Matt Stuart Exhibition

[MPerson]

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For those that do not read 'Barnacks Bar'. A photographer local to me who has been mentioned on the forum several times and shoots with an MP, has an exhibition coming up in London:

 

Matt Stuart Exhibition

 

Matt's web site

 

Matt on iN-PUBLiC

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[jpattison]

Fabulous pictures on his website - Real Leica street photography; how did he come across such juxtapositions of elements so many times?

It doesn't happen to me in Manchester!

 

John

[Rolo]

how did he come across such juxtapositions of elements so many times? It doesn't happen to me in Manchester!

John

 

It does make me wonder how much effort and energy goes into capturing mages like this. I suspect a hell of a lot, but who knows.

 

Also, what is a 'hell of a lot' - shooting all day, every day ?

 

Two of our 'walk to work' colleagues, BigLouis and Azzo are very productive, whereas other occasional weekend-photographers are less so.

 

Is location vital ? London is much more fruitful for street photography, as is NY, LA, SF, Paris etc, than Manchester, maybe. How does this influence what and how we shoot ?

 

Has a guy in Columbus, Ohio got less opportunity to develop as a street photographer than the same guy in Chicago ?

[andybarton]

I don't take any photographs on my 50 mile drive to work, nor on my 50 mile drive home afterwards. So, the only real time I get to take photographs is at the weekends. Weekends have other priorities too, such as shopping and sleeping, so the amount of time that most people have to devote to the subject is very small. Maybe half a day per week, if lucky.

 

This is why it's very difficult for most people to actually set themselves a long term project, or develop a particular style. They don't have sufficient time to do either. It's also why, if you look at my shots on my website, they are a bit of a "shoot what you see" collection, raqther than a proper decent body of work.

 

Even when I do decide to take a week off and really expolre a subject (such as I did earlier this month, in Kintyre), the weather gods decide that only A-roads will be open, and access to the interesting stuff is unavailable to those of us with rear-wheel drive cars. Foiled again!

 

Very frustrating.

 

I thought that some of those linked shots had a hint of "set up" to them, btw.

[Rolo]

Very frustrating.

 

I thought that some of those linked shots had a hint of "set up" to them, btw.

 

Understand, my question was how much energy goes into it and does location matter for street photography ?

 

Agree about the set-ups, as the commissioned work is clearly not what he came across. Even so, there are many that must have been by chance.

[dpattinson]

Understand, my question was how much energy goes into it and does location matter for street photography ?

 

Agree about the set-ups, as the commissioned work is clearly not what he came across. Even so, there are many that must have been by chance.

 

I wouldn't bet on the setup idea, unless you mean thinking of a shot and then waiting for it to come together a setup. It's not that hard to get shots of people standing next to stuff or walking in front of it if you have the time to wait and the wit to see the opportunity. He does say the ones marked as 'adverts' are staged, but not all the commissions. In particular I'd say the gallery shots are not staged.

 

He says he shoots at least 2 rolls of film a day, and always carries a camera (MP + 35lux).

 

I think location has an effect on the type of photography you can do, but not whether you can shoot within the fairly broad definition of 'street' photography. There are some pretty good street photographers who make images outside of the major cities, they just tend to be a different style to say the NYC in-your-face street stuff. I do think there is more freedom to shoot in a busy city, as people have less time to notice photographers.. but the same can be said for places where there are many tourists, or places where people are otherwise going about their business.

 

I think it takes a lot of energy to get a body of work as good as his. A lot of walking the streets and a lot of film shot, and heavy editing to leave only the stuff that works.

 

here he is in action:

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actually, http://www.flickr.com/photos/maciejdakowicz/ is a good one to check out in respect of the 'does location matter' question. He shoots a lot of good stuff in all sorts of places.

[Rolo]

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Good info.

 

Within his web site is a link to an interview which is informative:

 

B: Matt Stuart: What Was He Thinking?

 

Good stuff. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

Now an M8 user ??

Added from http://.2point8.whileseated.org:

 

"Matt Stuart, who gave a perfect explanation for why the Leica M8 saves you money in the long run (yes, there were a few Belgian beers involved) talks about a few of his photos over on blakeandrews.blogspot. Matt founded in-public, which was/is the first online street photography resource, or the first one I stumbled across. Matt’s also a good guy. I’m glad other blogs are getting into interviewing/discussion(s)."

[earleygallery]

I've met Matt, he gave a talk at Tate Modern on street photography some time back.

 

He said he often sees a likely situation (there's a photo with a guy on a bench with a dog and a child with a mask for example) and he will place himself in the right position and wait.... Clearly he has a well trained eye and the ability to work without drawing too much attention to himself, and he always has his camera ready in case 'the' shot appears.