Missing Edmund Bacon Pt 2

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On our adventures, Ed would always make a remark if I made a photo on the street. Of course, where else would I make a photo if I’m on the street? Dare I ask Mr Bacon that….NO! He liked me to make photos of life and the awareness of it. I felt that we had an understanding of each other, like decades ago but we didn’t know each other then.

So, when I’m on the street working, sometimes, I feel like I’m not in sync or not present with others or myself. It’s not an add feeling or a feeling of loneliness at all. It’s like the clock is ticking and I am aware of it, maybe more than others. That I can’t swear to as I have enough troubles being in my own head let alone trying to be in some one else’s. I went out today with Mom, the Ricoh GRII and my intent was to get a few images not for effect, but for emotions. See the man above, the center of the photo? Well that could be Edmund Bacon. It’s not in that reality but in the new reality, it is.

It’s like once you become aware of yourself, then others become aware of you and yet, you adopt the energy of the others. It’s a cycle of circular motion,  that energy passes by and thru us. Photographically, we can get lost because we hold fast to the belief that Light alone is the source of energy. The true energy that we deal with is not light, even tho’ it’s the cornerstone, it’s EMOTIONS.

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Tapping into the emotions of the street allows the juices to flow along with the energy of thought and vision. There are many times that I am out there and all the sudden I change the settings on my camera because a wave of emotions is being transmitted by and to me. I’m sorry gang, I don’t question that at all. I just go for it. It’s the natural awareness of photographic energy.

So, what’s all this shit have to do with anything including photography?  Well, maybe if you are just a friggin knucklehead, nothing. If you are a empty shooter, nothing either. If you are a human with a camera, well….now we are getting it.

I didn’t have the money to go to Collage. I guess for the most part, I am self taught in life. I was really envious of many people that I knew that had collage degrees. I thought, how lucky they were. So I thought that if I am to gain knowledge, I must seek that knowledge from those that have it. I started to do portraits and as I made them, I engaged my subject in conversation and learned from the conversation. This worked well and I got great photos also.

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I did this for many years and still do in different ways, but still do. I am guilty of living my life trying to learn the value of life. I am guilty of trying to understand people and their lives, ( except my ex’s)… Most of all, I am guilty of living a life as a shooter and applying all that I am into my work.

This is what Edmund Bacon kinda shoved in my head. He gave me the awareness that the world and it’s in habitants are all anyone needs to survive and continue. That’s a big statement but it’s a big world. So when I’m out there, I’m feeling thee life and the movement of living energy and the way I fit in with it.

I gotta tellya…. it’s a damn sure beautiful thing this life is……It’s a great journey and one I personally carry my friends, my cameras with me. Maybe photography keeps me in touch with things and then maybe photography keeps things and people in touch with me….

There’s plenty of knuckleheads out there writing…. like 1/250 f16, or this camera is better than that camera…..

Ya ain’t gonna get too much of that here…. I can only give you my heart and well, parts of my mind but my shrink keeps most of it…..

 

8 thoughts on “Missing Edmund Bacon Pt 2”

  1. You know Don, when I first got started in this street stuff a few years back I was kind of caught up in the technical – “If I get this camera and lens I can do great stuff” And I bought – had a bad case of GAS and I suppose I still do but too a much lesser degree. Then I started reading your blogs and studying your photography. I can’t remember how I came across your stuff but am glad I did. Your philosophy on street photography has opened my mind to what it’s all about and how to approach it. Thanks for sharing. I would love to come to Philly someday and just bump into you on the street doing your thing. Take care out there.

    1. Dave, what a nice thing to say. If you do come to Philly, why don’t we plan a bumping into on the streets, instead of taking a chance……..

    1. Thanks Sharon, I need a push sometimes to find the track and you do that along with the other readers here….

  2. When a small boy came to visit me he had as most people do, arrived from the back lane. When he opened the front door he yelled at me in amazement…….there’s a street out here!!!………I live on the Main street in a small country town. The street is full of people in the weekends. Today for the first time X100T Charlie and me grabbed our courage and met these faces in the street……….thanks always for your extraordinary photos and you felt words…………dream on……………….s

  3. Hi Don,
    This series continues to impress. I do not count the words that accompany your images, because, together with the accompanying text, they carry so much weight. This weight is proof positive of the value of your experience shining through. You also astutely allude to awareness of an energy that lives both within and about. This energy does not require one to push the river, because once understood, this energy accepts and carries all, both safely and securely … Edmund Bacon helped you to Grok …
    Sean

  4. Love those photos and your words … about emotions and the energy…. understanding why i like some photos more than the others (even my own) – that emotion factor…

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