I personally find Streetphotography wonderful to look at - or dive into; sitting on a comfy sofa, coffee and cookies and one of those great so-called coffee table books (hence the coffee and not tea) in my hands. It is always an adventure to look at those photographs of past masters of street photography - amazingly composed photographs, famous ‘the’ moment images that stay in your mind; you can discover so many details in those images, when you let your eyes ponder for a while…
We had Homer Sykes showing us his work - a great inspiration for a (hopefully) good start on the assignment. A few more Google searches on street photographers, a last look in a book… Off you go.
I was again using the D700 with the analogue 35mm lens as I went towards the city. I had in mind to have either the Gherkin or the Lloyds building as a background. I was quite nervous actually, having had some encounters with police in the past and I have experienced London as a rather photographer unfriendly environment. Anyway, I saw straight away interesting situations, if I only would be courageous enough to press the button! So I did, finally. A woman was smoking outside an office and a bit further back a woman with a pram wanting to cross the street - click. I was sure that the woman in the foreground noticed that she was on the picture - this silent & ambivalent moment, both sides knowing that… it felt strange. I just wanted to get over this feeling and continued walking.
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Further back I found a spot with street signs, 3 arrows showing in one direction, I thought this could be interesting as a composition and stayed. I took a few mediocre shots, turned around and I saw a street sign saying Frying Pan Alley and I thought this would be funny. No one passed by so I turned back to ‘my street signs’ and there she was - a woman with long blond hair, sun shining on it - beautiful. She just passed the signs. I missed her… damm… ok, streetphotography, THE moment, I keep going on about. Patience is a virtue, apparently. What about concentration? A gift of god? I moved on just a few meters, turned around & I found this corner, with very grafic sunlight shining on people. The people totally knew they were framed, some smiled, some didn’t.
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I took a few more shots there and moved on to Petticoat Lane Market. I do think this market is very special and an interesting crowd is moving around there. It is fascinating how the scenery changes within a few meters. Some of the market people didn’t like at all that I used their stalls as a background and was stubbornly asked to move. I tried to explain that I am not there to photograph clothes but people, they didn’t buy it…
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I decided to move on, Bank Tube Station was my next stop. Let’s see if I will be able to take one shot of people coming out from the Tube. I was suspecting the police once more tipping on my shoulders.
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There was this guy on the bottom left corner, posing for about a minute, a bit of fun while waiting for somebody?! He was looking straight into the camera - I was thinking of the H&T lecture we had with Jennifer on Focault and the circulation of power, the power of the eye and the power shift when a camera appears. The power was with this guy until his mobile was beeping - now it was my turn, if only people would come out from the tube… please… the light was just perfect! And I chopped of the feet of the man…hmm… framing…
The last image of the day:
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I thought she looked like an urban flamingo, beautiful and elegant. The closer I got the more nervous I was to make the picture. It was difficult to frame, the foreground and the woman were great but how can I incorporate the rather unattractive background? Then I saw the other woman talking to the man and I thought now or never. So I did press the release and the result is ok-ish… Streetphotography is great to look at but not so easy to make… I was knackered after this first day.
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For the second try I thought to head towards Brick Lane for the Sunday Market. I got out of the house and only a few meters on the street I saw the 3 protagonists for my first image. I had to be quick, they were approaching fast and the camera was still in the bag. I thought it was far too obvious what was going on but luckily they didn’t pay attention at all. Got it! There are a few elements I like: the guy looking up & his expression, the girl in the middle looking down, the wind blowing through the hair and the girl with the fur hat, I like the way she is holding on to the packet of cigarette. The background is not exciting, still I like the image.
After this initial lucky shot I passed through Columbia Road, despite the cold weather it was packed with people and not so easy to photograph. So I went further to Brick Lane and I thought to start where the building site of the East London Line is. It is the tricky side of the market, a lot of stolen goods are sold here and a rough looking guy approached me straight away. His eyes fixed on my camera he kept saying - come on girl talk to me, talk to me. I got really annoyed (and scared) and I told him (thinking f*** off) that I don’t have to talk to him nor to anybody else if I don’t want to and moved on quickly. I was a bit shy afterward to take pictures and the light dropped more and more so I decided to head home. On Bethnal Green Road, a quiet street on Sunday, I pushed myself to get that camera back out and take advantage of the space, in fact it was much easier to compose and I had a few good opportunities…
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Another day, another opportunity to get frost bites on my hands. I have to say winter is not the easiest season for Streetphotograpy. The temperatures have dropped again but this assignment was on my to do list. I wrapped myself up, the light was dramatic, the wind nasty and I made it only to Liverpool Street Station on my bicycle and my fingers were already stiff. It was lunch time and I wanted to focus on people coming out from the offices for their break. By now I felt more confident with entering peoples private sphere for a brief moment…
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So, Streetphotography… an emotional celebration of the moment, paired with a certain intrusiveness in peoples lives, without wanting to be a ‘real intruder’. It’s about the wholeness of that moment, the literal translation of the word photography - drawing with light - is very poignant in this case. It is a real challenge, a hard nut to crack - but if you get it right, a rewarding one. You know this moment will never exist again…