One senses that unlike a sixties reading would have made of it, this is not, simplistically (but conveniently) activism vs silent majority. The guys in the bags will probably work to work at some point, possibly dressed in suits, and the biz types will also express their views and choices in their own ways, or even for one or two, end up washed off on the sidewalk (this is NY after all), looking like protesters, but homeless.

The most striking aspect of this picture is actually, its normalcy, its normality to someone (me) who has been living here for 30 years. In that acceptance, this is what can make it quite different from other places in the world, including Europe.

They are the same people (implied of course in the now famous “one size fits all” blanket labelling of 99%).

Even more, where decades ago, we’d have seen indifference hiding discomfort in the stance of the “biz” types, I see their seeming non-involvement, busy-to-get-to-work strides, as acquiescing, or merely acknowledgement without fuss.

thanks Andy for the letter…just when i think mentoring is too damned hard, i get a letter like this…

let me add to all of this for those of you who are interested in process..which is sort of going to be our main topic the next few weeks… Andy is the perfect combo of good listener, very hard worker, and astute observer…what he did here was pretty straightforward photojournalism of a very specific event, yet what i found most powerful about this particular photograph was just how symbolic it was overall..how it reflected modern biz culture layered into the less advantaged or the less involved…so even without the Occupy Wall Street banner, it is quite simply a strong image coming at it from several directions…in other words, perhaps more correctly put, this picture transcends the event it represents…

cheers, david

Just out of interest: I can’t see a credit – did you get one?

Jason

Mike.

Sorry if any of those questions are out of line. I don’t think so, but one can never be sure. My professional interest is piqued by the clues you’ve dropped.

ADMIN…can you move me…?:)

vision is not enough…your heart,your soul has to be there…
I know,you are gonna say…that the old greek civilian is doing the blah,blah again…
BUT hey…

THE UNIVERSE is working…!!!

ANDY and ALL of YOU…Ouzo and olives on me today…:)good morning from beautiful Greece…
EVA wake up…

THOMAS…you sing…I am trying to do some skype sessions…hmm,do I need to load something&^%$@)(WTF)

VIVAAA BURN…………….I DO LOVE U ALLLLLL…and I will be back

P.S where is JIM?…Dialog posts are too fast for me:)))))))))))))))))))))

Isn’t it funny that a lesson on a technique of form led to this? Content and Form drives the import of the photograph, with arguably content taking the better half. So often here on BURN we analyze the content of essays to death, but pay much less attention to the form and technique behind the making of the images.

It’s wonderful that Andy’s experience in the workshop demonstrates that Form can actually drive Content. That it has led to such wide recognition is a lesson for us all.