“Sharpness is a bourgeois concept†– Henri Cartier Bresson
In the modern age of photography, everyone seems to have an unhealthy obsession with how sharp lenses are, how much bokeh they produce, and how “3d†they can make their images appear.
Ignore these statements. Anyone who talks at excessive length about any of these topics are misled into thinking that what makes a great photograph are the effects that expensive lenses can give you.
I recently read a critique on Severin Koller’s blog regarding the ethics of street photography and shooting street photography close, with a wide-angle, and a flash (similar to Bruce Gilden). He brings up issues that I think that all street photographers should consider when they think about why they shoot street photography and whether there is a “right or wrong†approach in street photography.
For this post, I will try to type out some of my personal thoughts on the topic at hand. There will be many flaws in my argument but please bear with me—I consider it more of a personal essay that will help me explicate my own thoughts. I will try to draw from street photography books, my personal experiences, as well as some pseudo-philosophy to back up any of my claims.
My ultimate claim is that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to shoot street photography (as there is an abundance of street photography styles out there). However when it comes to street photography, we should argue less about the aesthetics, styles, technique, and approach and —and concentrate on the question: “Why do we photograph?” It doesn’t matter if you use a wide-angle lens or a normal lens or if you use a flash or not. In the end the most important question remains: “Am I creating images that makes a statement on humanity, and will my images have the power to influence others to see differently?”
I am very excited to be part of the Street Photography Now Community’s Instruction #10. Check out the link below to participate!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/spnc-year2-instruction10/
This is the tenth Instruction for the Year 2 of the Street Photography Now Project, written to inspire fresh ways of looking at and documenting the world we all live in. Photographs you contribute should be new work made in response to the Instruction.
The group will open on Friday 03.02.12 at 10.00 GMT. You have until 10.00 GMT on 17.02.12 to upload one photograph in response to this instruction.
For more info on the project, join the mother group here:Â www.flickr.com/groups/spnc/
Recommended bedside reading if you haven’t bought it yet:www.thamesandhudson.com/streetphotography.html
Wonder what the instructions were in Year 1? streetphotographynowproject.wordpress.com/
Ollie: Let me start this with an apology. I haven’t had time this week to produce a nice in-depth interview or to find something or someone to write massively about, (the reason is stated below) so as much as I dislike talking and promoting my own work, this week I haven’t really got a choice.
So, as a lot of you will have known from observing my Twitter and Google+ accounts, I have recently spent a night in hospital whilst undergoing tests for a sleeping disorder. It was nothing major, just an uncomfortable night of being hooked up to a computer that monitors my brain activity. I decided to make use of this situation and bring a few cameras with me to enable me to produce some work.
Eric’s Note: This guest blog post is by Alex Coghe, a passionate street photographer from Mexico City. I had the great pleasure of meeting Alex in Los Angeles for the ThinkTank Gallery “YOU ARE HERE” street photography event sponsored by Leica. See this post why he loves street photography, and see how it echoes with you too!Â
Alex: Street Photography for me is all about the photography. There are so many genres of art, but street photography is the most powerful to me.
Street photography is one of the biggest passions in my life. My mind is always on street photography. I spend a large amount of time either shooting on the streets, blogging about street photography, networking with street photography, and thinking about street photography.
Eric’s Note: I am pleased to announce the great concept of the “Streettogs Gallery” — a concept by A.g. De Mesa, a passionate street photographer from Manila in the Philippines.  Hopefully his idea can help bring more great photo series, documentary series, and photo essays!Â
A.g.: Stemming from Eric’s piece on making a series, Streettogs Gallery is a column appearing every Wednesday wherein I will showcase street photography based photo series, documentary projects, and photography essays together with my thoughts on the stories and the artist which could hopefully contribute to the aesthetic and knowledge of you, the readers.
I also hope to encourage a healthy discussion and show our opinions about the work presented and to judge it not whether if it is good or bad technically (an area in which Ollie’s CritiqueMe series is all about) but rather if it contributes to the art form that is street photography and to push it further.
