Showing posts with label street photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label street photography. Show all posts
25 May 2011
What is the difference between Street and Documentary Photography?
Susan Brannon
“In photography there is a new kind of plasticity, the product of instantaneous lines made by movements of the subject. We work in unison with movement as though it were a presentiment of the way in which life itself unfolds. But inside movement there is one moment at which the elements in motion are in balance. Photography must seize upon this moment and hold immobile the equilibrium of it.”
*Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Decisive Moment
There are various opinions between photographers between street, photojournalism and documentary photography. The discussions can become confusing thus leaving the person who asked the questions without any real answers. Some would argue that street photography is documentary, because they are documenting something in turn, when they are doing street photography they are then doing documentary as well. Others would argue that photojournalism is documentary photography in the simple case that the photographer is documenting something and telling a story.
The definitions:
Street Photography – Wikipedia says, “Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings.” A.D. Coleman says, ““more and more photographers took to the streets with concerns that were not those of the reporter but rather those of the novelist and poet—a search for resonant contrasts, rich metaphors, and found dramatic scenarios.” Susan Brannon says, “I view street photography as get up and go, snap and shoot, with a light weight camera taking images of things that intrigues the photographer of happenings in the street or in public places. It is an image of something that was not planned, and generates some type of emotion.”
Documentary Photography – Walker Evans, “where true "documentary photography" would be photographs that served a function.” Wikipedia says, “usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit. The photographer attempts to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid photography of a particular subject, most often pictures of people.” Susan Brannon’s says, “It is telling stories that are not necessarily newsworthy, it is the documentation of an event or occurrence.”
Street Photography
There are no rules, expectations, limitations or steps of order with street photography. These images do not need text to accompany them. The images are normally of people interacting, or alone in some particular environment. The images speak for themselves, however one may not know where or when. The images create some type of emotion and are normally reflect something that occurs at that moment that was not planned.
The images below are from walking around Florence, Italy.
Documentary photography is when the photographer wants to “document” something some event, or” how to do something”. The images in documentary photography need to be accompanied with text of explanations. It takes some planning, maybe making appointments, setting up your camera with lights and interviewing the person. Such as “How to make tiles” , “Women over 40 in NY City” or on the fly as, documenting your injured car after an automobile accident for proof of insurance. Some good samples of documentary photography are from Mary Ellen Mark.
I decided to run outside and take some images of Fashion on Salah ed-Din Street in E. Jerusalem as an example of documentary photography.
22 May 2011
The Holga Camera
Susan Brannon
20 May 2011
20 May 2011
The Holga camera is an inexpensive medium format “toy camera” made in China. The camera is known for generating pictures of blur, leaking light, distortions and vignetting (clear in the center and fades in the edges). Some photographers have won awards using the Holga camera in news and art photography.
The camera first appeared outside of China in 1982. Once the Holga hit the foreign market, photographers started using the Holga for its surrealistic, impressionistic scenes for landscape, still life, portrait, and especially, street photography. David Burnett won a prize for the image of former vice-president Al Gore during his campaign using the Holga camera.
There are several types of Holga camera’s; light weight, fixed shutter speed, plastic lens, glass lens, built-in-flash, color flash, twin-lens reflex, 6x4.5 or 6x6 format, pinhole versions, 26mm versions, switchable from standard to panorama format, in 110’s, 120’s, and 24x36. There is an aperture setting switch from sunny and cloudy, with a normal value of f-11 and f-8/
My advise is to use ISO200 speed films and shoot in the sunlight for best results. With the Holga you can shoot 16 exposures with a 6x4.5 format or 16 exposures with the 6x6 format, that you can choose the option on the backside of the camera.
However, when choosing the option by viewing the “window” do NOT look next to the red window but instead pointed to the arrow on the switch.
Using the Holga is pure fun, and you can adopt the camera to suit your needs, by learning to change its parts. The plastic lens breaks up the sterility of the digital lens and creates colourful and blissfully innocent images.
Here is a great link to learn to “hack” your Holga, troubleshooting, and techniques for the Holga at Life through the Plastic Lens. http://www.squarefrog.co.uk/
Shutter Speed Basics
Bracketing
Depth of Field
Focused Bracketing or Photo Stacking
Exposure
Related lessons:
What is the difference between Street Photography and Documentary?
