Henry Wessel shot in California from 1970 onwards and this image from 1977 struck me when I first saw it a few years ago for several reasons, it is carefully created compositionally in a way that draws you in and then keeps your eye framed in the middle, the standing man is caught by the sunlight against a single strip of shadow on the far wall and his own shadow points directly towards the strong vertical of the tree in the middle of the shot which in turn stops the eye, denying you any distant horizon or way out. Also captured in this closed space like a wired cage at the zoo is a flock of birds that seem also to be looking for a way out...although in flight they seem to be static, going knowhere. What I like most is the strange relationship between the Hitchcockian tension of the flock of birds and the casual demeanor of the man who is just standing, hands in pockets, as if he is as bemused by the birds apparent panic as we are. Despite all of this activity and careful framing the picture still has the easy feeling of a casually glanced snap which is certainly a charcteristic of my favorite street photographs. I wish I had taken this photograph.

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