sean reid and street photography

[smokysun]

those of you who subscribe to sean's reviews know he's working on a street photography article. this is great, cause though there is a book "bystander: a history of street photography" by colin westerbrook & joel meyerwitz which i checked out of the library and am presently perusing, there's no book on street photography technique per se. (it comes in bits and pieces in other books.)

this history came out in 1994 and includes all the greats. so far i haven't read the text but just looked at the pictures. one thing stands out as essential: TENSION. what kind?

1. between foreground and background. an amazing number work with the diagonal drawing you into the picture, walls, streets, stairs, lines of people etc.

2. two things (at least) going on at the same time (bresson does this consistently). two or more groups of people doing different things, having opposed attitudes, etc. also, two or more objects vie for our attention.

3. drama. like a good play, the best street photos drop us into the middle of an action. we don't know what caused it or where it's going, but it makes us wonder.

4. contents vs. the frame. all good street photos are like post-colonial countries. artificial lines have forced tribes who hate each other to live together. a dictator makes it work, but when he's gone, all hell breaks loose. (iraq and yugoslavia come to mind.) thus the photographer acts as a temporary tyrant, forcing people, objects, actions, and places to live together when they really don't wish to.

5. figures vs the setting. perhaps an incongruity, or lines trapping them, etc

6. lights vs. shadows. the obvious.

i'm sure sean will address all this and much more. i look forward to his article.

[jrc]

There's another large format paper-bound book on street photography called "Open City, Street Photography Since 1950" published in 2001 by the Museum of Modern Art/Oxford. It's also pretty good, if not quite up to the standard of "Bystander."

JC

[mark_a_h]

Definitely interested in that one article. Can you buy articles individually from his site? (Liked your insight by the way).

[smokysun]

hi mark,
i don't think individually, but it only costs 12.95 a year (if i remember rightly). it's like a great and inexpensive magazine. check out reidreviews.com.
thanks,
wayne

[sean_reid]

Hi Wayne,

It's always surprising when I come upon a thread with my name in the title. Thanks for mentioning this, it's an article I've been thinking about for some time. The challenge is that I'm travelling a lot this time of year and so time for writing can be hard to come by. I'm going to try to sketch ideas for this in the evenings over the next couple of weeks.

Winogrand argued that there was no such thing as street photography (he thought of his work as the photography of animals, humans included). I essentially agree with his argument and so the article has to start there. Really, then, it will be a piece about the kind of work that is often called "street photography". Finding the true names for this kind of work can help one to understand what they might really be. I'll also deal with some of the practical and pragmatic issues involved with photographing people in public places.

Cheers,

Sean

[smokysun]

hi sean,
i knew you'd have a unique angle (as always). many interested in this subject. the frustration comes from missed opportunities. every event, fair, market, etc offers great possibilities. a robert frank, gary winograd, or hcb would come home with at least a few gems. i feel like i come home with dreck!
maybe i'm just not good at being the fly on the wall. i like my portraits better cause i interact. here are a couple examples with theater kids this summer:

www.pbase.com/wwp/winnie

www.pbase.com/wwp/dream

but, of course, a portrait is a lot less complex than a street photo. i've been looking at those of phillip dicorcia where he uses a hidden flash to light up the street. thus he gets a movie-set like shot with unexpected characters in casual combinations.
looking forward to the article,
wayne

[stnami]

...looking for that puff of smoke?
Wayne you have to relax in a situation of severe intense concentration in a field of anxiety and the rest is easy.
Imants

[bill]

Look for "Shots from the Hip" by "Johnny Stiletto". Long out of print, it comes up occasionally on eBay.

Best regards,

Bill

[smokysun]

hi imants,
that's rather like 'the difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer'!
actually, you've provided a key with alex webb. looking at crossings i realized he sees the way i do. just ordered three more of his books.
it's not the subject matter or the color but the way he combines several scenes into one.
i am going to start another thread on beautiful and unusual books in a day or two.
good to hear from you.

hi bill,
thanks for the suggestion. i'll look for it. (immediately looked on amazon, found a cheap copy, and ordered it.)

wayne

[earleygallery]

For those in or near to London the Tate Modern run a street photography workshop from time to time. I've tried it and found it very worthwhile. You are also tasked with producing a series of your own photographs between sessions and they are put on display for a group viewing/critique. So I can honestly say my photography has been exhibited at the Tate!

