I’ll make a flat statement: If you are a documentary photographer you have to have a sense of rhythm. You have to be in tune with what is happening in front of your lens and I mean this literally.
Think about observing an event. Can you watch, analyse, and decide: “This is interesting, I think I’ll shoot it.” It’s already happened by the time you decide.
I’ll get personal here. This rhythm idea came to me last week as we were celebrating my sister Bess’s 90th birthday. She taught tap dancing and roped me into performing in one of her recitals. I think I was about 10 years old. Although I protested, there was something I liked about the amazing footwork of a tap dancer. Years later, in a review of one of my exhibitions, the reviewer had actually seen me at work and wrote “Zimbel dances when he is photographing and his pictures show it.” (Can’t find the original..apologies to the writer.)
Unique among the visual arts is the ability of a photographer to incorporate spontaneous action into a still work. Of course I am not talking about all kinds of photography, but only the path I follow.
So, get with the beat..and stay tuned. I have some news….george