KQED Spark - Henry Wessel

KQED

2 Aug 201008:11

Summary

TLDRThis video features Henry Wessel, a renowned photographer who has been documenting California and the American West for over 30 years. Known for his minimalist, black-and-white images, Wessel captures ordinary scenes with extraordinary detail, often focusing on suburban landscapes and everyday moments. His love for natural light and spontaneous photography is emphasized, as he trusts his instinct to shoot whatever catches his eye. Wessel shares insights into his process, from the simplicity of taking photos to the deep connection he feels with the world through his lens. His work reflects a spiritual appreciation for the interconnectedness of everything.

Takeaways

📸 **Two Variables in Photography**: Henry Wessel emphasizes that in still photography, the only variables are where you stand and when you press the shutter.
🏙️ **Documenting California**: Wessel has spent over 30 years documenting California and the American West, with SF MOMA showcasing over 80 of his black and white photographs.
🌅 **The Power of Light**: Wessel was particularly drawn to California because of the amazing light, which he first experienced when he moved from Rochester, New York.
🏡 **Finding Beauty in the Ordinary**: He often photographs ordinary scenes like parking lots and suburban houses, turning the mundane into something poetic.
📷 **Capturing the Moment**: Wessel believes that everything can make a good photograph and that it's possible to capture beauty anywhere.
🌲 **Landscape and Humanity**: Coming of age in the 1970s, Wessel was part of a generation of photographers who redefined landscape photography to include human interaction with the environment.
📍 **Photography as a Natural Occurrence**: Wessel doesn't go out to take pictures; he takes them where he happens to be, like when he was waiting at a muffler shop.
🌆 **Connection to Place**: When Wessel moved to California, he was reminded of his childhood in New Jersey, finding similarities in the landscape and the small-town feel of Point Richmond.
🚶‍♂️ **Walking and Observing**: He enjoys taking long walks, especially during early morning or late afternoon, with his camera always at hand.
🖼️ **Craftsmanship and Process**: Wessel is meticulous about his craft, focusing on duplicating the light of the physical world in his prints.
🗃️ **Reviewing and Selecting**: He stores his contact sheets for years before revisiting them, often finding that only a few out of many exposures are truly interesting.

Q & A

What are the two variables that Henry Wessel mentions as essential in still photography?
-Henry Wessel mentions that in still photography, the two variables are where you stand and when you press the shutter.
How long has Henry Wessel been documenting California and the American West?
-Henry Wessel has been documenting California and the American West for over 30 years.
What type of photographs does Henry Wessel's retrospective at SF MOMA feature?
-The retrospective at SF MOMA features over 80 mostly black and white photographs.
What aspect of California's climate attracted Henry Wessel to move there?
-Henry Wessel was attracted to California by the good weather, which allowed him to shoot outdoors year-round.
What was Henry Wessel's initial reaction to the light in California upon his arrival?
-Upon his arrival in California, Henry Wessel was struck by the sharpness of the light and felt like he was in paradise, wanting to photograph everything he saw.
What kind of ordinary scenes does Henry Wessel often photograph?
-Henry Wessel often photographs ordinary scenes such as parking lots, strip malls, and snapshots of suburban houses.
What generation of photographers did Henry Wessel come of age with, and how did they approach landscape photography?
-Henry Wessel came of age with a generation of photographers in the 1970s who started to think about what it meant to take a landscape photograph, focusing on how humans live within the landscape rather than just capturing grand landscapes like Ansel Adams.
What does Henry Wessel mean when he says he takes pictures where he is?
-When Henry Wessel says he takes pictures where he is, he means that he doesn't go out specifically to take pictures; instead, he takes them in his everyday life, such as while waiting at a muffler shop.
What does Henry Wessel like to do when he's out taking pictures?
-When Henry Wessel is out taking pictures, he likes to clear his mind and let his eyes wander, not looking for anything in particular.
How does Henry Wessel describe the process of editing his photographs?
-Henry Wessel describes the process of editing his photographs as looking at the contact sheets after some time has passed to be free of the subjective experience of taking the picture, and then deciding if the photograph is interesting.
What does Henry Wessel consider his craft to be in terms of duplicating the physical world?
-Henry Wessel considers his craft to be duplicating the light that exists in the physical world, aiming for his prints to feel like the light that exists in the real world.
How does Henry Wessel view the process of taking still photographs?
-Henry Wessel views the process of taking still photographs as a way to order chaos, which he finds exciting and challenging.
What does Henry Wessel consider the spiritual aspect of photography to be?
-Henry Wessel considers the spiritual aspect of photography to be the coherence and interconnectedness of everything in the frame, which he finds joyous and miraculous.

