The Moment In Between

The Ronstadt Brothers. CSPS Hall, copyright Eyeguess Photography 2017 

Most people who are serious about photography have at least heard of Henri Cartier-Bresson. He was a master photojournalist who popularized the concept of “The Decisive Moment'. That's an instant in time where the elements of a photograph-the positions and action of the subjects, the lighting, all the other factors-are captured in a way that makes the whole greater than the sum of the parts. It's an ideal behind journalistic and spontaneous photography that most aspire to and on occasion achieve just right.

In sports it may be the moment a bat strikes a ball or a receiver snags a pass with his fingertips. In wildlife photography it may be the moment a bee alights on a flower or a grizzly bear snatches a leaping salmon in mid air. In photojournalism it may be the moment a soldier is truck by a bullet or a flaming building explodes. Whatever the case, we see such photos and are duly impressed by the image. They encapsulate nearly everything we expect from photography: capturing an instant in time in a way that can impress it upon memory indelibly and eternally.

I'm not going to talk about “Decisive Moment” photos because that's been done. A lot. By photographers and critics more experienced, knowledgeable and skilled than I am. Instead, I'm going to talk about “The Moments in Between”. That is, photos that fall into place before or after what people would consider “The Decisive Moment”. Sometimes these photos actually work better than the ones that show the expected result of a “Decisive Moment” capture.

As I mentioned, most people seek “The Decisive Moment” because it's what they are looking for. It's what they think the viewer wants to see. For working photographers, it's certainly what an editor or client is willing to pay for. They are “money shots” because most of the time they capture the essence of an event.

Sometimes, however, it's what happens between the peak of action that can help a viewer better connect with the subject of a photo or the event captured. Sometimes what happens before or after “The Decisive Moment” can be more visually intriguing than the moment itself. I remember a photo I saw years ago of a lion that had just missed catching an antelope and was trying to regain her balance as she slide in the dust.

Or it may be something that happened in a different spot than the peak of action. On a regular basis we see photos of a defender who slipped and missed coverage, laying on the field in disgust, watching the completed pass result in a touchdown or a goal being scored.

This is part of my own approach to performance photography. Some of my better photos are of moments in a show that are not peak moments. Sure, everyone loves to see the leaping guitarist or the singer at the height of emotion. That's not all there is to a concert though. I've been on stage many times, and can tell you that there are times when a performer drops into a certain zone. There may be a band, or entire orchestra on stage, but the musician is lost in the music, and there's only his/her self and the music that exists at the instant in time.

It's these “Moments in Between” peaks of action that I actively seek to capture whether I'm shooting musicians, dance or theater. To me, such images can say much more about the human beings on stage than peak action photos. They can give an insight into the art of performing as well. By freezing seldom considered, transitory moments from a performance, people get a chance to study that moment, and consider, perhaps all that goes into bringing music, dance or theater together into the shows people love to see.

Take the above photo of The Ronstadt Brothers in concert at CSPS Hall in Cedar Rapids, IA. A second before, and a second after, this instant, the musicians were each either looking at another band member or the audience. Yet in this image, they are all absorbed by the music, by their performance. To me, it evokes the feeling I often felt on stage of having the world just fall away and all that existed was the music I was making, and how it was meshing with the music others were making that I heard in the background.

These are sublime moments which every musician recognizes are the key to making beautiful music on stage. Yes, it's important to remain cognizant of what other players are doing, and work together to ensure everything comes together as seamlessly as possible. However, the reality is that ultimately, playing music is about self. No matter how much cooperation there is on stage, each musician is still ultimately trying to fill his own world with the best music he can create.

To me, a photo like this one captures that feeling almost perfectly. A juxtaposition of people both isolated and working in close concert to produce beautiful music. It's a feeling that's hard to describe for those who've never performed music on stage.

So, while pursuing ideals of “The Decisive Moment” is a worthy (and to some extent vital) goal photographically, it's important to also think about the “Moments in Between”. I'll readily admit that the “hit rate” of such images can be lower. Often such captures do indeed look like “missed it by that much” photos that should be mercilessly subjected to the DEL key.

Mercilessly, but not too quickly. Take enough time to study the elements of such photos to see if they tell a story that a “Decisive Moment” photo doesn't tell. That's often the measure of true success of a photo, telling an effective story, a unique story. Sometimes that story is best told by an image that might otherwise be overlooked in the rush to produce eye candy that everyone expects to see.