WHEN IN DOUBT, CLICK! GARRY WINOGRAND

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Isabella Cecconi

Looking back in photography history I brushed up and re-discovered those prolific avant guardists shooters, and I thought about  Garry Winogrand, to me, the father of American street photography. He surely left so many magnificent images and is one of my favorite shooters. I consider him one of those who make you gain a photographic insight, wisdom. He was passionate, true. I never understood a lot of the things that he said about photography like why you should wait a year or two before developing your shots, why photographs don’t tell stories, and how photographers mistake emotion for what makes great photographs. Although I didn’t really get what he was saying, I was intrigued. His philosophy in photography was treasure. He would walk out of the building, with his Leica’s leather strap wrapped around his hand, check the light, adjust the shutter and snap. Constantly looking around. His unfortunate early-death (at age 56) left behind 2,500 rolls of undeveloped film, 6,500 rolls of developed but not proofed exposures (not made into contact sheets), and contact sheets made from about 3,000 rolls. However I think one thing that we can learn from Winogrand is to follow our instincts and our guts, and go for our shots. If a person is too far away, we should either run or walk to them and go for the shot. Photography is also, touching, tasting, being there, I see therefore I click.