A.g.’s Note: Chris Stoltz shares to us one of his favorite photographers he got the privilege of shooting with, the L.A. based Sye Williams. Sye shares some of his inspirations, personal work, Photography Origins, and nuggets of wisdom. All of the photos are the respected copyright of Sye Williams. Here’s Chris with the interview: Chris:…
While in NYC, I visited the ICP bookstore and picked up “Ping Pong Conversations: Alec Soth with Francesco Zanot” a lovely photobook/series of interview questions. I found it to have lots of great wisdom regarding photographing strangers, editing, and projects. I copied my favorite excerpts which I found was particularly helpful, especially to those of…
Dear Eric, You are 18 years old. You just got a point and shoot digital camera from Mom as a high school graduation present. You are super excited, as you never had a camera before. A lot of exciting things will happen in your life surrounding photography. I wanted to write this letter to you…
I think one of the most difficult things as a photographer is to stay inspired. How do we stay inspired to shoot everyday– when the boredom and monotony of everyday life sets in?
I recently read some advice by author Ray Bradbury for aspiring writers: “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.” I think the same applies for street photography. To change the numbers a bit– I think it is impossible to take 100,000 bad street photographs…
One of the best pieces of advice I got on writing is the importance of writing without editing. Which means, turn off the inner-censor in your mind and write freely. What or who is the “inner censor”? Well, the inner-censor is the little voice in your head which tells you “Oh don’t do that, that’s…
I have often read that life is a journey, not a destination. Meaning that we all have goals in life. But the happiest moments aren’t when we reach our goals. Rather, life is a “beautiful struggle” in which we are happiest when we are pursuing our goals. When we are pursuing our happiness. I have…
I have learned a few things about shooting street photography on film from my own experiences (and the advice of others). If you want to read the full list of things I learned shooting film– read more!
Photos in this article are from my on-going “Only in America” series. I’m currently reading a lovely book titled: “A Philosopher’s Notes: On optimal living, creating an authentically awesome life and other such goodness.” It is a easy and insightful read– and I have been savoring the book so far. In one of the chapters,…
Sorry guys, it has been a while since I last updated my “Saigon Diary” series. A lot has happened since the last time we talked. During that time, I taught a week-long Saigon street photography workshop, I traveled to Malaysia and visited Pulau Bidong (a refugee camp where Cindy was born). I also took a…
Peter McCollough is a photographer based in Oakland, California. Peter: The inspiration for these images is manifold but films would be at the root of it all. While going to school for photojournalism my idealistic intentions of doing something positive for the world through documentary work faded away for various reasons. I was naive. I…
I’d like to start by thanking everyone who joined our Streettogs Academy facebook page and giving a congratulations to everyone who participated in our first Assignment and props to Helio Tomita who got our Editor’s choice. We hope you learned something new from that assignment. As promised, our editor’s choice will be the one choosing the…
I recently came upon this superb publication by IdeasTap and Magnum. In this magazine, there are exclusive interviews with 12 Magnum photographers– spanning from advice for young photographers, difficulties in photography, and their thoughts on technology. I included my favorite quotes from the magazine in the feature below, enjoy!
I recently had the pleasure of teaching a week-long travel street photography workshop in Saigon, Vietnam. It was seriously the time of a lifetime— I loved all the time I spent with all the students, and it was inspiring to see how much progress everyone made during the week. I also loved the sense of…
“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” ― Andy Warhol As street photographers, I think we are all artists. We craft our version of reality from fragments from everyday life.…
Before we begin, I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone who participated in the first assignment of Streettogs Academy. We hope you continue to participate in the group and learn a thing or two about street photography I’m trying to see how I can better moderate the group to make it an enjoyable and…
Sharpness is over-rated in street photography. Even Henri Cartier-Bresson once said, “Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.” I remember when I first saw one of HCB’s exhibitions in person in Paris, I was surprised by how soft most of his shots were. And many of his photos were significantly out of focus (thinking about the famous shot…
I recently edited some behind-the-scenes footage that my friend Todd Hatakeyama shot of my Downtown LA Introduction to Street Photography Workshop. We had a ton of fun sharing our passion for street photography, interacting with people on the streets, and giving honest feedback and critique on each others’ work– and I was amazed by the…
(A.g.’s note: I’ve been a long time fan and follower of DAYV MATTT on tumblr. He is such a great person to interview and is the type of person who tells it like it is! He Straightforward in his answers and in his photography. This was a really fun interview and I hope all of…
This is a video interview I did with Brian Soko in Chicago about a year ago. Enjoy his images and a transcript of the interview below!
At a recent workshop in Downtown LA, I was shooting with one of the students (Luis) when we come across an interesting character with all these tattoos all over his body. He told us he just got out of jail (a few days ago), and was struggling on the streets. We gave him around 2 bucks,…
I just finished reading a book titled: “Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity”. It was a fascinating read on the paradox of “wu-wei”– which is a concept in Taoism of “action without action”. This means nature accomplishes everything without effort. Similarly, we should be able to accomplish many things in our…
Many of us shoot street photography because it is challenging, fun, and brings us great joy. However one question I find that most people don’t ask themselves (myself included) is what we ultimately want out of photography. I just finished an intense week-long street photography workshop in Saigon which was absolutely incredible– and one of…
When I was in Dubai, I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Simon who wrote an incredible book titled: “The Passionate Photographer“. We talk about working on projects, finding passion, and advice for aspiring street photographers. Read more to see his incredible photos:
Here is just a fun short behind-the-scenes clip of me shooting a street portrait with a Hasselblad in Downtown LA. Enjoy!
One question I am asked a lot is how I make a living in street photography, and questions about selling prints, and making money. To start off, I am blessed enough to make a living from my street photography in teaching workshops. I make about 95% of my living from workshops (and around 5% from…
(Editor’s note: All photos are the respected copyright of the members of SelvaSP) Take a look at this interview of SelvaSP. They are a street photography collective hailing out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. We explore how this collective is being run, what it is they look for, and how they approach the art of street…
I feel one of the most important traits to become a better street photographer is first identifying what makes great street photography. This means having good taste. A quote from Ira Glass from NPR comes to mind– in terms of having good taste: “Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told…