These are the dog days of summer, those days of 30 degree temperatures. For me the most comfortable place to be is inside, with the air conditioning running. So recently I picked up Jay Maisel's book "Light, Gesture & Color" to read again. Maisel has had a 60-year career as a photographer based in New York. In this collection he communicates the three most important aspects of street photography. To most of us, light and colour (Canadian spelling, thank you) are fairly straight forward. But what is implied by gesture? Maisel writes: "Gesture can reveal the essence and character of anything from a mountain range to a mayfly."

Gesture is easiest to first see in people photographs. I will present some of my people photos that I think reveal the essence of the subjects. These first images are of people who realized that I was photographing them.

M_15_0006Vernon Winter Carnival

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M_18_0009Winter Carnival parade P_15_0017Ontario Day 2015

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P_16_0107 P_17_0035

T_15_0110 T_16_0487Stefano T_16_0717

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T_07_0805Medieval Festival The next photos I would label as candids. In most cases the subject was unaware that he was being photographed. But gesture is still the essence of each image.

M_17_0157 M_16_0046Interior Provincial Exhibition June16-4 T_11_0129

T_11_0123Horse-drawn carriages in Residenzplatz T_11_0035Bride and groom, Old Town Square

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T_15_0023 T_14_0048 T_15_0026 T_15_0213

T_16_0051 T_15_0140

T_16_0420 T_16_0495 U_16_0043 T_12_0616 T_16_0778

Gesture reveals a part of the character of each of the subjects.

Now we just have to get out with our cameras and look for gesture, not only in people but in all other subjects. More on this in another blog.