Photography and flânerie

I have recently started reading The Mind’s Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson and it has made me realize why I have felt uncomfortable with the whole ‘decisive moment’ approach, which seems so fundamental in both documentary and street photography. At one point, he describes what he does as ‘active flânerie’. This suggests photography as the practice of detached people-watching. Everything else is stage setting for the human drama that is meat and drink for the flâneur. Susan Sontag picks up on the connection between flânerie and photography to highlight its voyeuristic and exploitative potential.

I certainly don’t want to be voyeuristic or exploitative in my photography. Nor do I particularly want to put people-watching at the heart of my practice. What drew me back into photography was landscape photography (like so many people, I am a great fan of Ansel Adams).

I am interested in somehow capturing / encapsulating / representing the particularity (the this-ness, the haecceitas, the inscape if you want be theological about it) of my subjects. I don’t think I can do that by shots taken at decisive moments or by looking for the dramatic. I’ll know it when I see it. I’ll see it when I understand it. And understanding takes time.

The Church will not abandon Gaza City

The latest joint statement from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem says in part:

Since the outbreak of the war, the Greek Orthodox compound of Saint Porphyrius and the Holy Family compound have been a refuge for hundreds of civilians. Among them are elderly people, women, and children. . . . Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months. Leaving Gaza City and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence. For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds.

Autism: the absence of experts

I am of the opinion that anyone who thinks they are an autism expert is, by thinking that, clearly not. You can be an expert in your autistic self, your autistic children, your school. You might be an expert in understanding autism and intersectionality, or an expert in autism and sociality. There are numerous areas you might be an expert in. But I don’t think anyone can be an autism expert per se. (Luke Beardon, What Works for Autistic Adults, p. xii)

This becomes obvious the moment you recall the sheer diversity of autistic experience. Current thinking suggests that autism arises from a range of genetic factors with the result that people can be autistic in very different ways – what is unbearable for one autistic person may be precisely what is most soothing for another. And this diversity is compounded by the vast range of possible environments in which we may find ourselves and how we respond to specific environments.

Evdokimov on prayer

In The Sacrament of Love (SVS Press, 1985), Paul Evdokimov makes the following comment on prayer:

It is not enough to say prayer, one must become, be prayer, prayer incarnate. It is not enough to have moments of praise. All of life, each act, every gesture, even the smile of the human face, must become a hymn of adoration, an offering, a prayer. One should offer not what one has, but what one is.

Support Plasticine Action

Plasticine Action is a group of like-minded artists and concerned citizens, who want to be vocal against the rise in AI generated animation and art, and raise awareness of how AI is being used in an increasingly authoritarian manner.

All profits from the sale of the Plasticine Action T-shirt (available from their website) are being donated to Medical Aid for Palestine.

NB Miles Pickering (pictured above) was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 for wearing this T-shirt at a demonstration in support of Palestine Action last weekend. It was only when they got him to Scotland Yard that police officers realized their mistake! Perhaps the Metropolitan Police should introduce sense of humour tests and eye tests for prospective officers.