Fruit and Veg Stand, West Broadway,Vancouver, 1982

To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression.
~ Henri Cartier-Bresson, from The Decisive Moment

We often refer to photographs as “capturing the moment.” Certainly, the most mundane photographic reflection of an event — a family Christmas or camping trip — can evoke deep emotion.

But can we claim that the rendering, on screen or paper print, is a true expression of the complex collision of events in space-time? My question is rhetorical, of course. A better question might be How authentic are our reactions to the counterfeit image in this moment; we have a chance to interact with our emotions in relation to memory.

I was watching a YouTube video yesterday about tourism in China. The narrator drew attention to the hundreds of (local) visitors to a park, all taking selfies and snapshots with their cellphones — none of them actually “in the moment,” enjoying the beauty of their surroundings.

Photography is not alone in its ability to take us out of the moment, but it has become a ubiquitous distraction in the age of digital image-making.

These are random thoughts (perhaps I’ll arrange them into a better essay when I have more time) and I don’t mean to say that we should all pursue cosmic consciousness — “be here now,” as New Age guru Baba Ram Dass urged us.

I’m not sure “being here now” is possible or even desirable full time. The most “in the moment” I’ve ever been was on an ice climb that got out of hand. Aware that my next move might lead to my exit from this life, the whole of my existence and relationship to this realm came into focus (for want of a better explanation). The realization, if you will, that my life was no more or less important than anything else enabled me to concentrate all my senses on survival. I wasn’t carrying a camera.

I do not recommend living in extremis to attain Nirvana, though the contemporary pursuit of “extreme sport” with a GoPro camera strapped to the head seems to be almost mainstream.

There’s a conundrum here. I look to photographic outings to put aside inner chatter and just see what’s in front of me. At the same time, perhaps the mind-junk I’m avoiding might hold some revelation if I just sat and listened. Ommmmmmm.

But I digress (stream of consciousness, as I say).  The photo above (part of the recently-added 35mm Eighties Vancouver collection) is as representative as anything in my portfolio that approximates Cartier-Bresson’s approach.