Black and White,  Candid Portraits,  Documentary/Street,  People/Portraits,  quotes

Contrivance

New York City – 2008

“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Contrivance? Now that is a big word for me. So, I had to look it up. It means: “deliberately created rather than arising naturally or spontaneously.” For the image above, the microsecond after pressing the shutter button this scene was gone, never to exist as it was in that one moment of time. I see that as a gift given for a short period of time so I must accept it at that moment.

It’s -1 degree right now. Not expecting it to be above 10 degrees until Tuesday. We also have a dusting of snow. Stay warm!

Retired. Having fun shooting Fujifilm cameras. Journal daily. Meditate daily. Learning haiku. Have a love for fountain pens.

7 Comments

    • Monte Stevens

      I saw where it reached 7 degrees today. Tis cold and most people are staying inside. These temperatures are deadly. Tomorrow and Sunday will be dangerous. Stay warm and dry.

  • Faye

    Just the other day the word “contrived” came to mind when I was trying to discern what I didn’t like about certain photos. Still life photos are usually set up (contrived?) but I’m not bothered by that. Anyway… your post this morning set my brain off in many directions, but it’s a rainy, cold day so productivity is not being squandered.

    • Monte Stevens

      There I go sending your brain off in many directions! 😁 Synchronicity I think is another word that describes the coincidences in our lives. We can think about someone and we encounter them or have a deja vu moment.

      I saw where you were going to have freezing rain both today and tomorrow. Enjoy the productivity of your day, stay warm and dry. It is -4 degrees right now and a high of only 2 degrees, with snow for both today and tomorrow. I’m gonna wear two pair of socks. 😳

  • Joe

    I’ve often thought of that transient nature of a photograph. Many folks have made quotes about it and I still find it fascinating that I have images that are unique. The same cannot be said of repetitions of the icons that we’ve been flooded with.

    • Monte Stevens

      We all have images that will never be duplicated and those we can hold on to. Yet, we can show up every morning to setup our tripod and camera at the same place for a sunrise and never have the same image. For me the street imagery is so transient, always something new, different.