Read more to see how you can get your work featured here!
Eric’s Note: I am pleased to have street photographer Kramer O’Neill share in this guest blog post his experiences about self-publishing two of his books. It is an incredibly difficult process–check out what he learned through the process in the post below!
Kramer: In 2011, I designed, printed, and distributed two photo books: Pictures of People and Things 1, an A5-sized paperback, and Till Human Voices Wake Us, a large-format hardcover. The two books are quite different: Pictures of People and Things is an associatively-edited, diverse collection of photos that work as two-page diptychs, while Till Human Voicesis a narrowly-focused, abstract, semi-narrative aquatic series in the street photography tradition, about swimming and the dark pull of the ocean. In both cases, though, I had no idea what I was getting into. In the interest of spreading some knowledge to other would-be self-publishers, here are a few things I learned.
Eric’s Note: This article is by Trevor Marczylo, a street photographer based out of Winnipeg. He is actually heading out to Korea soon, so after reading this article, make sure to wish him a safe trip!
Trevor: The other night I stayed up until 5am printing. I was working on this one shot that took me about 4 tries to get right; burn here, dodge there. I couldn’t stop till I had just the right print. In this digital age where I could achieve what I want on my Mac in just 5 minutes, why should street photographers continue to print black and white in the darkroom? Read more and find out!
(Above image by Alex Webb from his Istanbul Book)
Something I have becoming more focused on is working on street photography projects. Street photography projects are important because they help you stay focused when shooting, and help you make more of a statement with a collection of images (rather than just individual images). If you have never started your own street photography project (or want some inspiration), keep reading to learn how you can start your own street photography project!
(Above image by Magnum Photographer Elliott Erwitt)
I consider myself first a sociologist, then a photographer. If anything, being a street photographer allows me to synthesize these two loves. On top of that, I am a lover of knowledge, theory, experimentation, as well as teaching. Fortunately being able to teach street photography for a living makes my life fulfilled.
I am currently reading an essay by Howard Becker (a famous sociologist) who also happened to be interested in art worlds (and especially photography). He is the author in which most of the sociological backbone of my upcoming UC Riverside Online course is coming from when teaching some of the theory behind street photography.
(Above image by Devin Yalkin)
Recently when I went to Tokyo, I had a ton of fun shooting in the streets with Charlie Kirk and Bellamy Hunt—both who shoot film. I never really understood the rationale why people shot with film. To me at the time, it seemed like a burden. First of all, you had to buy the film. Secondly, after you took the photos you couldn’t see them instantly. And lastly, it was expensive to develop it (and even more money to scan). For these three reasons, I was mostly put off by film. Although I did shoot a bit with my Contax IIIa film rangefinder and did enjoy it—at the end of the day I preferred my digital camera.
Nevertheless, I was intrigued with film once I came to Tokyo. In Tokyo, the analog culture is strong. There are tons of used film camera shops, and tons of other places where you can buy film as well. Not only that, but there are many photographers who shoot film who support one another as well and have their own communities. I had no idea how much influence the analog culture would have on me when I was in Tokyo.
In this article I was fortunate enough to be able to conduct an interview through email with NY-based photographer Mike Peters. His style of street portraiture is one that has been attempted many times by many names, but never quite to the extent or success of Mike’s work. He is consistent and his work flows well together, but he is not held down by his style and does not limit himself in what he creates. I hope you guys enjoy his work and words as much as I have, and that you may find some inspiration in this article that will help guide and refine your work, I know I certainly have.
(Above image by Matt Stuart)
One of the books that has profoundly changed my understanding of the world is “The Black Swan†by Nassim Taleb. His thesis is that much of what happens in the world is by pure luck and randomness. He uses The analogy of the “black swan†is that scientists for hundreds of years assumed that because only because white swans were seen, no black swans existed. However the day that a black swan was discovered, their understanding of swans changed dramatically.
In life there are two types of black swans: positiv black swans that bring us fortune, and negative black swans that bring us misfortune.
