Vice.com recently posted this great video of famed street photographer Bruce Gilden critiquing photographs that were submitted specifically for this purpose. The result is pretty wonderful, which is a little unexpected for me. I’m not a big fan of Bruce Gilden’s photography and even less of the way he does photography. But his critique of photography seems to coincide with my own views to a remarkable degree. In other words, I don’t care for the photographs he makes but I love how he talks and thinks about photography. He’s the complete inverse of Henri Cartier-Bresson, in my book.
What’s more, after viewing the video I think I like Bruce Gilden. This is something I wouldn’t have expected previously. You couldn’t say he really pulls his punches, but you can detect specific moments when he seems to remind himself there’s a real human being behind the photographs he’s dismissing as not very good. He criticizes the photograph, not the photographer. I’m surprised to find myself thinking this is a guy I’d quite like to meet and hang out and talk with for a while – an indication that the people who made this video did their job well.
Good marks all round.
