Is it better to go out and shoot Street with one aim or style? The simple answer is yes and that’s what the “experts” would probably have you do…I’m not an expert and I don’t. When a new photographer starts out in any genre of photography they try everything, they copy others, find some inspiration until eventually landing on a ‘style’ they can call their own. People used to say to me “I saw my feed of latest uploads and new instantly which was one of yours, just from the small thumbnail”. I wonder if that’s still true?
In my opening shot the lines are all straight, it’s in black & white, everything is organised. It’s a classical photo which is how, once upon a time, I would describe my style. The one above is in colour, it’s not straight, the perspective is'n’t quite so classical. I often straighten my photos, I don’t crop them much, but if you straighten an image sometimes it loses something, in the frame above we wouldn’t see that starburst coming off her glasses for example and so it is as shot, with the absolute minimal processing. This was taken from the same position, everything straight and tidy, but, not so interesting.
Apart from anything else I’m concerned about becoming boring or predictable…hopefully my wife isn’t reading this, because she’d say he dosen’t seem in the slightest bit concerned with either of those things! My major worry is that by sticking with one style or type of Street Photography I’ll be limiting my self. All the photos on this post were taken in the last few days on my very short trips into Bath. I know that I said a couple of blogs ago that I was aiming for Bristol in future, there has to be enough time available to me for that to happen and we know I constantly contradict myself on this blog. Of course, photography is contradictory.
So, here we are in Bath, sunny and dry for a change. Not that it matters, good light, poor light, we should still be able to make a shot. I didn’t wander in thinking everything in Black and White today, which again is something I used to do, nor did I aim for all colour. I could have said to myself ‘Right John, today we’ll concentrate on people looking at me’ or ‘the colour red’ or ‘upwards perspective’ or, well, you get my drift. I can divide these up for you with some examples. Don’t forget we’ve already seen some ‘Red’ images and a ‘people looking at me’ photo as the opener to this post. Even so I’ll do this if only to prove a point, which I’m slowly getting to in my usual glacial way.
People Looking At Me:
The Colour Red:
This is already becoming problematic because, and this is when the glacier moves ever so slightly to the premise, the first shot of the guy in the grid for “People Looking At Me” could also be in…
People Smoking:
There’s someone smoking or wearing red in most of these photos and there’s often someone with a mobile phone. Every Street Photographer has a whole raft of these kind of shots. Colour red, smokers, people on mobile phones…in the end it’s all just Street Photography and I’ll go one step further to say that essentially it’s all photography. No point in defining what each specific genre of photography is or categorising anything. Pointless in having one mindset; colour or black and white for example when we venture out. I understand that sometimes it is a good idea to keep to a style, or have a specific type of shot(s) we want for a project. I also am fully aware that people will come up with some compelling arguments as to why one should. What I do is simply go out and capture something that attracts my eye, there’s no planning, just something I find pleasing. I stood opposite a wall and got these shots. I have been thinking for a long time that I would stand somewhere for an hour or two and just click. In fairness it was bloody freezing and I didn’t last more than twenty minutes (again, if my wife is reading this!).
The Wall:
One thing however is consistent, I’m generally looking for layers. For that we need some people and weekdays in Bath during winter is quiet.
I noticed someone walking along wearing graduation gear. Bath is a University City after all and so we get our share of these events, sometimes quite small. She was heading for what was I believe an old cinema or theatre, it’s called “The Forum”. I could have titled this last segment “A funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum”, not sure if many will know that film which starred Zero Mostel to begin with and also nothing funny happened! Way back to the opening image of those people looking at this “intruder”, well this is where I got that shot:
The Forum:
You see, I don’t know whether I’m shooting close up, from a little distance for a scene, black and white or colour. If I had these restrictions in my mind or was shooting something specifically to keep with my style or a project I probably wouldn’t have bothered following the graduate through Bath to the venue. Also if I didn’t experiment I wouldn’t get this last shot. A guy waiting outside under the entrance canopy, point the camera up and bingo….Sombrero Man. Okay not perfect, because I needed the girls mortarboard hat more defined, just needed to be a bit lower for more upward perspective. As it was the crowd were becoming restless with me amongst them, can’t say I blame them, time to move on.
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.
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