Recently every book I have been reading (whether it be a finance book, an economics book, a sociology book, or philosophy book) I have been able to always link it back to street photography.
(Above image by Trevor Marczylo)
Eric’s Note: I am pleased to announce Trevor Marczylo, a street photographer eating, living, and surviving in Winnipeg, Manitoba as a new weekly contributor to the blog! He is a full-time photographer, making a living selling prints that he takes on a daily basis. Make sure to check out his last feature on my blog with his photos here. Also keep posted for his Friday features!Â
I think a “subjective street photograph” contains the attitude of photographer.
The pure photographic image without thinking of any composition but only capturing the moment of a situation with limited time to only think or react and relay on his/her trained eye and how they view/see through their own camera in a moment.
That being said… It all comes down to the street photograph and how that photograph was taken. I’ll try my best to explain myself and using a few of my photos in this article.
With the New Year fast approaching, what better way to start than having a professional critique on the worlds leading street photography blog?
I am excited to announce I will be teaching my first university-level course on street photography at the UC Riverside Extension program! The course will be an online/offline hybrid class- with the majority of the coursework being online, with street photography outings, exhibition outings, as well as a final student exhibition in-person.
The course is open to 20 students, and you can find out more information about the course (or register)Â here.
| Instructor: | Eric Kim | |
| Schedule: | Jan. 16 – Mar. 23 (Two field trips to be arranged.) | |
| Preregistration: | Requested by January 13th | |
| Location: | Online | |
| Textbook: | “Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art,” John Szarkowski ISBN: 0870705156 Buy Online | |
| Credit: | 3 units | |
| Fees: | $375 | |
Have you ever seen somebody on the streets and had the irresistible urge to take a photo of them? Whether it was their face, the shadow they cast, or the background they were standing in front of. In this introductory course, you learn how to: capture the beauty in the mundane of everyday life and “decisive moments,” shoot candid photos of strangers up-close and personal, study street photography in a sociological context, use the camera to explore society.
Develop your eye for street photography by studying the masters such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, and others. The class is a hybrid of an online and offline course. Utilize online tools to study the work of the masters and create an online community where you critique & comment on one another’s images.
The offline aspect will go on field trips to photography museums/galleries, to go out and shoot with one another, and have a final exhibition of all the student work.
Sign up before it’s too late–and let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment below! Â
(Above image “Untitled” by Christos Kapatos)
I just finished reading “The Black Swan†by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, where he discusses many misconceptions and fallacies that we face as humans. He talks from a scientific-philosophical viewpoint, and has many fascinating insights.
One of them was about knowledge—and that it isn’t necessarily additive—rather something subtractive. For example, a good stock-broker won’t tell you what to do, but rather what not to do.
Therefore for this blog post I will share some of my insights and experiences in street photography in terms of what not to do. Hopefully this will help you get more compelling images when out on the streets!
(Above image copyrighted by Joel Meyerowitz)
Eric’s Note: This article is by Ollie Gapper, a street photographer based in the UK- and now a weekly contributor to the blog. Stay tuned for more of his “Ollie Gapper Thursday†posts! Â
With any genre of photography its easy to become saturated in your work and the work of others around you. In street photography, regardless of the numerous variations in individual photographers approaches and the wealth of locations and types of people we are granted visual access to, we still, slowly, become numb to the photographic impacts that once enthralled us. This is why I, for one, enjoy periodically dabbling in different genres of photography, whether it is shooting or viewing, to allow my mind to refresh and recharge from the relentless practice that is street photography.
(Above image copyrighted by Albert Watson)
I just finished the behemoth of a biography on Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and I gotta say—I am deeply moved. The biography was not only brutally honest, but gave inspirational insights into the thoughts and motivations behind Steve Jobs and Apple.
Although controversial, he made some of the most revolutionary products this generation (the Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc) and had the vigor, discipline, and drive to do it.
