‘Perception is strong and sight weak.’
Those words were penned by Miyamoto Musashi in 1645 in his treatise on battle strategy, A Book of Five Rings. Widely considered to be one of Japan’s greatest swordsmen, Musashi had felled 60 opponents in duels by age 30. He then retired to a life of painting and philosophy. His book has been widely adapted to business and other endeavors, including medicine. It seems particularly applicable to photography.
As our society slowly emerges from the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been slowly recovering from my rotator cuff surgery. I have begun dancing again, trying to lose those COVID pounds that keep me from wearing my dance pants. Daytime temperatures in the Twin Cities recently crossed into the 70s, offering a glimpse of spring. I arranged a portrait session with Grace Peterson, one of my dance instructors, at the beautiful Van Dusen Mansion in Minneapolis. The shoot went well and we are going back soon for another session. The site has special significance to me. The last time I was in the building, it was being cleaned out by court-appointed receivers assigned to pick over the remains of a massive Ponzi scheme that had been run from site. My reporting was at least partly responsible for demise of the scheme and the ultimate conviction of its organizers. Seeing the Van Dusen restored as an event center was especially satisfying. Other good things have been happening on the photographic front as well. I was part of a members’ show at the Praxis Photo Arts Center in Minneapolis, and the Star Tribune just hired me to contribute photos and an article on ballroom dance to its upcoming spring magazine. I also have arranged to sell portraits and “personal photographer” services at the Savannah Dance Classic in Georgia in June, where I also plan to be competing with Grace Peterson.
All signs point to recovery. And yet, a cautionary note. I was scrolling through YouTube videos this morning and tripped across one about Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The instructor in the video is a successful judo player who demonstrates ways to get out of a particularly nettlesome position called the “closed guard.” The specifics are not important here. But his message is: Be careful when executing these moves, because there is no way out without risk. Don’t be tempted to try to recover to an attack position before you’re completely free of the closed guard, or you could end up losing. My grandmother might say, don’t put the cart before the horse.
Timing, as we know in photography and in life, is everything.
I have been fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, but I am not taking unnecessary risks. I sanitize my gear, regularly wash my hands and still wear a face mask when photographing models. Of course, they are not wearing masks because of the nature of photography. The important thing is to minimize risk where possible. The time will come when these precautions won’t be required, but we’re not there yet.
Which brings me back to Musashi and the quote I cited in the headline. He continues:
“In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things. It is important strategy to know an enemy’s sword and not to be distracted by insignificant movements of his sword. You must study this. The gaze is the same for single combat and for large-scale strategy.
“It is necessary in strategy to be able to look to both sides without moving the eyeballs. You cannot master this ability quickly. Learn what is written here; use this gaze in everyday life and do not vary it whatever happens.”
A photographer trains the eye to see everything in the frame and to anticipate when more space will be needed for final production, such as mounting a canvas print on a wrap-around frame. We look for composition — the broad view — as well as focus — the narrow view. We give direction yet watch for spontaneity within the structure. If we’re any good at all, we fail sometimes. We push our skills, we experiment with our vision. But we make sure we get the shot before packing our gear away.
So I encourage those of you who can to get the shot. COVID-19 is a fearsome enemy. And we still have images to make.
