Friday, October 15, 2010

October 2010: George deSaint-Rat


George deSaint-Rat was born in France, at Chateau-Thierry, 40 miles from Paris. He was brought to America as a 5 year old. His first memory of America was seeing New York City from their ship. He says, “I couldn’t believe it...I was blown away…can you imagine coming from a little town in France and then seeing the lights of New York City at night, from the harbor? It was amazing!”

He has worked primarily as a photojournalist and editorial photographer for local non profit organizations. To gain an understanding of Georges’ photojournalism, one must look back to see the difference between what photojournalists produced ‘back in the day’ and what is produced currently.

Archetypal photojournalism of the day included Tri-X 35mm film, usually ‘pushed’ with processing, shots taken with available light under poor circumstances, and a raw, gritty feel to the end product. It wasn’t done to achieve a ‘look’. Many times it was the only way to get usable images for publication. The tools of today can imitate any ‘look’. What they can’t do is imitate the content. They can’t imitate ‘the decisive moment’, or the reality of ‘being there in the moment’ observing and recording with an artists’ sensibility the events of our time.

As a photojournalist, Georges’ work demonstrates this understanding. He wants to be right in the middle of his subjects, he closes in on them as he becomes engrossed in the process. He uses very wide angle lenses to get close to his subject matter; closer than many people feel comfortable about. After breaking through the invisible shell we each carry around us, he uses this proximity to provide an intimate touch to his photographic vision.

Current photojournalism is different. It has been changed from observational reportage to something resembling event photography.

His work is most influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andre Kertesz, and documentary photography done from the 1930s through the 1960s.