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Trust Jesus
Posted On Thursday April 5, 2007 By The Wonder Bread Man
I made the photo above on this day. The shot was actually taken a few days earlier but my timing was off. I was getting used to a new camera and it was one of my first attempts at street photography. I was learning about Robert Frank and Gary Winogrand at the time in my photo class. These guys were like my gods.
I don’t know much about the couple in this shot but they were a fascinating to me. They didn’t pay me any attention at all and seemed lost in their own thoughts. I ended up taking three or four shots of them as they crossed the street in front of the Wonder Bread factory. I just couldn’t get the shot I saw in my mind. So I cheated it a bit (please don’t tell Cartier-Bresson), and I brought my negatives into Photoshop to re-create the scene as I saw it, as I wanted it. I’ve never told anyone until now that this photo was Photoshopped, as they say. The thing is, it did happen, I just wasn’t fast enough to capture it.
At the time I really began to question the whole idea of the decisive moment. What is a moment anyway if it can be completely made up? Maybe I’m writing this because I have a need to confess this sin to the street photography gods. I hope they can forgive me. It seems to me that today there are very few pure images. Practically everything we see is manipulated, edited, or down right fabricated. Personally, I don’t trust anyone anymore.
Tags: decisive, jesus, moment, photography, photoshop, reality, religion, trust