Remembering

I feel the need to elaborate on this photograph. Academy Award winner Bill Guttentag came to Oregon State to talk about, among other things, his work. He was up on a small stage in an auditorium. I just came from a basketball game and happened to have a 300mm lens. He turned the house lights off when showing some of his work; the remainging light was perfect. This particular photo was taken at ISO 1600, f/2.8, at 1/20. It was so dark I couldn’t see enough to focus. I think the content of the film coupled with Guttentag’s expression and the solemn blue tones make the image powerful, despite the fact that it isn’t sharp. (There is no cropping on this shot.)
Academy Award winner Bill Guttentag leans against a wall while showing clips his film “Nanking,” which documents the rape of the Chinese village of Nanking by the Japanese Army in 1937.