Outlines

00:00

📸 The Simple Art of Photography

Henry Wessel, a renowned Bay Area photographer, explains the simplicity of photography, where the only two variables are the photographer's position and timing. For over 30 years, Wessel has captured California and the American West, primarily in black and white. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art honors his work with a retrospective, showcasing over 80 of his photographs. Wessel emphasizes that much of the world remains hidden from view until it is frozen in a still photograph, revealing details that are otherwise lost in the passage of time.

05:01

☀️ Discovering California's Light

Henry Wessel recounts his first experience arriving in California, attracted by its year-round outdoor shooting conditions and its mesmerizing light. Coming from freezing Rochester, New York, to the warm and vibrant Los Angeles, Wessel was struck by the clarity and sharpness of the California light. This experience ignited his passion to photograph everything around him. His work often focuses on mundane scenes such as parking lots and suburban homes, finding beauty and poetry in the everyday.

🏙️ Capturing the Everyday Landscape

Henry Wessel's photographic style deviates from traditional landscape photography, which was often associated with majestic, natural vistas like those of Ansel Adams. Wessel prefers to capture how people live within the landscape, focusing on the everyday scenes around him. He emphasizes the spontaneity of his work, explaining that he doesn't plan to take specific pictures; rather, he allows his surroundings to guide him, capturing moments that present themselves in the most ordinary of settings.

📷 The Camera and the Art of Seeing

Wessel describes his routine of carrying his camera during long walks, ready to capture whatever catches his eye. He shares his philosophy of trusting his instincts—if something grabs his attention, that alone is reason enough to take a photo. He believes that the physical world is chaotic, and photography provides a way to impose order on that chaos, creating moments of clarity amidst the unpredictability.

🛠️ Mastery of Craft and Film

Wessel takes pride in his craftsmanship, particularly in his use of film. He emphasizes the importance of technical precision—choosing the right aperture, shutter speed, and film. His goal is to create prints that faithfully capture the light and details of the physical world. Wessel's dedication to film photography makes him a 'photographer's photographer,' a master of a craft that fewer people today fully understand, as many have transitioned to digital mediums.

⏳ Letting Time Shape the Art

After processing his film, Wessel often waits years before revisiting his contact sheets. This distance allows him to evaluate the photographs without the bias of the emotions he felt when taking them. He is fascinated by how even a series of shots taken within seconds of each other can be completely different due to the constant flux of the world. This patient approach helps him find the few exceptional shots amidst many failures, with each photograph offering something new to learn.

🔄 The Endless Cycle of Work

Wessel's work process is ongoing, with large piles of prints accumulating in his studio. He acknowledges that only a small percentage of his photos are successful, yet he values every image for what it teaches him. His dedication to photography remains unwavering, and his willingness to learn from mistakes is a testament to his continuous pursuit of artistic growth.

🌍 Photography as a Spiritual Experience

For Wessel, photography is a deeply spiritual activity, even though it is grounded in the physical world. He describes the joy of recognizing the interconnectedness of all things in a photograph, when every element—left to right, top to bottom—seems to align perfectly. This rare moment of balance is what makes photography so fulfilling for him, capturing a fleeting sense of harmony in a chaotic world.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Still Photography

Still photography, as mentioned by Henry Wessel, involves capturing a moment in time with two variables: the photographer's position and the timing of the shutter press. This reflects the theme of freezing time and capturing fleeting moments, which is central to Wessel's photographic approach. His work emphasizes the beauty found in everyday scenes, making still photography a tool for revealing the hidden details of life.

💡Light

Light is a recurring theme in the video, highlighted as one of the main attractions for Henry Wessel in California. He describes the sharp, clear light as a key element that makes every object stand out. This concept is crucial to his style of photography, where the quality of light transforms ordinary scenes, such as parking lots and suburban houses, into poetic visual experiences.

