“Another drink-related shot I’m afraid. I love this corner. It stands on the boundary between the street market of Brick Lane and London’s financial district. The corner gets good light, a wide range of people passing by and it also happens to have a quirky pub on the corner which lets you take your drinks outside and watch the world go by. One busy Sunday afternoon I was standing there pint of Guinness in one hand, camera in the other, not really expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen. Well obviously something did and I just happened to be standing next to the man who ended up falling on the tarmac. I don’t think anyone who has seen this shot has correctly guessed the chain of events and yes I have several shots of the drama as it unfolded so I could show you the whole narrative, but where’s the fun in that? I’m loathe to say precisely what happened other than to confirm that the lampost did not fall down of it owns volition. I like this shot so much because of its ambiguity. Much street photography can be very explicit but I like people to spend as much time as possible trying to work out of a very human puzzle. I was obviously thrilled that the guy’s girlfirend in a pretty blue dress came to his aid and that too red-clad cyclists were lurking ominously in the background. Needless to say, I have a hard job convincing anyone that this was set-up. Pure mindless reaction and getting my glass out of my hand so I could focus properly was the key here.”
More of these fantastic stories behind the image over on B (here).
7 Comments
moment captured! good job on
1) getting the shot
2)not spilling your drink
and
3) sharing it with us
wish you’d had your camera last week when, after a pint, I got on my bicycle, and in front of the whole, packed outdoor pub area, promptly fell over. Applause ensued. Tipsy cycling is learned skill, apparently.
The last sentence sums up the chasm between amateur and pro.
Well done
I can tell that you are not an abuser of the drink since you apparently didn’t spill any, so kudos on capturing the ensuing ambiguity while leaving the unfortunate non-creative’s hanging mindlessly dumb founded as to the progression resulting in the positioning of the girlfriend in the pretty blue dress.
Did Jeff Wall drink while he shot?
@scott Rex Ely: Yes. And then he made a reference to a painting of someone drinking painted by a painter who was drinking.
Guinness originated optical image stabilization.
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