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Soft Eyes

I seem to be going back in time at the moment and finding more value in photographers work from other eras. Is that something to do with getting older or just being out of step?  I was really excited to read this quote by Henry Wessel in Photography After Frank, a collection of essays by Philip Gefter:


"Part of it has to do with the discipline of being actively receptive. At the core of this receptivity is a process that might be called soft eyes. It is a physical sensation. You are not looking for something. You are open, receptive. At some point you are in front of something that you cannot ignore."


Of course he's talking about the process of going for a walk with your camera and the state he needs to enter to take photographs. Well it sent shivers down my spine as that describes so articulately what I do. I've got a thing for hedges too!


Henry Wessel - Santa Barbara, 1977


Henry Wessel - San Francisco, 1972

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