For a fleeting second this particular blog title was going to be “RIP Street”. I decided instead to resuscitate it, breathe some ‘LIFE’ into the whole thing. It has felt a little dead from my personal view, time and Covid have deprived me of my passion. In any case this is going to be a kind of ‘LIVE’ blogpost. I’ve walked the dogs, the children have been dropped off to school. Just to demonstrate how live this is I have no idea who has won the U.S. Election yet, it’s Wednesday 4th November 2020 at 10.55 am (GMT). Hang on, that doesn’t prove anything, for a start it could be days or weeks before all the legal battles and recounts are finalised. Biden and Trump both currently claim victory, in one national paper here in the U.K. they covered themselves in any eventuality with the headline: “Old Fart Wins U.S. Election”.
In a moment I’m going to get on my motorbike and ride into Bath before a month of ‘Lockdown Lite’ begins in England. I’ll return with the results and post them immediately. No messing around. I’ve allowed myself just over an hour there. Before I go, and really I’m just covering myself here in case I don’t get anything at all, you’ll see that the phots above are not from the city of Bath. These were taken last weekend when we visited my sister and brother-in-law in Budleigh Salterton. Even though I haven’t managed to be on any Streets recently, I still shoot Street whenever I get the opportunity. Essentially I use Louis as my stooge or foil as we walk along the beach. I click away at him whilst waiting for a candid moment. When you think of it that’s all we’re doing on the Street. Meanwhile Amélie is eminently more sensible as can be seen in the last of this little series. She sits in the upper floor of my sisters house which is her reading/yoga/mindfulness room. Here then are the rest from the Budleigh trip. Let’s hope this constant practice pays dividends when I get to Bath. Right then, I’m off. See you in a while…
…and I’m back, we’re LIVE. I do have some other pressing matters to attend to so it’s not as immediate, no messing, as I initially imagined this morning. Here’s the first one:
Hold it….okay, I’m back again…So, we’re going to see the results. Not too bad which is more than I can say for the U.S. Election…there’s no change, they both won apparently. As my friend Kev said “You’d think Nevada would have been really quick to count the votes and announce the result, they’re bloody quick enough to count up my losses when I’m in Vegas”.
Whilst I was in Bath I spotted a lady who was clearly shooting some Street. I think I may have got off to a bad start with her. She was focusing on some light and shadow, with a red background. Waiting for someone to walk into said frame. We exchange a couple of words. Then, and for some inexplicable reason, I blurted out “Well, I don’t consider that to be Street Photography really, it’s someone just walking along into some light. The result grabs the attention for a split second, but it’s instantly forgettable”. Wow! I don’t think she deserved that. She showed me one of her shots on her iPhone, I just shrugged. I showed her one of mine, she shrugged. I explained that I’m after layers, gestures, a story if possible. “Oh” she said. “Like Cartier-Bresson, decisive moment, but they’re all staged you know”. I replied ‘No, Alex Webb, Garry Winogrand, Sam Abell”. She spotted a guy in Red walking past the Red background. I said “Red is such an easy target”. “I convert everything to Black & White” she replied. “Anyway, I’m not that into this kind of shot, I like Street portraiture, I ask their permission” she said. My reply was “Oh, that’s interesting, I’m not a fan of Street portraits”. If ever a conversation could go in the wrong direction then this was one of them. “ What camera do you shoot with? I held up my camera “A Leica” was my answer. “Plenty of money to waste then?” she asked. “No, I justify it through my modest income from photography, weddings, portraits and such, more importantly it suits my style”. If this lady is by any chance reading this then I apologise, we may have got off on the wrong foot. She told me she was from Oxford, I did direct her to some spots in Bath and I think we left on fairly good terms. Anyway, what was I going on about. I often take precisely the kind of shots she was attempting, who am I to offer an opinion, I’m practically clueless. By the way, there’s been plenty of Red on Red shots or featuring Red over the years from me too! Street Photography is such a divisive topic amongst photographers. I’m not going to attempt to explain my view on Street, many have tried before who are much better qualified. I know what I like and exactly what I’m attempting to achieve. Here come the rest of the photos from this quick session in Bath.
To finish this rather brief “LIVE” blog post: I headed back to my bike and noticed this group of ladies. They were all carrying cameras, Fujifilm etc. I took half a dozen shots. Here’s a couple of them which I quite liked:
There we leave it. I’m happy, well almost, with those results. I did add a bit of pressure on myself with this whole “LIVE” thing. Really it was a way to push myself to get out on the street and if nothing else that was successful. Incidentally, exactly four years ago this was one of the last shots I took before I left Vegas. Donald Trump had just been declared the winner. I titled it at the time “America Sees Red”. I think our street photographer lady from Oxford would be right in thinking “What an idiot that bloke was”.
As always my sincere thanks go to anyone taking the time to read this blog.
All images can be opened by clicking on the thumbnails and are taken using a Leica M with Summicron 28mm Lens fitted apart from that Vegas shot which was made with a 50mm Noctilux.
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