Street Shooting with Peter Turnley

[sean_reid]

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James, my own ideas of street photography have been clarified to a large degree by the two excellent articles that Sean Reid has on his (pay) site, "Street Photography and "Photographing Strangers". They're worth reading.

—Mitch/Paris

Flickr: Photos from Mitch Alland

 

Hi Mitch,

 

I'm glad that you mentioned those. They've come to my mind several times during this thread.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[gesper]

The kind of work that is often called "Street Photography" can be done with almost any camera. I made pictures of people in public places with a 4 x 5 Graphlex for a period of time. I've also done so with a Digilux 3 so you've got company. Sure, its the M8 forum but the topic is more interesting than any attachment to a given camera, per se.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

Agree. Even though I have an M8, I end up doing most of mine with a DLux-3 because it is almost totally invisible, is pocketable, and takes decent enough pictures for this purpose.

[sean_reid]

Agree. Even though I have an M8, I end up doing most of mine with a DLux-3 because it is almost totally invisible, is pocketable, and takes decent enough pictures for this purpose.

 

A lot of people have been able to make good use of cameras like the D-Lux 2/3, Ricoh GR and Ricoh GX100. Ben, actually, uses a D-Lux 2 along with his R-D1. For me, though, its almost always the M8.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[Guest malland]

...Like George, I too prefer photos whose people in it are unaware of being photographed since this will show the real candid moment you intend to capture.

To me the meaningful aspect is not whether the pictures are "candid" or whether the subject is looking at the photograher because I don't think that this is the maon factor determining the quality of the picture. I've posted both type of pictures above and am much more concerned about the overall form and meaning of the picture.

 

—Mitch/Paris

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/

[gesper]

To me the meaningful aspect is not whether the pictures are "candid" or whether the subject is looking at the photograher because I don't think that this is the maon factor determining the quality of the picture. I've posted both type of pictures above and am much more concerned about the overall form and meaning of the picture.

 

—Mitch/Paris

Flickr: Photos from Mitch Alland

 

Exactly. Without form and meaning it isn't worth much either way. As William and I both said, an undisturbed subject is a preference, not by any means an absolute.

[carstenw]

Mitch, I still don't quite get what you mean when you say "form". Could you elaborate a bit?

[Guest stnami]

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DLux-3 because it is almost totally invisible

.........now the inside is not visable to the naked eye..............so what other parts are invisible?........ maybe the head part??????

 

 

 

..........I never hide the fact that I am taking photos, can't see the point in the "candid trophy shot".... which when presented to the public smacks of look at me look at my photo skills, they never knew I took the "picture"..................but to some the trophy is important, so be it ✂

[Guest s.m.e.p.]

Agree. Even though I have an M8, I end up doing most of mine with a DLux-3 because it is almost totally invisible, is pocketable, and takes decent enough pictures for this purpose.

 

Streetphotography is not depending on the "invisibilty" of your camera, it´s depending on your behaviour and the way you interact with other people!

 

You are talking about "stealing" pictures.

[gesper]

Wow! I think people are getting carried away here. Keep in mind that most on this forum like Leica's because, compared to DSLR's, they are smaller, quieter, and less distracting and imposing in a street setting. Is that "stealing pictures" too?

 

Of course the DLux3 isn't literally "invisible." All I was implying is that the DLux3 takes it a step further than the M8 by being even less noticable. I don't hide it, it is right there in my hand. The benefit is that people often don't see it until after I have the shot, and it is easier to capture them at whatever they were doing, which they likely would have stopped doing if they saw someone pointing a camera at them. That doesn't mean they were doing something embarrassing; it could be talking to someone or looking at something or holding their head a certain way, all of which could be changed if they saw you pointing a camera at them. This is not being sneaky at all.

 

Here is a quick example. I like the fact that the two men are interacting with each other. If they had noticed the camera before I pressed the shutter, that might have been a good shot too, maybe even a better shot. Like I keep saying, it is personal preference. But it certainly isn't being sneaky.

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[sean_reid]

Walker Evans hid his camera for several of the most famous projects he did. There are many ways to skin a fish.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[gesper]

And Sean, if I recall correctly, you had some phenomenal shots at Daytona Speed Week using a Canon DSLR and a right angle lens adapter.