Check out their website for details.

[smokysun]

ah, somebody snatched up the other copy of johnny stilleto. i figured they would. sounds interesting.
'bystander' really worth a read. meyerowitz knew some major players, including working three years on the streets with winograd.
another source i recommend: 'contacts' the world's greatest photographers reveal the secrets behind their images. a series of three dvd's with ten-twelve short films of pictures passing by while the takers talk about them. for example, the one on koudelka mostly scans his contact sheets, stopping on the one he chooses (and which very often became famous). this series really does give insight and can help make certain people become accessible and interesting.
thanks for the tips. wish i did live near the tate!
wayne

[smokysun]

suddenly everything's switched into german!

anyway, a note. looked at photos most of the day, then switched to a history of western painting. two things stand out.

1. you can enter a painting and walk around in it (see kurosawa's dreams) in a way you can't with a photograph.
2. but, almost all paintings resemble street photography! luckily for painters, they get to study and organize their moment. with photographers it flashes by.

thus, i'd like to change hcb's 'decisive moment' to 'the significant moment'. that's what can be learned from looking at painters. (also from theater where 'a moment' is a point of change, of new information shifting the situation. a shift in a relationship.) how to catch it on the fly once you know the principle, that's a matter of reflexes and luck, and perhaps some planning and a lot of shots.

[stnami]

'the significant moment'
You get those out on the streets, the first smack in the face, being spat at, the short burst in the clink for sticking your camera where it shouldn't be, stolen camera etc that's what I would consider as being significant moments. These type events and being there sometimes are more important than the images made


almost a 'decisive moment' for me, her decision was well and truely made. no telephoto here just a 28

[smokysun]

ah, imants,
great picture! but i wish i'd been there to take a picture of you taking the picture. that would surely have been priceless.
this really gets into 'personal photography' (araki, nan goldin) where the photographer becomes participant, part of the story. have you considered it?
when i first got interested in poetry, i remember someone saying the poet doesn't want to write about the hero, but to be the hero. very difficult to do both.
yes, i'd love to see you sitting in the clink, having your camera bashed. how about a boswell?
best sense of humor on the forum!
wayne

[stnami]

Stuff like Coffee and Cigarettes directed by Jim Jarmusc, music and poetry by Nick Cave, Charlie Perkins and The Cuel Sea and Ed Keupar are all inspirational in your face stuff. I am quite familiar with Nan Goldin but thanks for the tip, Araki I will have to have a boppeep at


....... these things all lead us to that search for the ultimate Lee Marvin lookalike image

[smokysun]

don't take anything i say personally! it's all aimed at myself. i've done hundreds of self-portraits (and they're what people seem to like most). and all this photo business has changed my playwrighting style into something much more like jim jarmusc (i've been a fan from the beginning). i've always thought you're most free when you've nothing left to hide. lee marvin, here we come. i really get a kick from your pictures.
wayne

[stnami]

The trouble is that for the next year or so all that will concern most here will be the continual M8 fondling so other stuff will not be of no impotance. I probably will take a rain check and stuffit by then. Better stop with the visuals otherwise some will start bleeting and showing the finger

[Bernd Banken]

Streetphotography? Looks like:


Regards
Bernd

[stunsworth]

I think you're being a bit harsh Imants, the fondlers will stick with their old film Ms, I think most of the digital Ms will be used a lot.

[atournas]

Stnami,

I wonder if anyone realizes how prophetic your words will turn out to be. Most of the forum space (and time) is about the Leica cameras and lenses we use--what about their use and photographs? Digital M will make, I am afraid, all more worse. At least, this is how I feel. To be honest, I can't see why the analogue M's need a replacement (unless no film at all).

By the way, you've got a treasure and I mean your photographs--always a pleasure to look at!

Paul