What do we photograph on the streets?

[Ray Vonn]

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6 hours ago, Likaleica said:

woke, politically-correct, cancel-culture, hyper-paranoid, judgmental, safe-place,

Can someone let me know what any of this means?

[erl]

32 minutes ago, Ray Vonn said:

Can someone let me know what any of this means?

I think it is a hyperbolic way of saying we are all becoming paranoid about what we do, and more to the point what others may think of us.

[stephan54]

Ready for deployment

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[Ray Vonn]

3 hours ago, erl said:

I think it is a hyperbolic way of saying we are all becoming paranoid about what we do, and more to the point what others may think of us.

Thanks

[colint544]

10 hours ago, erl said:

Colin, let me start by saying I admire much of your photography. I often 'like' your images but I rarely write comments on any pics on the forum, for reasons I won't go into here.

Regarding Street Photography, I have fairly fixed personal views. eg. I maintain that "if nobody has been offended, then no harm has been done". I stick pretty close to that mantra. What it means, in part, is that I must devise means and ways to make my images such that mostly I am unobserved before the image is captured. Also important for the spontaneity of the image. If the subject becomes aware afterwards, I deal with it as the immediate situation may demand. It is incumbent on me to pr-empt the reaction if any and behave appropriately before making of the image. For this reason I am not a fan of Bruce Gilden, because IMO he frequently offends his subjects, based on their recorded reaction. Also, I don't believe with that style he is capturing a true representation of 'life', but rather a reactionary one. Maybe that is what he wants. I have to ask why?

Allow me to illustrate one of my images that could be considered exploitative by some, but justified by my reaction at the time. It is an image I made in Cairo some years ago. The lady in question reached out to me. In return I photographed her as you see, but then I rewarded her by giving her money. Fair exchange? I believe so. Others may not. At that period in my life I spent a fair bit of my time photographing 'locals' with a view to documenting their lifestyles as compared to what I am familiar with. I still use one such picture each year as my Xmas card to friends to point out that others are having a different Xmas from them. One year I actually invited a homeless person (local) to my house for Xmas lunch. I remain friends with that person.

Here is the pic I referred to earlier.

 

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Thank you, Erl. And a striking image that is.

[colint544]

12 hours ago, Likaleica said:

I worry that Colin is right.  I just listened to a photojournalism podcast where 4 working photojournalists concluded that David Alan Harvey's 1979 photographs of child prostitutes in Thailand were just too offensive (even though none of the 4 had actually seen the pictures) and that they should not have even been made in the first place.  They concluded that it would be ok to write about it or talk about it, but not make pictures of it, even though he was trying to bring attention to it in order to eradicate it.  And they judged something he did 41 years ago – on assignment to investigate child trafficking – by today's "standards." 

Pretty soon this woke, politically-correct, cancel-culture, hyper-paranoid, judgmental, safe-place, scared society that we are becoming will be just like the Victorian era, where such evils will not even be discussed and will flourish in the darkness.  That's an environment that evil prefers.  It will become impolite and offensive to photograph practically anything, including street photography.  Street photography will be considered an "act of violence," just as speech is becoming an act of violence.  People today actually claim PTSD for hearing something with which they disagree.  Who is to say that will not happen with photography?

Street photography is such an important genre.  It shows up who we are.  More importantly, it will show people in the future who we were.  

Very well said, Tim. All this woke stuff is not going away any time soon. It does feel little like we're witnessing the dawn of a new religion. 

[colint544]

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Glasgow, UK

M Monochrom mk1, 35mm Summilux ASPH FLE

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[erl]

5 hours ago, colint544 said:

Glasgow, UK

M Monochrom mk1, 35mm Summilux ASPH FLE

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Colin, having just written that I rarely comment on forum pics, this one compels me to. It is a perfect representation of where our society is headed. Blithely ignoring what is going on around us, yet pretending to be constantly 'connected' to the world. Also, reflected in the glass could be the parallel universe he is trying to reach. Such a powerful image!

[Le Chef]

On 8/19/2020 at 7:25 AM, colint544 said:

Going through old folders on lockdown, I came across this image. I shot it in 2013, when my M Monochrom was still quite new. I used my 28mm Summicron ASPH for this shot. It was in Partick, Glasgow, where I lived at the time. I didn't know this woman, and she wasn't aware I took the picture. I got very caught up with trying to get a figure in the frame at the same time a train went across the bridge. But it's really just a snap of a passer-by. I liked the light on the street that night, because it was dusk. 

