On Intent in the Photographic Gesture: Reflections on a Conscious Act of Shooting

Today, I wanted to talk about a topic that’s been on my mind since a conversation with some collectors a few days ago: the question of intention in the photographer’s gesture.

Let me be clear right away: I’m not talking about intention in the broad sense the kind that, to me, often distinguishes an amateur from a professional photographer. You know, the reason why we press the shutter, what we want to say or show, etc. No, this time, I want to talk about a different kind of intention. Something almost... metaphysical.

The art of Kyudo, traditional Japanese archery

Henri Cartier-Bresson often compared photography to archery. But not just any kind — he referred specifically to the Japanese Zen tradition. In Kyudo, these archers don’t really aim at the target. In fact, they don’t even think about it. What matters to them is the gesture itself. Everything lies in the awareness of the body, the perfection of the movement. And when the arrow hits the target, it’s almost secondary, the natural result of a well-executed gesture.

And so, during that conversation, we ended up talking about this idea of a conscious gesture. I explained that sometimes I find myself standing next to a family member, both of us holding a camera, facing the same landscape, at the same moment, just a few centimeters apart… and yet, our photos have nothing in common.

And here, I’m not talking about technique, framing, resolution, or anything like that I’m talking about soul. Theirs might be okay, decent at best, but mine has that little something extra.

And then the collector picked up on that idea and said it was probably because most people take photos to preserve a memory, whereas I, when I press the shutter, do it to let something emerge.

And it’s true, I often describe my work this way. When I’m facing a landscape, I’m not trying to photograph what I see, but rather what I feel. I frame without thinking too much, I shoot without trying to succeed, I aim without aiming… It’s a fluid gesture, almost instinctive, but deeply conscious. As if everything happens on that delicate line between control and letting go.

I warned you, we’re flirting with the metaphysical!

Since that conversation, the idea has been lingering in my mind. Because even though I’m not particularly “spiritual” by nature, I realize this notion of a conscious gesture shows up in so many other fields. Take high-level sports, for example, athletes repeat the same movement hundreds of times until they can perform it with insane precision, without even thinking about it.

So there you go, that was my thought of the day. I’m not claiming to have it all figured out, but I’m starting to think that this concept of self-conditioning, the kind you find in those personal development books, might not be such nonsense after all.