Parts and Wholes
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 7:01PM 
One of the enduring questions in any kind of dialogue work is how to hold a sense of the 'whole'; a view of the wider context that doesn't fragment, categorise or label parts at the expense of the bigger picture.
As photographers, we often tend to direct and confine attention - looking perhaps at our subject matter in extreme close-up, seizing a split second of the action, lifting the detail away from its background through differential focus and narrow depth of field. In fact, this tends to be a bit of a reflex action for me - portraits shot with 85mm lens at f1.4 - you know kind of thing...
Back in NYC, I felt really compelled to not separate... To tell stories in a way that held as much of the context as I could. As I look back, I'm getting more attached to the pictures. Sure they are chaotic at first sight... but then seem to reward the extra attention...
I like the way this image holds the madness of the city while also letting us into a little moment... and lets me build my own narrative of family, intimacy, and conversation within a broader story.
I'm enjoying the freedom to roam in these shots.
f1.4 will never be the same again.
Reader Comments (2)
This was my fav of your diner photos because it has a sense of story to it.
Thanks... For me it is just a glimpse... a moment... But I love that it offers the possibility to write our own story into the space....