'The Bike Trick' - Limited Edition 1 of 25 Photograph

This image is inspired by classical humanist images that began to appear in the ;30s and were popular mostly in magazines and newspapers worldwide. Impromptu photography was made possible by small, unobrutrusive cameras loaded with a variant of inexpensive movie film and framed often into 2:3 aspect ratio' captures. That shape of capture was the 'aspect ratio' popularized by the early Leica cameras from Wetzlar, Germany, which became the signature favorite of famed master of the impromptu, Henri Cartier Bresson, for whose images timing was often paramount and for whom the phrase 'the decisive moment' was coined (by his publisher). With advent of almost universal broadcast television, the newsreels, followed soon after by the pictorial magazines which had informed he public about current events and provided a view of the 20th C. all began a 'death spiral'. Henri Cartier-Bresson, the master who seemed to capture magic in all he photographed, felt the tectonic shift away from photography which had provided his livelihood, and provided s showcase for his superb, singular 'art'. The culprit was television which so undercut demand for his superrlative work that he found himself without the usual lineup of jobs, and in fact found himself virtually without work, as he commiserated to me one day in summer, 1969, all because of television stealing the image market. Cartier-Bresson had aspired to be a traditional artist, but in the '20s left the profession. Later, in the late '60s, he quit photography, and retired to pursue his painting, drawing and sculpture full time. As he left the photo scene, he gave me, then about 22, advice that changed my life. He told me that there were few opportunities left in photography in a changing world, and sensing I wanted to make 'important' work instead of just have a 'job' photographing, he advised me 'Shoot for yourself, John' and also advised me to abandon the coveted news photographed job at Associated Press, San Francisco I was to start later that afternoon. I followed his advice and quit, fully expecting. to find myself jobless the following day. AP, in one day, transformed me into a writer whose writing future was sealed with the first night's phenomenally successful story.. I wrote by instinct, without training or journalism school or even ever having written a story. Yet the first day's story went on front pages and front sections worldwide. If I had a knack for photography it seemed I also had a knack for writing news style. Cartier-Bresson was famous for being headstrong and cantankerous, especially when viewing work of new photographers. But his generous, timely advice to 'shoot for yourself, John' informed my whole life, as I avoided trying to make a living at photography, and even abandoned it for long periods. But I returned to it periodically with great, if temporary success, then, since 2004 to present photography has been a life's obsession. As a successful Silicon Valey CA attorney, I felt some work I did was seminal, and my often very inventive work on behalf of ordinary citizens often put a lifetime of dinner on their tables and a roof over the heads of those who when first seen no longer could pay for a McDonald's hamburger. Sometimes the poor even left my office a year or so later complaining about 'high taxes' from huge new income as they moved from poverty to plenty with recoveries I got for them. I took cases often turned down as worthless by others and literally collected on almost every case I took, working long, self-driven, exhaustive hours. But the 'hearse horse snickers as he carries a lawyer to his grave' says a famous quotation. If I won them money, many clients figured that was all they hired me for, and they got their money's worth, but seldom knew that for many very 'chancy' cases, almost no other attorney using traditional law practice techniques could have got them a recovery. I just did what was expected and got paid handsomely for major efforts and inventiveness, all almost obscured from other attorneys. i did not want want other attorneys to learn of huge,, mostly secret money-earning and highly inventive methods I used discover the 'hidden money' other attorneys passed by unknowingly that I was able to get awarded to my clients totalling millions. So I practiced with little fanfare and never talked to the press. I never tried cases, I just wrote long, elaborate, and convincing letters that proved my cases sufficiently that others paid without court litigation often for far greater than a jury would award. Because of attorney-client secrecy I can never tell of the beauty and 'high art of practice' in turning cases other attorneys turned down as 'garbage' into gold for my clients and me. With photography, I am free to showcase my work which ranges from the dead seriousness of poverty, war and revolution, through photographic character studies of gestures, to the plainly humorous, as here, Here, two workers at a world renowned photo printer in Hollywood pass their break. One brags to the other about his bicycle skills, the other scoffs, and this is the result, full of action. But now only does this scene tell a story, it also has at least to me, substantial artistic merit in its composition. Think 'triangles' and 'repetition' when examining the composition here and maybe even draw some straight lines to connect around the figures and see what you see. I look around and sometimes see 'magic' or just find that this or that photo I have taken of what I think was just 'interesting' or 'harmonious' may outlive me and be my epitaph. 'He reveled in humanity, and his images show it.' are words I hope one day will describe me. john

Photography:Black & White on Paper

Artist Produced Limited Edition of:1

Size:40 W x 26.6 H x 0.1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.