When looking at Garry Winogrand’s work, the first thing that comes to mind is energy. Although some are more serene than others, most of his photographs are very lively and dramatic and at times even humorous. What Winogrand essentially managed to do is change documentary and add his own twist to it, as all photographers do he made it his own -- showing a different side to the American way of life during the 30’s and the 50’s in New York. In a city that was already thriving with city life and being home to many photographers that are household names today, a small circle of photographers (including but not limited to Diane Arbus, Robert Frank and Walker Evans) Winogrand attempted to not conform to the rules that documentary photography dictated at that time and instead, much like the Impressionist painters of the 19th century, branched out to find their own style.
As many writers have described him, Garry Winogrand was an extreme prolific shooter. There are numerous accounts of him almost preying on his subjects as if he was hunting them down, even though as all other photographers who have experienced working on the street, he knew that the best method was to stand and wait for those “moments” to come to him (something he no doubt picked up from Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work). At the time of his death about 2,500 rolls of undeveloped film, 6,500 rolls of developed but not proofed exposures, and contact sheets made from about 3,000 rolls were discovered. Winogrand was a strong believer in constantly releasing the shutter. It is inevitable that when going at such a fast pace and not having time to position everything exactly the way you want it, not every shot is going to turn out --therefore it makes sense to get as many frames as you can in one session in order to have a bigger selection to choose from. The more time you spend looking or thinking about the opportune scene, the more likely you will miss it. That doesn’t go without saying, however, that Winogrand would have most likely already had the photograph in his mind before he was done taking it. Even though he never got to see a lot of his own work that he did in his lifetime, and had so many photographs that he himself didn’t know what to do with, he knew which shots came out the way he wanted, and which ones didn’t.
As all other documentary photographers, Winogrand was a strong believer in getting the shot in camera, he refused to crop his work because that made him feel as though the shot wasn’t good enough the first time around. He encouraged many of his students to push themselves to get closer to their subjects, and to not shoot from the hip. Being a “street photographer” comes with a certain level of harassment, and rejection seeing as how not everyone wants to have their picture taken -- even so, a simple smile and a nod goes a long way to let passersby know that you have good intentions. A unique tradition of sorts that Winogrand had for himself, was that he intentionally left his film undeveloped for long periods of time after he shot the roll. He is quoted as saying that looking at his work right after coming back from photographing it made him too biased and emotionally attached, searching only for photographs that made him have fond memories. Therefore seeing them much later when he had little recollection of that day in particular was a good editing tactic. He became one with his environment when he was out on the street, but then took a step back to detach and look at these captured moments in time in a new light.
Researching Garry Winogrand and looking deeper into his work has only made me more inspired and impressed by everything that he managed to accomplish. He taught people not to be afraid and to be passionate about what you do for a living, to be kind to strangers and to draw inspiration from others. Photography is a competitive field, especially in this age when anyone can snap a picture with their smartphone and send it to the press or edit it to look nice -- but as healthy as it is to be independent, it is just as important to be able to be able to work as a team to accomplish the greater good. Probably the very first photograph I ever saw of his, that I am still unsure of the context of is an untitled print of a man who appears to be falling or doing a flip in air. The shot perfectly captures him upside down with a cigarette in his mouth while onlookers stand by. It is so different from anything I had ever seen before, and even though I have no clue what lead up to this moment or what happened after, it makes me feel as though I am there. That is one thing that I appreciate about Winogrand’s photographs, is also the blatant message that life shouldn’t always be taken too seriously.