[sean_reid]

I've been working on a project there for several years now and, yes, I use a right-angle adapter for that work. Sometimes my subject are very aware that I'm photographing them and sometimes they aren't. I think we all have to figure out what works best for our own pictures.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[Guest stnami]

The new Leica Streeter LX3 ..............??

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[sean_reid]

The new Leica Streeter LX3 ..............??

 

That would be great!

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[William Noel]

The kind of work that is often called "Street Photography" can be done with almost any camera. I made pictures of people in public places with a 4 x 5 Graphlex for a period of time. I've also done so with a Digilux 3 so you've got company. Sure, its the M8 forum but the topic is more interesting than any attachment to a given camera, per se.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

 

Hi Sean,

I'm glad to know you've used a digilux3 too

I was just apologetic because this is an M8 forum and I don't have one

 

Back to the topic, IMHO, "street" for me is a public place that nobody owns. Capturing a moment of an everyday life without any changes because you're there is very challenging which makes it very fullfilling to me. Well, this may not be the case for others.

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[gesper]

Hi Sean,

I'm glad to know you've used a digilux3 too

I was just apologetic because this is an M8 forum and I don't have one

 

Capturing a moment of an everyday life without any changes because you're there is very challenging .

 

 

 

Well put William

 

 

.

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[Guest malland]

Mitch, I still don't quite get what you mean when you say "form". Could you elaborate a bit?

Carsten, I mean that form is the shape of objects in the picture and the design of the whole picture: what Cartier-Bresson called the geometry of the picture. We had a interesting long thread on this subject that you might want to read:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/digital-forum/29339-form-content-emotion-sean-reids-interview.html

 

On page 3 of the thread there is an interesting posting by Steve Kessel (at 08:29PM) in which he draws an an analytical sketch and analyses a photograph the way one might analyse a poem, what the French call explication de texte.

 

Also there is the following quote from Matisee, which makes me think that a good photograph works the same way as a poem, in that the meaning also comes from the form:

 

Expression to my way of thinking does not consist of the passion mirrored upon a human face or betrayed by violent gesture. The whole arrangement of my picture is expressive. The place occuoied by the figures or objects, the empty spaces around them, the proportions, everything plays a part.

 

And here is an excerpt from the posting initiating the thread, on the subject of form:

 

The idea of the meaning flowing from the content can be particularly problematic when we consider emotion: many people say that they like to see emotion in photographs and some photographers say that they are seeking to express emotion, or mood in their pictures. I feel strongly that it has to be the other way round: to make a good picture you have to feel the the form, have a passion for it, and, then, the emotion will carry through from the form and give meaning to the picture. Starting by trying to express emotion or mood will, at best, result in pictures that either don't work or are shallow, or, at worst will be kitsch.

 

—Mitch/Paris

Flickr: Photos from Mitch Alland

[robsteve]

Here are a couple of my shots at street photography in Paris. I like looking for composition and some sort of action in the picture.

 

This first one was taken while waiting for a taxi to take us to the airport.

 

 

The next three were taken while walking around in the afternoon or night.

 

 

 

[Guest stnami]

street" for me is a public place that nobody owns

most governments, street people gangs etc will disagree here.............shove your camera into one to many corner and splat

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[glenerrolrd]

Here are a couple of my shots at street photography in Paris. I like looking for composition and some sort of action in the picture.

 

This first one was taken while waiting for a taxi to take us to the airport.

 

 

The next three were taken while walking around in the afternoon or night.

 

 

 

 

Rob I think the composition(including an interesting backdrop ) is exactly why wide angles seem to work better . Each of your images is both interesting and yet begins a story....another technique that I found interesting .Peter called "setting the stage" ..I looked first for interesting light and a good background....I would compose the shot and pre focus on a specific spot....then I watched what developed . The first image I waited for a good subject......the second I prefocused on the planter on the building. Then I waited for the working men to hit the stone just next to it. This allowed me (for the second shot) to use f1.4 . Finally the third shot ..I lined up while the dog was on the other curb.....I shot this with the WATE so the dog was closer than it looked !....dog shots are easy... pre focus and put your camera a few feet off the ground ..he thought my Luigi Case was a "treat".

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