Documentary photography – challenge accepted.

Stan & Lemmy (Licensed under CC BY-SA Sven Kräuter, arebureboke.com)

Attending Jonas Bendiksen’s workshop last winter really had a big impact on my photography. Since then I’m diving deeper and deeper into documentary projects, and face new challenges. A successful picture is not any more judged by its graphical and emotional qualities alone. You also want to capture a story you sense or the magic of a certain moment. The challenge is that the magic is all in your imagination, rooted in your experience and then you try to preserve or transport this magic you feel in a picture, or a series. Stan is my barber too, and I really enjoy getting my hair cut. There’s a special magic when Stan completes his work. I could also sense it in Lemmy sitting on the barber chair. Thinking about explaining this with words, perhaps I shouldn’t try. This picture, although not the most successful one graphically, should at least give you a hint on the magic I’m referring to. Next step: managing to balance graphical, emotional and informational aspects in a single frame. Form has to meet context. Charles Harbutt said it best

If you want to judge a good photograph, ask yourself: Is life like that? The answer must be yes and no, but mostly yes.

I am not there yet. Challenge accepted, looking forward to hitting the photographic road.