Four Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
Tips for Night Photography
Aperture and f/16 RuleFour Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
Tips for Night Photography
Shutter Speed Basics
Bracketing
Depth of Field
Focused Bracketing or Photo Stacking
Exposure
Henri Cartièr-Bresson
Susan Brannon
"To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life."
"To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life."
Henri Cartièr-Bresson was considered the father of modern photojournalism. He used the 35mm format, and mastered candid photography. He helped develop street photography or
“real life reportage”. His style of photography influenced photographers from then on.
He was born in France on August 22, 1908 and died on August 3, 2004 at 95.
He started out as a painter, then later experimented with photography His work was influenced by the Surrealist movement in the 1920s and he started hanging out with the surrealists in France and felt to crush tradition and photograph things as they really are.
After a trip to Africa and studying literature in the UK, he returned to France in the early 1930s.
He is quoted as saying “The only thing which completely was an amazement to me and brought me to photography was the work of Munkacsi. When I saw the photograph of Munkacsi of the black kids running in a wave, I couldnt believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said damn it, I took my camera and went out into the street”
It was then that he stopped painting and took up photography seriously. He purchased the Leica camera with a 50mm lens that was his camera for many years. This is what made the Leica so famous for street photographers!
For a great link to Cartier's images click on Magnum Photos
Related lessons:
For a great link to Cartier's images click on Magnum Photos
Related lessons:
What is the difference between Street Photography and Documentary?
Four Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
Four Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
17 May 2011
Street Photography Tips
Susan Brannon
Shutter Speed Basics
Bracketing
Depth of Field
Focused Bracketing or Photo Stacking
Exposure
Street Photography!
· With a 35 or 50mm lens, you will have to get close to your subject in order to make them the primary object in the frame.
· Gain trust by talking with the people you want to photograph to get them relaxed.
· You will tend to get nice photographs when you are part of the scene and reacting to the emotions around you.
· Try to choose places where the camera is “normal” such as a park, the zoo, a tourist attraction and sporting events. You will blend in with the crowd.
· Avoid touristy shots! Get behind the scenes and real life situations.
· Expect the unexpected, keep your eyes open and be ready for that shot!
· Best to go auto focus
· Adjust your shutter speed according to the light changes as you walk around.
· Always remember to have your hand on the camera and ready to click away, if you have to spend all your time adjusting the focus, the frame, the shutter speed…your shot and subject will be gone.
· If you have a digital, show your subjects the images you took of them they will love it and probably let you take more!
· Blend in with the crowd, don’t wear a mini skirt or high heels, or professional photo gear draped all around you that gains attention.
· Keep yourself light for fast movement.
Angles and Framing:
· Don’t be afraid to go diagonal.
· Find ways to go high and low.
· Stand on a wall, or lay down in the park.
· Experiment with angles before shooting.
· Exaggerate the moment, make the background blurry and the subject crisp!
· Look for the composition. A person standing near a sign that points to her, etc…
Your mindset:
· Don’t worry too much, relax and enjoy the moment, the environment and the people!
· Observe the moment and the people around you.
· Don’t feel shy or timid, it will show in your images and the people around you will feel it.
· Be creative, have a since of humor, view the fun part of life and humanity it will come out in your images.
People:
- Photograph different ages, genders, situations that are representative of that culture.
- Don’t just take images of one person, but two or three interacting.
- Get close and fill in your frame of the persons face, then show them the photo!
- Pay attention to the background, don’t put a pole coming out of the persons head!
Related lessons:
What is the difference between Street Photography and Documentary?
Four Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
Tips for Night Photography
Aperture and f/16 RuleFour Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
Tips for Night Photography
Shutter Speed Basics
Bracketing
Depth of Field
Focused Bracketing or Photo Stacking
Exposure
Street Photography and Cameras
Susan Brannon
Normally, in street photography, the photographer wants a natural look of the environment. You don’t want to pull out your 24-70 mm lens when trying to create the natural environment because it grabs too much attention! I like using small, non evasive point and shoots with either a wide- angle or 35mm lens. For my Crossing Borders Project, I distribute disposable cameras with a 35mm lens and surprising enough they take wonderful images.
