How I Became a Big Loafer
In essence every photographer worth his name is in the business of loafing or should be.
Henri Cartier Bresson one of the greatest in the profession was into it too. He was of course French and as is their wont the French elevate everything into high art. So in French a loafer is called flaneur; a far more sophisticated, respectable terminology. Balzac, another Frenchman, described the flaneur as the sort of person who is a connoisseur of the smells, the sounds, the drama of the streets he walks in and he described the activity of loafing as being a sort of ‘’gastronomy of the eye’’.
Kanchendzonga expedition- Second Puja at Base Camp (Day 29)
However I was so busy capturing them in my camera that I forgot to observe. Today I realise how photography can often be done at the expense of observation. I had even read somewhere that a man can at best work on one of his faculties at one time. Engaging oneself in more than one does justice to neither. I must admit that while I try to keep my angle right my focus and exposure right I often miss out on the human details that can be observed in stillness of mind and contemplation.