Siesta Key Beach. Flag
“There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera.”
— Henri Cartier-Bresson
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I’m at Siesta Key, relaxing on a beach chair under an umbrella. I lazily raise my camera to photograph a young couple pushing strollers when suddenly a man bearing a huge flag comes streaking in the opposite direction. The scene is rudely transformed from a pleasant family outing into a political rally. In a fraction of a second, I jerk to attention and photograph him before he runs out of the picture.
Cartier-Bresson’s “creative fraction of a second” can be roughly measured in this photograph. I first saw the runner behind the woman, and I snapped the photo when he was behind the man. The distance between them is about 10 feet. He was jogging about 6 mph. Simultaneously, they were walking in the opposite direction at about 1 mph, so his net speed was 5 miles an hour. There are 5280 feet in a mile, so he would cover 26400 feet in an hour. Here he covered 10 feet. By my calculation, it took 1/26400 of an hour (3600 seconds) = 1.24 seconds to see, decide, compose, and photograph. The creative part would have occupied only a fraction of this time.
Fun exercise that this might be, I would still rather not have squandered 1.36 seconds on an over-zealous, flag-bearing nationalist. Was he simply a passionate veteran who loves his country? Possibly, but not probably. Common things occur commonly, after all. Here in Florida, as it was in DC during the Capital riots, the flag is being flaunted almost as a weapon of war. In the past, the beach was a haven from extremist politics. Sadly, no more.
My late father-in-law used to remind us that all things change, and this too will pass. He was a disabled veteran of WWII, proud of his service to this country and he would fly the flag every Independence Day, respectfully, humbly, and unobtrusively. He was a true patriot.
Here’s to you, Sam.
