I came across a great quote recently: "F/8 and be there." It's not a new quote and is attributed to the photojournalist Weegee. Apparently when asked how he takes such interesting pictures, Weegee was fond of saying "F/8 and be there." Oddly, this quote has brought with it some conjecture: "Why f/8?" some people ask. "Is there some mystical relationship between that aperture and not others?" "Why did Weegee not say "f/5.6 and be there or f/l6 and be there?" "Why is no shutter speed mentioned?" and so on.
Photographers are great ones for scrutinizing each other's camera gear, technique, film, chemicals, memory cards or whatever, in order to glean some morsel of information that we think might make us that little bit better. In doing so we often miss the most important point. If we take a step back from Weegee's quote we may find that the point has a lot more to do with the second half than the first: all technicalities aside, you've got to be out there doing it.
Weegee worked primarily at night - with flash. Speed is often the key in photojournalism and working with flash bulbs and, despite the name, a 4x5 Speed Graphic, having a seamless and speedy workflow is crucial to getting the shot. Simplicity is therefore the answer to a lot of potential problems. If indeed Weegee did stick pretty much to f/8, my opinion is it's because he found that f/8 gave him a good basis to work from and allowed him to be within the subject-to-flash distance he preferred. In other words, he found what worked best for his needs and perfected it. This is a critical point in photography - any type of photography.
Other photographers who had similar practices are well known. That other great photojournalist, Henri Cartier-Bresson, was apparently fond of using a shutter speed of 1/125 second and a 50mm lens. HCB liked to capture particular moments in time, what he termed 'the decisive moment'. A shutter speed of 1/125 second would give him that while also giving him a good range of apertures to work with for his usual subject matter in daylight (i.e. no flash). The 50mm lens gives a 'normal' perspective, similar to the human eye. Perhaps HCB wanted to capture exactly what he was seeing.
Ansel Adams, being a founding member of Group f/64, wanted, as the name of the group would indicate, as much in sharp focus as possible. To do so, Adams and others working in the 'straight' style, use the smallest f/stops on their lenses to attain the maximum depth of field. Edward Weston, another founding member of Group f/64, even once made a smaller aperture for one of his lenses that didn't stop down far enough (if my recollection of his 'Daybooks' is correct). Using cumbersome 8x10 view cameras and heavy tripods to support them, photographers like Adams and Weston found sharpness and a full tonal scale as the best way of realising their vision.
Interestingly, Edward Weston's son Brett, was never one to talk too much about art and technique, he was too busy out there doing it, or perhaps I should say, too busy 'being there'. This brings me back to my point; the greatest technical aptitude isn't worth a damn if you're not out there actually doing it.
Weegee simply found a method that worked for him; the important part was he was there. Adams and Edward and Brett Weston found what worked best for them individually and developed that. Weston's other son, Cole, who never did anything that remarkable with black and white - other than printing - for which he was a master, found his form, and how, when he started using the colour film Kodak sent his old man. Cole Weston became a wonderful and well-renowned color photographer, again, finding what worked best for him.
The photographic historian Nancy Newhall once said of Henri Cartier-Bresson, "He puts on his Leica as another man would put on his coat." It sounds like HCB spent a great deal of time 'being there'. So the moral of this little ditty is simply to get out and take some pictures, find what works for you, develop your style and keep at it. Perhaps we could adapt the quote to "whatever works best for you, and be there".
Matthew Smeal is a photographer and journalist, and occasional photojournalist, from Sydney, Australia. Please visit his website at http://www.matthewsmeal.com and blog at http://matthewsmeal.blogspot.com