Outside of the project, the ultimate dream camera is the Leica M9, the new digital camera or the older manual . This camera gives the totally manual feel. It has the components a street photographer would want: it is non invasive quick, silent in terms of the shutter sound, can control your exposure through aperture and shutter speed and built like a tank! However, with this rangefinder, the lens window does not reflect how your image will show up. Inside there are lines showing the borders of how much of the frame your camera will actually capture. The new digital is a replica of the classic 35mm. However, the camera is very expensive to buy but do not fret! There are many other options to choose from.
There are the disposable cameras, automatic, in color or black and white that are small. However, with these camera’s you need to look at the lens window, and give some room for the “real” lens view. The windows are normally a bit higher than the lens, so the photos do not turn out like the view that you see. You will need to compensate for that difference. Sometimes these cameras work best in the natural light when the subject is in the sun. The flash distance is not very far and normally unless you are right next to your subject, the flash will not cover the subject when photographing inside or in the shadow.
Holga’s can be quite fun for taking images in the streets. I have the Holga that has a medium format. It is small, but because it is film and automatic I found that it is best to take images in the sunshine! However, each Holga is different and the fun of it is that you never quite know what you are going to get. I have three Holga’s when I go out and about.
What camera to use, really depends on the photographer, their mood, and the type of essence they want to capture through the lens. The camera arena is wide open for a street photographer. It is quite possible, to set up a SRL with a telefoto lens onto a tri pod and stay in a public place to snap shots. After awhile the crowd will get used to you and life will continue as normal.
Shutter Speed Basics
Bracketing
Depth of Field
Focused Bracketing or Photo Stacking
Exposure
Related lessons:
What is the difference between Street Photography and Documentary?
Four Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
Tips for Night Photography
Aperture and f/16 RuleFour Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
Tips for Night Photography
Shutter Speed Basics
Bracketing
Depth of Field
Focused Bracketing or Photo Stacking
Exposure
07 May 2011
Street Photography Lesson 1
Susan Brannon
Street Photography Lesson 1
Street Photography Lesson 1
To answer the question “What is street photography?” is quite simple yet complex. It is taking images in public places, like a part, an urban setting, a small town, conventions; public places that the photographer chooses to take images. However, the style of street photography is not written in stone, but rather an expression of the photographer taking images of something that appeals to him/her.
The photographer basically wanders the streets taking images of life and culture. The purpose depends on the photographer, some want honest recording of culture, others want to add a creative touch of something ironic, or may want to make use of shadows and light. The images may or may not have people in them. It is a style of photography that is independent without rules or regulations. However, I have rarely seen images that have been altered by photo shop.
Bryn Cambell, an accomplished “street photographer” describes his experience, “The equation is a simple one: streets = people. And it is people’s behaviour that most interests me: actions, reactions and interactions; emotions, body language, eccentricities, humour – and those rare moments of visual surrealism that can make one’s day.
My approach has not differed whether I have been on assignment as a photo-journalist or pursuing a personal project. The values for me are the same: a mix of humanism and aesthetics.”
Richard Kalvar describes it as, “I’m not crazy about the term “street photography” to describe what I do, because it’s not necessarily done on the street. The pictures can be taken on a farm, at the zoo, in an office, and so on. Let’s say we consider the general category of “unposed pictures of people” (or sometimes animals or even inanimate objects when they happen to be possessed by human souls), and then the subcategory “with nothing particularly important going on.” If we further narrow it down to the “play” sub-subcategory, we get into the domain I’ve worked in for forty years.”
Some photographers chose to work only in black and white, and some only in color, and some in both!
Below are three different examples of street photographs I took. I like to take expressive images that tell a story. Below each image is the title that I chose for the images.
Three types of transportation in a small space.
In different places.
An important conversation.
Shutter Speed Basics
Bracketing
Depth of Field
Focused Bracketing or Photo Stacking
Exposure
Related lessons:
What is the difference between Street Photography and Documentary?
Four Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
Tips for Night Photography
Aperture and f/16 RuleFour Easy Steps to Learn panning
High Noon Photography Tips
Tips for Night Photography
Shutter Speed Basics
Bracketing
Depth of Field
Focused Bracketing or Photo Stacking
Exposure
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
