Hairdressers in the sun, 1966 by Robert Doisneau
"Yes, the expectation of a miracle. It’s very
childish, but at the same time it’s almost like an act of faith. We find
a backdrop and wait for the miracle. I remember a backdrop that never
worked for me, possibly because I didn’t wait long enough, or didn’t
return to it often enough. In the foreground you can see the steps of
Saint Paul’s church, the background is a perfect faubourg, as you
imagine them from literature or movies. I frame it in my viewfinder,
from rue de Turenne to a shop called Le Gant d’Or, and wait there for an
hour, sometimes two, thinking, “my God, something is bound to happen”. I
imagine events I would like to photograph, one wilder than the other.
But nothing happens, nothing. Or if it does – bang – it’s so different
from what I expected that I miss it. The miracle did take place, but I
wasted it, because I didn’t pay the right kind of attention. When you
are tired, you become unable to react, your emotion is no longer
available."
- Robert Doisneau
Image source here