Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad

“Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. Not indeed that we personally are needed. Others would meet the case equally well, if not better. To all mankind they were addressed, those cries for help still ringing in our ears! But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late! Let us represent worthily for one the foul brood to which a cruel fate consigned us! What do you say? It is true that when with folded arms we weigh the pros and cons we are no less a credit to our species. The tiger bounds to the help of his congeners without the least reflexion, or else he slinks away into the depths of the thickets. But that is not the question. What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in the immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come.”

~ Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

Life is what happens when you’re waiting for something to happen. I suppose, for me,  photography is the bench I’ve parked my ass on, waiting for the perfect camera, the meeting of chiaroscuro between phases of the moon and circumambulation of the sun, the exquisite moment resolved between f1.4 and f64.

When every day brings more news that we are living in a farce so terribly overacted that it can only be explained as theatre of the absurd, the modern playwright must surely struggle to provide audiences with anything more insane than the latest dispatches from Washington, London or Beijing. It is enough for talking heads to merely report the facts as they stand — no need for “fake news” or any other kind of embellishment. On the viewer’s part, the trick is not to take any of it too seriously.

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts ….”

~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It.

Successful street, journalism and theatre photography require similar skillsets: awareness of changing light and fleeting expressions, anticipation of the “decisive moment.”

I have always been a fan of absurdist theatre, penning my own surrealist script at 21, no doubt influenced by Becket’s famous existentialist drama and Arthur Kopit’s Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad. 

A college production of the latter tragicomedy, in 1973, introduced me to theatre photography and its particular challenges: ever-changing low light combined with the mercurial movements of actors, however well-choreographed. 

Kodak Tri-X, pushed to ASA (ISO) 800, was the go-to film. Today, we have cameras that can capture motion at thousandths of a second, using ISO settings also counted in the tens of thousands, without introducing much in the way of digital noise (“grain” was the film equivalent). No flash required.*

Some cameras, like the Nikon Z6 I took to a recent production, feature face/eye detection combined with continuous autofocus. These developments are not by any means the panacea that post-digital enthusiasts expect and argue over in online forums, but they are an amazing tool if used along with a bit of self-directed skill and a gratitude that us photographers have not yet been completely replaced by FotoBots™.

Over 4 decades, I’ve photographed many performances and concerts, with my entertainer father as the most frequent subject. Perhaps it was his zany cast of characters — clown, standup comedian, MC, magician — that gave me an appreciation for applying greasepaint to a sad world.

*The use of strobes would, of course, be verboten during a show. I have photographed live performances with permission and by keeping a low profile. The introduction of “silent shutter” mode, as with the Nikon Z6, is a wonderful thing. The best approach is to cover dress rehearsals, which gives a chance to better anticipate action and lighting.