I think the culture is changing. I'm less comfortable taking pictures like this now. I'm thinking maybe a picture has to say something a bit more. Perhaps in 50 years, shots like this will be interesting. Or maybe people in the future will be horrified that this was even a style of photography.

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Agree. Personal space for a variety of reasons seems to have expanded since Covid and seems to be more sacred and less flexible. Masks make it harder to read someone who might be in a shot and how they react to being exposed. These days either a longer lens and a less intrusive view, or another topic altogether.

[colint544]

9 hours ago, Le Chef said:

Agree. Personal space for a variety of reasons seems to have expanded since Covid and seems to be more sacred and less flexible. Masks make it harder to read someone who might be in a shot and how they react to being exposed. These days either a longer lens and a less intrusive view, or another topic altogether.

I think you're right. 

[colint544]

11 hours ago, erl said:

Colin, having just written that I rarely comment on forum pics, this one compels me to. It is a perfect representation of where our society is headed. Blithely ignoring what is going on around us, yet pretending to be constantly 'connected' to the world. Also, reflected in the glass could be the parallel universe he is trying to reach. Such a powerful image!

Thanks very much, Erl. People walking around looking at their phones is so ubiquitous, I hadn't considered that. 

I had to sit for a good bit more than an hour, on a public bench in the rain to get that shot. A man drinking cider from a can came and talked to me for a good part of that time, telling me how far gone his wife was to alcoholism. A woman was feeding the birds a mountain of bread and seed at the far end of the square, so it took a long time for them to finish that and fly back up. I knew they would eventually. I thought the birds might stand out against that background, and hadn't intended to get a person in as well, but that guy walked into the frame at the same time the birds flew past.

Sometimes it's nice to have the luxury of a bit of time to sit and watch the world go by, and having a camera gives you a great excuse to do that.

Cheers!

[robgo2]

19 hours ago, erl said:

Colin, having just written that I rarely comment on forum pics, this one compels me to. It is a perfect representation of where our society is headed. Blithely ignoring what is going on around us, yet pretending to be constantly 'connected' to the world. Also, reflected in the glass could be the parallel universe he is trying to reach. Such a powerful image!

Agreed.  For the most part, I feel that people constantly looking at their cell phones is ruining street photography, but in Colin's image, it works, because of the story that it tells.

[robgo2]

Leica Q

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[Steve Ricoh]

On 8/23/2020 at 1:09 PM, colint544 said:

Thanks very much, Erl. People walking around looking at their phones is so ubiquitous, I hadn't considered that. 

I had to sit for a good bit more than an hour, on a public bench in the rain to get that shot. A man drinking cider from a can came and talked to me for a good part of that time, telling me how far gone his wife was to alcoholism. A woman was feeding the birds a mountain of bread and seed at the far end of the square, so it took a long time for them to finish that and fly back up. I knew they would eventually. I thought the birds might stand out against that background, and hadn't intended to get a person in as well, but that guy walked into the frame at the same time the birds flew past.

Sometimes it's nice to have the luxury of a bit of time to sit and watch the world go by, and having a camera gives you a great excuse to do that.

Cheers!

M9M in the rain for a ‘bit more than hour‘! To get the shot I guess it had to be out of the bag, so it did get a bit wet. I always worry for more than a few minutes even though Leica cameras and lenses are capable (M240 and M6 user).
 

[colint544]

27 minutes ago, Steve Ricoh said:

M9M in the rain for a ‘bit more than hour‘! To get the shot I guess it had to be out of the bag, so it did get a bit wet. I always worry for more than a few minutes even though Leica cameras and lenses are capable (M240 and M6 user).
 

Ha, yes indeed. I was sort of hunched over with my hood up, keeping the M9M close to me, and regularly wiping the rain off it. Its got wet many times but the trick, I think, is to regularly wipe it down, and not to tilt it so water can run underneath the controls on the top plate. 

[robgo2]

Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Leica Q

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[Keith (M)]

Keeping a good 2m apart...  M10M, 50mm Summilux-M ASPH.  (Click to view in LightBox).

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Edited August 28, 2020 by Keith (M)

[Keith (M)]

Protection provided...  M10M, 50mm Summilux-M ASPH.  (Click to view in LightBox).

 

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[robgo2]

Technically, not on the street, but the idea is the same.

Leica Q

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Jim J]

A photograph I took just over a week ago in Marulan, a small town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, on the way to Canberra:

(Leica IIIa with uncoated f3.5 5cm Elmar)

 

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