A Spectacular Interview and Short Aside

Andrew Kornylak interviewed Ed for his blog. I love this interview, because 1: it really gets down to Ed’s work, and how it’s developing the field, and 2: it brings up one of the first posts I wanted to write for this blog. Andrew presents this as his last question:

AK: The current trend of convergence between still and motion picture tools has encouraged a lot of photographers to start exploring video more and video shooters to become more interested in still photography. Certainly it is driven by the need to find new revenue streams, but what do you think this trend means for storytelling? For hard journalism?

I want you to read the interview and explore the rest of Andrew’s impressive site/work, so I’m not going to present Ed’s answer here, but I want to say a little something about this whole endeavor.

When I first came to Ed Kashi’s office I immediately thought of Eadweard Muybridge.

My understanding of photography is as follows. It stops the viewer and says something along the lines of, “Hey, stop. Look. This happened, and isn’t it beautiful? You missed it, but it’s ok, I saved it for you.” Not in a pretentious way, more as providing a service. The beauty of a moment has been documented.

A different beast all-together, Journalism covers recent developments, a series of events. Naturally, photojournalism has to do the same, and so a series of photographs must be taken. “This happened, and it was extraordinary. Then this happened because of the first, and it’s even more so. You missed it, but it’s ok…” That’s why the ‘tons’ of photographs must be taken. Typically the most poignant are the ones that are seen, and that’s when photojournalism meets art.

So, when contemplating Ed’s multi-media work, specifically the work discussed in Andrew Kornylak’s interview, Muybridge’s vision becomes so pertinent. He pioneered film by pushing the boundaries of photography, and across the board we’re seeing photography, and indeed all art, having to do the same. Ed revisits the flipbook style in a way, but still makes sure to stop the audience and realize that what they’re seeing is monumental. As exciting as film must have been when it was developed, I'm sure the future of photography will be very similar.