The Optimum Expressive Moment Of Time And Place

Anticipation is another prime element of creative art and essential to visualization. Some years ago I was talking with Edwin Land, a brilliant scientist and close friend. We talked about the remarkable photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson, with his images of people in motion arrested at precisely the optimum expressive moment of time and place.

Land pointed out that the moment captured on film was realized through anticipation. Had Cartier-Bresson released the shutter at the “decisive moment” as revealed in his pictures, the psycho-physical lag would have resulted in capturing the moment after the ideal position in the composition.

Anticipation is one of the most perplexing capabilities of the mind: projection into future time. Impressive with a single moving object, it is overwhelming when several such objects are considered together and in relation to their environment. I believe that the mind, working at incredible speeds, is able to probe into the future as well as recall the past. Our explorations of the past support the present, and our awareness of the present will clarify the future.

Ansel Adams And Alfred Stieglitz, #1

Is this a junkyard church, this decay
around us, bricks, steel and broken glass?
Do rusted gears not turning say mass,
is their oxidation how they pray?

Thick clouds turn sunlight to shades of gray.
A photographer kneels in the grass,
hesitant to intrude, to trespass
the broken bricks and cut wires display.

Tiny computers, tiny motors,
focus the camera in the dim light.
The photographer just frames the shot.

Old factories. Old houses. Old stores.
Broken junk transfigures in our sight.
Tiny glories that won’t be forgot.

Is This A Junkyard Church

I wonder if I’m really with you now
Or just chasing after some finer day

“Anticipation,” Carly Simon

“What kind of camera do you use?” Britney asked.

At the keyboard, Beethoven looked up, glared at her.

“What?” she asked, exasperated. “You said we can’t
talk about music. I just got a camera.
The cinematographer on my video
said it’s a good one. I forgot what kind it is.
What kind of camera do you take pictures with?”

Beethoven was still glaring as he picked out chords.
He let out a loud, long sigh. He struck a low chord.
He said, “I have a Panasonic point-and-shoot.
It’s a Lumix model. It has a Leica lens
that’s not interchangeable but has a zoom range
that’s equivalent to a very wide angle
and a long telephoto lens at the same time.”

Britney laughed. Her eyes were bright, watching Beethoven.

“What?!” Beethoven yelled, his hands banging out a chord.
“You asked! You asked what kind of camera I use!
Now you’re laughing! What?! My camera is funny?!”

Britney laughed again, a little louder. She smiled.
She said, “I just knew that you would have a good one.
Are you going to let me take pictures of you?”

Beethoven growled, “No! Hell no! Fuck no!”

Britney laughed.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7A



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Equally And As Hopelessly Lost


“Strictly Speaking She Harmonizes”



Ansel Adams And Margaret Bourke-White


Ansel Adams And Cedric Wright


Ansel Adams And Edwin Land


Ansel Adams And Alfred Stieglitz, #2



Mischievous Girls: A Cautionary Tale



In The Mind Of Everyone Seeing Paris