[Leica] Winogrand/blind shooting

[Cary Conover <leicary@tdi.net>]

Hey people...

I'm fascinated by what Bruce Feldman wrote in response (regarding Winogrand) 
to Adi about Adi's shooting from chest/hip level. Interesting that Garry 
Winogrand had that attitude, as I've seen his pictures and may have guessed he 
was into that "blind shooting" thing maybe a little bit. But then I always 
dismissed that thought because of something I read about him. Consider this 
excerpt from DoubleTake magazine, I'm sure many of you know what I am about 
to mention. Thomas Roma writes:

"Garry was really something to see--moving, without any break in the 
conversation, to photograph, say, a woman emerging from a taxi--then turning to 
take a picture of a couple leaving the restaurant we were standing in front of as if 
he had planned it in advance. And always, after he took a picture, he gave the 
same kind of curious look at his Leica that made it seem as if he was as surprised 
as the people he had just photographed by what he had done. It seemed to 
disarm them as they shrugged or just kept on about their busines."

Bruce Feldman writes: "[Garry Winogrand] was adamant about ALWAYS 
looking through the viewfinder, otherwise it's not really your shot and you'll 
never grow as a photographer by training your eye."

So here's the deal. I can understand somebody being adamant about always 
looking through the frame and stuff. But I disagree with somebody saying it's 
not "your" shot. It sure is, it's just different. I've always thought the camera 
takes on a life of its own when it's used "blindly." At 99 percent of my 
assignments, I'm looking through the viewfinder while working. But there's 
always that last frame of the roll where I'm walking back to the office and pass 
a unique person on the sidewalk, or that unique situation during an assignment 
where I would never shoot it any way BUT from my hip or chest. I think many of 
you know what I'm getting at. So Garry has his way, but I find that most of my 
favorite pictures are ones that have been taken "blindly." And I would defend 
that practice any day. More than anything, every one of those "blind" pictures is 
a mini-experiment.

Cary Conover
Monroe, Michigan