Steven Smith (asker) Nov 23, 2018:

That is pretty much how I understood it, although I think your translation of the passage is better than my version (already submitted to the client).

Marc Brunet Nov 23, 2018:

Zen and the Art of Breathtaking Photography.... Takeda-san's interpretation of this photographer's know-how on how best to mirror a transient encounter with some object is fascinating and typically Japanese IMHO; and this, due to two main factors :
One is the importance of Intensity attached to a locked on 'confrontation' happenstance between 'perceiver' and 'perceived', the authenticity of which manifests itself as a sensation of tension from perceiver to perceived, which usually climaxes in a few instants.
The other is the value attached to the Zen archer approach in two domains: target AND device:
a) achieving total target perception through an intuitive mind-cleared merger of, (if not an actual ID switch from/to,) aim-taking self and (moving) target;
b) achieving the one-ness of archer-bow identity, whereby the photographer entrusts the device mechanism sensitivity with the actual micro-timing and release of the shutter in response to his 'reactive' hold of the camera.

Marc Brunet Nov 23, 2018:

Q: as I see it....is that your drift as well? "For me, the whole pleasure of taking a photo is to interpose the optic mechanism of the camera between the object and myself and taste the feeling of tension that arises as a result. So, my triggering the shutter has nothing to do with an overwhelming urge, nor is that action a means to capture one kind of perception.
What I am endeavouring to do when pressing the button under that situation of tension between the object and myself is, as much as possible, to render that tension through the very mechanism the camera is capable of."