Can I get an AMEN!!!!???
Inspiration
Street Photography Workshop Pt. 2
This week in class we critiqued each others homework. The homework assignment was to find one spot and photograph it for an hour, and bring 6-10 images from that shoot. Essentially working the scene.
Here's what I shot:
Nothing really special here, but it was certainly the most time I've ever spent in one specific spot to photograph. I literally stood there for an hour making images. Here's some of the general critique I received along with my classmates from the assignment:
- Watch for distractions
- Experiment with crops if needed (really wasn't feeling this, crop is still a bad word for me).
- Pay attention to cutting off body parts
- Move around, work the scene
- Photo story versus photo essay
- Try to give your photograph a sense of place
- Look for the moment of gesture
- Balance and counter balance
- Seek pattern and repetition
This was the first formal critique of my work that I've ever received, and I found it beneficial. Let's be honest the Instagram comment of "dope photo" <insert thumbs up emoji> doesn't really benefit one, if you're actually trying to improve. With that said, what I'm really enjoying about the class so far is the time we spend actually looking, studying and analyzing the work of great street photographers. Keeping an eye toward layering, and space, looking for gesture etc. I've already found myself elevating my comments on social media commenting about layering, composition and juxtaposition. Way better than "dope photo" <insert thumbs up emoji>.
In this class we also selected a street photographer to present at the end of month, I chose Jamel Shabbaz. I'm a big fan of his work with his mix of street photography and portraiture and this also blends my love of hip-hop and photography. Win. Win. Looking forward to learning more about Mr. Shabbaz and sharing it with my class.
The remainder of class we studied work from some of the street photography masters throughout history:
- Paul Martin
- John Thompson
- Eugene Atget
- Paul Strand
- Alex and Rebecca Webb
- Bruce Davidson
- William Eggleston
- Stephen Shore
- Ernst Hass
- Fred Herzog
- Jay Maisel
We were reminded that we're looking at the very best work from these photographers, and not to be discouraged. Think of all of Garry Winogrand's contact sheets and the photos no one ever saw.
One key point, I learned and will try to keep in mind way forward is, when street photography is done right, it's simple.
Book recommendations:
- Magnum Contact Sheets (already own it)
- The Nature of Photographs, Stephen Shore
If you've read this far, thanks for keeping up with the ramble. These notes are more for me to reflect and digest on the previous class. For the next class, we'll me meeting at Pike Place Market (tourist trap) for some actual shooting.
Until next time. Peace.
Back to the streets?
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:
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
It's Been A Long Time
It's been a long time /
I shouldn't of left you /
Without a strong rhyme to step to...
At least that's the opening bars of one of my favorite hip-hop joints of all time. Indeed it's been a while, something major happened since my last post back in March.
I became a father.
Needless to say, I've been a bit preoccupied and photography took a backseat for bit. As my wife and I prepared for parenthood we've had conversations about not losing ourselves in this baby. In other words, remembering we had identities before we became parents.
For me this means continuing to pursue photography as a means of a creative outlet. That's shooting, developing, and printing my images. With an emphasis on shooting. I would say one of the most difficult aspects of photography, isn't vision, mastering the camera, or even developing film. It's simply making the time to actively go out and shoot. Compound this with a newborn, you get the idea. But like with the people in our lives, you make time for what you love. Besides, I've got a beautiful new subject to document.