Cork Street Photography June Photowalk

I discovered a wonderful article about Garry Winogrand here. It’s very long, and I haven’t read all of it yet but here’s a snippet:

Usually when I saw Garry photographing around Austin there was a large contingent of photographers around him. Most were probably his art major students. During one semester – I think it was during his “Color Photography” class (when we actually took color slides onto the street ) – our class joined Garry for some street photograph. There was enough of an armada around him that I would have thought it would alter the landscape of Gary’s subjects. But I guess he was used to altering the landscape of photography because he clicked away, often shouting out tips like “get closer,” watch your composition, no cropping allowed…He also disappeared after a while and left questions up to one of the TAs.

Working photographers could learn a lot watching Garry shoot; his style was truly unique. He had an amazing athletic ability when he held a camera in his hand. Honed by shooting hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even a million exposures, his technique was amazing because he was always moving. He also had some idiosyncrasies. He would walk the sidewalks, often caressing his face with his camera. He would sometimes flop his Leica from his right hand to the left.

No matter what Garry was doing with the camera, his eyes were always looking for the next shot. His head would turn side to side. He was like a predator looking for his next meal. And when he saw his target, his problem so to speak, he would instantly meter the light by experience (I never saw him use a light meter), look down at his camera settings, make any needed adjustments; then he would literally walk up to the subject and snap the camera up to his eye and instantly freeze long enough to press the shutter. Then he would keep walking past the subject all the while lowering his camera and a 1/1000th later he was gone. After the shot and if someone acknowledged him with a grin or question, he would tip the camera to the subject as his way of saying thanks. Sometimes he nodded his head at the inquisitive subject. I dare say that many of his subjects never knew they had just been photographed, much less photographed from two to three feet away. This was an element that enhanced many of his photos. His technique allowed him to get those natural expressions and actions from his subjects, especially New Yorkers where you rarely look people in the eye when you are close to them.