2022 | Point Reyes
My late friend Duncan McCosker seemed to work slowly and deliberately, even though he worked crowds in streets, fairgrounds, and at the very feet of the Eiffel Tower. But his wonderful pictures prove that his efforts found another, lighter, free-flowing plane of grace.
One phrase of Duncan’s came to me when he pointed to one of my own pictures, noting that there was a “hidden movement,” which I took to mean evidence of a free spirit passing through, or perhaps over, the scene.
I have had these feelings before, without a camera, on many occasions. Whether they are “real” or not hardly matters — the experience was real, and is crisply remembered. And if I occasionally make a picture of this kind of moment, then I can photograph my imagination.
▹ I refer you to the delightful first-third memoir Living to Tell the Tale, where Gabriel García Márquez writes a compelling account of encountering a faun on a late-night streetcar ride.
▹▹ This post marks the beginning of my new schedule, with weekly instead of twice-weekly entries. I will be working more days each week on my monographs and other books, and will add to the blog each Thursday. After a year, a new printed issue, Mixed Documents No. 5, will collate sixty of these weekly posts into the usual format.