💡Ordinary Scenes

Wessel is known for finding beauty in mundane or ordinary scenes like strip malls, suburban houses, and dirty dishes. This reflects his belief that any moment, no matter how trivial, can be worthy of a photograph. His work is about discovering the potential for art in everyday life, which redefines how we view the landscape and the world around us.

💡American West

The American West, particularly California, serves as the backdrop for much of Wessel's work. His photography documents the landscapes and human life within this region, capturing the blend of natural and urban environments. This focus shifts away from traditional glorified images, like those of Ansel Adams, to a more human-centered perspective, exploring how people live and interact with their surroundings.

💡Flux of Time

Wessel speaks of the 'flux of time' to describe how moments constantly pass by unnoticed. Still photography, in his view, has the ability to pause this flux and reveal details otherwise missed in the chaos of the present. This concept underscores the fleeting nature of life and the power of photography to make transient moments permanent.

💡Craftsmanship

Wessel's dedication to the craft of photography is emphasized throughout the video. He is described as a 'photographer's photographer,' a master of traditional techniques like film processing, printing, and understanding aperture and shutter speed. This craftsmanship is a dying art in the digital age, and Wessel's meticulous attention to detail sets him apart in his field.

💡Point Richmond

Point Richmond, a working-class town in California, is where Wessel settled after moving from the East Coast. Its resemblance to his New Jersey hometown, with its railway and hills, made it a comfortable place for him to live and photograph. This setting became integral to his work, as he often photographed the everyday scenes of life in this area, connecting it to his personal history.

💡Contact Sheets

Wessel uses contact sheets to review his photographs, often waiting years before looking at them. This delay allows him to distance himself from the emotional experience of taking the photo, ensuring he evaluates the image purely on its merit. The contact sheets help him to reflect on the slight changes in each image, showcasing how the world is in constant flux, even within seconds.

💡Chaos

Wessel views the present moment as chaotic, with elements constantly changing. Photography, for him, is a way of bringing order to this chaos, creating a sense of coherence and balance within a single frame. His desire to capture the fleeting, chaotic present is a driving force behind his work, where every photograph is an attempt to freeze and organize a slice of that chaos.

💡Spirituality

Although Wessel describes his photography as secular, he finds a deep sense of spirituality in the process. Capturing the interconnectedness and coherence of the physical world gives him a sense of balance and fulfillment. This connection to the world through photography transcends the ordinary, bringing a spiritual dimension to his work despite its focus on the mundane.

Highlights

Henry Wessel believes that in a still photograph, you only have two variables: where you stand and when you press the shutter.

Henry Wessel has been documenting California and the American West for over 30 years, with SF MOMA featuring a retrospective of his work.

Wessel emphasizes that the world is filled with incredible things, and he takes photographs when something catches his eye.

Henry was drawn to California not just for the weather but for the amazing light, which was especially vivid after his experience of cold winters in New York.

Wessel's work often focuses on ordinary scenes like parking lots, strip malls, and suburban houses, finding poetry in the mundane.

Wessel compares photography to ordering chaos, noting that the present moment is filled with disorder, and capturing it is a challenge.

He shoots quickly, understanding that the inspiration for a photograph could be gone in an instant.

Wessel uses film and processes hundreds of rolls each year, ensuring the prints duplicate the natural light and surfaces of the physical world.

He stores his contact sheets for years before reviewing them, allowing time to forget the emotional experience of taking the picture and focus on the image's quality.

Wessel recognizes that a series of photographs taken within seconds can look drastically different due to the constant flux of the world.

Although the majority of his photographs may not work, he believes they all have the potential to teach something.

Wessel explains that for him, photography is a spiritual experience, revealing the coherence and interconnectedness of the world.

Wessel’s early days in California, particularly in Point Richmond, reminded him of his upbringing in New Jersey, influencing his photographic approach.

He describes his camera as an essential tool for capturing moments as they happen, noting its simplicity and effectiveness.

Wessel doesn't plan his photographs but instead takes them as he moves through the world, capturing scenes as they naturally occur.