Pictures from the past

I dug up some pictures (click to link)I took a while back that still ring inside whenever I see them. I believe that this work is more a part of the way I work and the way I see than all the work produced over the last six years.I started shooting within a documentary style much influenced by street photographers like Winogrand, Friedlander and Eggleston. Though this work may not show those particular influences shining through, my own aesthetics and further influence from other artists evolved, mingled and smelted into what I have today. At SFAI I picked up on a lot of stuff that I'll mention over time on this blog as I show more work and speak with confidence about what I see.I am particularly proud of finding this picture. I've never really forgotten this picture and I'm very lucky to have gotten it.. Part of the beauty of documentary/street photography is being there and 'getting that shot'. The only problem I have with that statement is that its easy enough to say it, but if you don't pay attention, you're not getting shit. This time I was paying enough attention. I remember the dinner and the conversation I remember that it was cold. I've tried many time since this shot to replicate it but to no avail. Its just not the same.I've had people ask me if I would be able to teach them how to take pictures and I usually tell them something in the order of, 'Sure. Just take pictures.' Now, I don't mean to sounds like a total ass but its literally what I mean. Anyone can tell you how to use a camera, how to use a lens or how to load film but no one can truly teach you how to take pictures that are 'good' (I'll save that for next time). I suggest that you just take pictures. The more you take, the more you'll know what to do the next time. I took a lot of pictures, made a lot of mistakes, make a lot of prints, made a lot of bad decisions before this image got made. Part of everything we do has risks and the risks we decide to take in photography sometimes make images that are winners and sometimes end up being losers.To me these pictures are part of my top 10 or 20. As Roland Barthes would say, these pictures have 'punctum' to me.