For forty years, celebrated photojournalist Ed Kashi has delivered the world’s stories through images that both imply, as well as directly show, humanistic challenges and joys. Abandoned Moments: A Love Letter to Photography (Kehrer Verlag, March 2022) is a window into Kashi’s unique voice and craft, and presents glimpses of ordinary life, as well as extraordinary events, struggles, and triumphs.
A tenet of journalism is to remove one’s own voice, as much as is possible, from the narrative. But a photographer’s impulses are also inextricably linked to and driven by who they are. This cues how they see, what they notice, and how they compose. The book’s publisher notes, “When geometry, mood, and possibility unite to unintentionally create something new, the magical and fictional qualities of still photography capture the unplanned essence of existence. In contrast to his journalistic approach of deep personal connection and keen observation, this work is about capturing the untamed energy of a moment with abandon.”
In the essay she contributed for this book, “On Recollection,” photography scholar and curator Alison Nordström reflects on this intersection between the intentional and unplanned elements within Kashi’s work.
“By returning to his archive, long after the images have lost their primary relevance and immediate use, he re-inserts his voice, heart, and intellect into a world of pictures from which he had once intentionally concealed his presence.”
In Nordström’s consideration of how the book is structured and curated, she points out that in part this book is a reflection of the place Kashi is at in his career. “Recalled, reconsidered, and recontextualized, these images serve as a point of departure for the photographer’s retrospective meditations on his work.”
Kashi shares that this book is a 40-year “labor of love.” He speaks to the evolution of his style and methodology, revealing that, “Over time, I developed a more personal approach, one that is instinctive and without premeditation. I often shoot from the hip. Sometimes it is simply a matter of letting my camera absorb light in hopes that the intensity and immediacy of life-simply-being-lived has been devoured in all its fullness. It is precisely the uncontrolled circumstances sparking these images that gives them their vitality and surprise.”
The images selected span the decades of his work and were taken around the world. Kashi speaks to the ‘abandoned moment’ theme cued by the title, stating that, “Abandoned moments demonstrate a different kind of precision. They are shaped by serendipity and instinct, rather than objectivity and intellect. They are free to be less controlled but for that very reason they may be more certain and more certainly true…”
