Henry Wessel
American (Teaneck, New Jersey, 1942)Santa Barbara, California
Wessel once said of his work, "I am delighted when a photograph is muscular and at the same time beautiful." This powerfully elegant arrangement of horizontals and cast shadows certainly meets his criteria.
Unposed, the photograph is the result of Wessel's direct approach to the medium: he goes out to shoot without a preconceived plan and lets his eye serve as his guide. There is something magical about this spontaneous scene — the angled light of a Southern California morning, the flock of birds frozen in mid-flight, the ordinary man observing it all. Although it appears to suggest a larger narrative, it is merely a moment captured on film.
Keywords
Santa Barbara, California, trees, grass, men, back views, pigeons, birds, flocks, flying, sidewalks, buildings
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