I've been in a creative rut for a while. Yes, I've been shooting, and my camera comes with me every where I go. I'm currently working on a long term project around family, we'll see where that goes. But just when I thought I'd given up on street photography, the streets called me back.

To help jump start my creativity and provide some structure to my photography this summer I decided to go back to school. Well, taking a street photography class to be exact. I enrolled in a seven week course at the Photographic Center Northwest. The course is titled "Street Photography History, Concept and Techniques" and is described as:

“This introduction and survey-level course is intended to provide students a foundation in which to develop their appreciation of street photography and their experience as a street photographer. This is not intended to be an advanced or project-type course. We will examine the history, influences and theory of street photography as it relates to the broader photographic world. The course will consist of lecture and field work intended to help students focus on their own interests and experience on the street. Through lectures and demonstrations students will be exposed to a variety of street photographers, styles and social/political agendas that are inherent to this type of photography. We will be looking for concepts that are consistent across photographers as well as aspects that set each individual apart.”

My first day of class was earlier this week, the students seem engaged. We'll see, this could be fun. I'll be blogging about the class and sharing notes and thoughts here.

Class Overview

Field work
Critique
Create body of work

Shooting on location

7/10 Waterfront / Market
7/24 Ballard (meet in front of Majestic Theatre)

Street photography is

social and political
documentary in its approach
about us as a collective culture and society
longs for a desire to stay connected
is the democratization of the work
allows us to help better understand relationships

Significant versus Non-Significant

Looking for a moment
Street photography often compared to jazz
Powers of observation
Object
Sense of time
Often about place
Moment of Gesture

Sense of connection between actors, stage, gesture

What Makes Street Photography Interesting

Light
Gesture
Color tone
Relationships of objects
Lines, texture, space
Feeling and emotion
People (duh)
Place (needs to be more than just a picture of a place, what’s the relationship?)
Scout a location / select background: WAIT FOR SOME SHIT TO HAPPEN

Photographers to research

Jay Maisel
André Kertész

Spend time with your photographs (good and bad)
Must practice and work on atunement

Why am I interested in street photography?

Handling confrontation

Be nice
How you respond is important
“Photography is already predatory in nature” Susanne Sontage
Learn to frame a little off center

ASSIGNMENT #1

Find a single location on the street and don’t move from that spot for at least an hour and photograph.
Bring 6-10 images of the new work for review from single location project

Life rewards patience

- Find location
- Build composition
- Make photo

Back to the streets?