Gary Winogrand

"Simply saying Winogrand's output was large is like saying the Grand Canyon is a hole in the ground. In fact, it is almost impossible to grasp just how much Winogrand photographed during his comparatively short professional life.

Consider this: at his death, Winogrand left behind 2500undeveloped rolls of 36-exposure 35mm film (mostly Tri-X), 6,500 rolls of film that had been developed but not contact-printed–not to mention 300 apparently untouched, unedited 35mm contact sheets.

Do the math. Conservatively, that's at least 300,000 pictures – equal to at least two life's work for anyone else–that Winogrand took but never even saw, so busy he already had been photographing the world around him."

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/essays/vanRiper/030131.htm)

 

To me, Winogrand's images encourage the viewers to question the subjects; who they are, what they are doing and why. I look at his work like i look at people when i walk down the street, i stroll along and i look at people, i look at their expressions and what they are doing and i can't help my mind drifting off, wondering where they are going, or coming from, if they are rushing why? are they commuting or shopping, what have they bought, why has he got flowers? what are they having for tea, and so on.

As with a lot of street photography similar to this, we recognise how each person in the photographs has been caught unaware and i imagine myself in their position.

This makes the images really interesting to view, they tell a story and to a certain extent I sympathise with the subjects, wondering how they feel about been photographed unprepared.