A friend e-mailed me the other day saying there was an interesting discussion about the quote “f8 & Be There” supposedly credited to Weegee, a.k.a. Arthur Fellig (June 12, 1899 – December 26, 1968) going around on the Internet. I have my interpretation of this quote, and it requires little thought on my part to understand what it means to me. But I guess in this modern day computerized world of digital everything, so called “photographers” have lost a connection to the basic craft of dedication, exposure and artistic vision?
The world we live in today is far too complicated. Made so by all of the choices and distractions we face every waking hour. One of the first real realizations of maturity is to realize you can never Have It All! You will never live long enough! You have to make choices as to what is important. You have to pick and choose what you really want and then stick to it. You cannot be an astronaut, a brain surgeon, a rock star, a movie star, and on, and on. . . Trying to Have It All, will only lead you to ruin. Having it all is an advertiser’s myth, created to sell you soap, cars, windows, insulation, ocean cruises, and imagined happiness.
So, what does “f8 & Be There” mean to me? Pretty simple. . . for me it is a term pertaining to photography and simply means if you want to be a photographer you have to make the decision a conscious choice.