Another photography satori for me.

I always thought of the decisive moment as being something important in smaller format photography - HCB, Weegee, Smith, photo journalism, etc. But I got a lesson this week in its importance in large format photography (big camera on a tripod as opposed to a 4x5 Speed Graphic) from Edward Weston.

There is a Weston photograph I've seen published in several places in which he obviously took his camera up the hill above his house on Wildcat Hill. Most of the published copies I've seen have been rather small. I just got a copy of "Edward Weston -The Last Years in Carmel" and on p25, it's reproduced at almost 8x10.

At first glance, it's simply a record photograph of the home and surroundings. But with it being Weston, I looked deeper. There's the contrast of verticals from the trees, the curves of the Pacific, the implied curves of the highway, the interesting arrangement of the three buildings - there's Charis on the roof reading a book, there's the homemade ladder she used to get on the roof. Then looking even more closely I saw the decisive moment. Not one but two cats are on the roof looking directly at Weston and the camera with that "What the hell are you doing now" look that cats can get on their faces.

How did Weston get them to do that? Even more so, how did he think of the importance of such a small detail in such a photograph? When I saw the cats' faces, the whole photograph came to life - it was no longer just a nice photograph of a house in a pretty location. It's much like the attention to detail given in still lifes - but this is essentially a landscape photograph.

I have much to think about, much to learn.

Update - Reading "Through Another Lens" by Charis Wilson, she refers to the photograph as a picture of her reading on the roof. I disagree. She also says that in making the book "The Cats of Wildcat Hill," Weston made a noise using his "cheeks and lips" to get the cats to look. She says he learned it while doing portraits of children. I'm guessing he made the noise in this photograph to get the cats to look - which supports my position that he was seeing the photo down to the smallest detail.

Wilson reproduces another photograph in her book and discusses it. It was taken during their "Leaves of Grass" tour of the country in 1941. I believe it was in Tennessee - at any rate, it is, at first glance, a very nice architectural shot of an unusual home. The camera is set up on an angle to show the front and one side of the house - it's framed perfectly, swings and tilts were probably used a bit to get everything nice and square. A very nice architectural shot. Except it's not.

Sitting in a chair on the front porch of the house is the owner. His crutch is propped on the wall behind him. He is looking with great interest at Weston. Standing beside the owner is a large dog, who is staring at the owner with the same interest that the owner is giving Weston. Again, magic and life in what would have been an otherwise good but standard photograph.