Contact Lens
By Gary Joseph Cohen
9 Nov 2008
I wear my camera as a contact lens, correcting for nearsightedness, tunnel vision, color blindness and a myriad of other personal affects that distort my perception and understanding of the world. Moreover, I think of "contact" in the context of intimacy, and in the process of photographing a stranger on the street, I briefly invite the life of the parenthetical other to overlay my own while preserving his/her preferred level of transparency or opacity. During this brief encounter between photographer and photographed, usually lasting no longer than a minute or two, the shutter blinks and for a moment I am in love and life is in focus. I no longer care to think of the lens as a light gathering device, but rather as a mindset, a frame with porous borders, a glass marbled with multiple fractures and contradictions. My own otherness falls into perspective, leaving me no choice but to relinquish the notion that I am a fixed point upon which everyone else is valued or devalued. No longer the center of the universe, I focus my gaze on the fluidity of being, and rush headfirst into the present tense.
14 responses
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Jessica Hardin said (9 Nov 2008):
All of these shots are superb, your view of the subject along with the tonal range gives these an almost surreal quality which I really like. They all give me the feeling of being right there talking to each of these people. Bravo! Love the essay, my vote!
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Penny Nannini gave props (10 Nov 2008):
my vote!
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Karolus Naga gave props (10 Nov 2008):
awesome ...
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Robert J Ross gave props (10 Nov 2008):
Great images, great essay. Well done.
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Jim Hart gave props (11 Nov 2008):
Yes, this story should be published in JPG.
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Mario Scattoloni gave props (13 Nov 2008):
True poetry Gary. U know your great so I won´t tell U so...I like the humanity of your working process & images U create.
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michael hughes said (16 Nov 2008):
Great work
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Alexis Gerard gave props (28 Nov 2008):
This is photography of the highest order, extending and updating the tradition of greats like Diane Arbus. JPG owes it to itself and its readers to publish this.
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Rebecca Kinzie Bastian gave props (5 Dec 2008):
Yes, please JPG, publish this. It is so beautifully photographed and so eloquently expressed. I have never been so impressed by the written portion of a photo essay as I am by this.
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Richelle Forsey gave props (8 Dec 2008):
terrific photo essay!
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Laura Hartley said (15 Mar 2009):
This is utterly superb. Your writing is remarkable, evocative, poetic, meaningful, articulate. These images? CLASSIC. Museum quality. Masterful. STUPENDOUS effort here, and thoroughly perfect. Voted YES. If there is a God, this will be published. These are among the most suprioer images I have seen on this site. YOu should join redbubble, as well.
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Karen Zimmerman gave props (23 Apr 2009):
This would be a fantastic piece for JPG mag. Voted!
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Zerina Phillip gave props (22 Aug 2009):
Very good essay and photos.
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Joy B gave props (21 Sep 2009):
You are a true talent my friend!
