wanted to hang either him or themselves just to end it.

As I mentioned, legal drafting is both an art and a science.
The same applies to teaching of course.
In my law school experience, I got to meet a couple of clerks of the (BC) legislature whose role was to provide legislative drafting services.
They were similar in some ways to a few artists and photographers that I've met over the years - so immersed in their world/art that they seemed to be in a world of their own.
You probably wouldn't of them (the clerks) first when deciding who to invite to a party, but they were actually fascinating to talk to, as long as you were talking about the sorts of things that they were particularly good at communicating about.
I expect the same sort of concern applied to HCB and a few other of the interesting photographers that @cliveh and others have started interesting threads about here on Photrio.

 

[nikos79]

Regarding the two photos of Walker Evans and HCB that were posted before you might find that interesting:

Using AI to critique your photos

Try it also with the original ChatGPT the one you used is a pretrained model meaning the author tuned it to whatever they wanted it to be, not so generic

www.photrio.com

 

[cliveh]

If I remember well the girl was caught looking at a balloon

That is not my understanding, as I heard that it is a boy (not girl) who threw his ball in the air and Henri has framed the shot to exclude the ball.

 

[nikos79]

That is not my understanding, as I heard that it is a boy (not girl) who threw his ball in the air and Henri has framed the shot to exclude the ball.

Probably you are right I fail to recall exactly

 

[Elmarc]

That is not my understanding, as I heard that it is a boy (not girl) who threw his ball in the air and Henri has framed the shot to exclude the ball.

Where did you hear that?

 

[Arthurwg]

Funny, after following this thread from the beginning I'm starting to lose my appreciation of HCB.

 

[snusmumriken]

Funny, after following this thread from the beginning I'm starting to lose my appreciation of HCB.

That would be tragic

 

[cliveh]

And this taken in Mexico: -

 

[cliveh]

Where did you hear that?

I can't remember.

 

[cliveh]

 

[snusmumriken]

Taking it at face value, I’ve always found this photo equal parts fascinating and repellent. It’s a strong photo because of the diagonal composition, the human chain caught mid-action, and the three sets of eyes directed at the camera, and for some viewers that may be enough. But surely most of us want to know who these people are (even what sex they are), and what is going on. I think HCB said that his lodgings were across the road from this brothel. It puzzles me that any customers were attracted there, but what would I know?

I suspect HCB liked it especially because it broke taboos. There seems to have been a strong element of naughty boy in his character. Also, it foreshadows Diane Arbus, doesn’t it?