I’m not sure what my fascination is with this particular image? It might be the moment, it could quite likely be the woman in this in this image? It’s another of those images taken on the turn and in the spur of the moment.

I was out on a walkabout along Hong Kong’s Flower Market street in the build up to the Chinese New Year. This is usually a nice time to be out and about doing street photography – as in crowds of people out and about doing their thing and have little regard for a stranger taking pictures.

This was one such occasion. With the camera to my eye, I was looking over and trying to frame the scene and waiting for a “moment” at this particular flower stall. This lady came into view, surveyed what was there and then, she reached out for the flowers that were there. This was that moment and, that was this picture.

This image reminds me a little of Robert Doisneau’s the kiss image. For many years admired the spontaneity that image and the moment it captured, that is, until it came to everyone’s notice that that particular image might have been staged. I guess that, for all intents and purposes, this image could have been staged as well. But, it wasn’t. I don’t even know the lady and I didn’t bother to stop her after the image was taken. The main reason, I didn’t know what I had on film until after it was processed – a limitation in that there is no instant feedback. Had I been using digital at the time, perhaps I could have shown the lady what I had taken and negotiated something from there. Still, this image is one of those magic moments.
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TECHNICAL NOTES: This image was taken using a Canon EOS-1v and a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens. I may have been using Kodak’s EPR at the time. The original transparency was scanned using an Imicon flatbed scanner.
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This and other similar images can be now be found over at my image archive at Photoshelter.
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Rogan is currently based in Hong Kong where he undertakes photography assignments and commissions for corporate, design and editorial clients. Rogan specialises in Arcitectural, Event and Portrait photography.
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