Whenever I read books, it always helps me inspire in both my personal life and even more—my own photography. Although Steve Jobs was not a photographer (he actually dabbled in the idea of getting Apple more into photography) his vision, drive, and passion are all things we can learn from. For this article I will outline 10 traits of Steve Jobs which I feel could make you a better street photographer.
Eric’s Note: This article is by Ollie Gapper, a street photographer based in the UK- and now a weekly contributor to the blog. Stay tuned for more of his “Ollie Gapper Thursday” posts! Â
Over the past few months it’s fair to say I’ve spent a lot of time and money on printing. Though it wasn’t entirely through choice, it’s an element of my university course I absolutely would not change. It’s enlightened me, allowed me to look at my work in a totally different way. Being able to hold an image, move it around in the light, hold it close to my face and scrutinise every inch of it, it feels like its making me a better photographer. Seriously.
I’ve learnt a lot in terms of traditional, darkroom printing, both colour and black and white, and in doing so, I’ve learnt a lot about my film and my photographs.
Ive also been reading through the Ansel Adams technical guide books (The Camera, The Negative and The Print) which has taught me to reverse this method of only ever printing for your negative, it instead teaches you to expose your negative for your print. I shant go into the specifics of the Zone System or anything, as thats not what I want to say in this article.
What I want to say is simple: Print your images.
You can check out a list of street photography books I recommend here:Â Inspirational Street Photography Books You Gotta Own
I was at Charlie Kirk’s apartment in Tokyo, when he turned me onto a book he recently bought and was moved by, which was a book by Alec Soth—a Magnum photographer. It a lovely book, with a yellow cover and several of his photo projects inside, including excerpts from his blog which discussed the role of gear.
He said he constantly got questions about his gear for his projects, and then made the remark that he didn’t mind the question that much—considering that most photographers are nerds/geeks anyways. Therefore he listed a long list of his equipment (mostly large-format stuff) and how he processed his film—specifically for each project he did. He then ended the post mentioning that he wrote the post specifically with an Apple iBook. Funny and snarky way to end the post.
In this blog post my thesis is that we should quit wasting money on gear (lenses, bodies, etc) and more money on photo-books. I feel that the best way to improve your vision as a street photographer is to look at great photography (which is nearly impossible online) and readily found in photo-books. If you are curious about why, please continue reading! (as this post is damn long).
After seeing Eric becoming ever more inundated with his workshop work, videos, Leica work and all the associated travel I decided to get in touch and say “Hey, how about I help out on a more regular basis?”. The result of the following email conversation? OG Thursdays. (My middle name is Mathew (with one ‘T’) but I thought “OMG Thursdays” may have been easily confused with one of the millions of Perez Hilton-style gossip blogs).
Ill be submitting guest posts every Thursday on a plethora of subjects relating to lifestyle, documentary and of course street photography that I think you guys will enjoy reading. Photographers I have met, people I think you should know, projects I’m working on, experiences I’ve had, equipment I’ve used, you name it and I’ll endeavour to cover it one way or another.
I’m studying a BA (Bachelors) in Contemporary Photographic Practice at the University for the Creative Arts in South East Kent, UK, which – along with supplying me with vast spectrums of  information, inspiration and experience – also gives me access to lots and lots of rather lovely gear! A vague list for your delectation:
The idea is that you guys put in a request for the gear you want to see reviewed (Ill let Eric handle the Leica stuff..for now) and I’ll get the gear, buy some film and I’ll write up as comprehensive a review as I can.
Im happy to answer any questions regarding my past work or current projects, take a look at www.olliegapperphotography.com www.flickr.com/photos/olliegapper and olliegapper.tumblr.com.
Comment below for what gear you’d like to see reviewed or any topics you’d like to see me review/cover.
Email me: olliegapper@me.com
Tweet me: @olliegapper
Check out my work on a feature on Eric’s Blog here: “My Life and Story about Street Photography†by Ollie Gapper
Having fun camera shopping with Bellamy Hunt in Tokyo. If you need a camera, lens, or film case from Tokyo check him out athttp://www.japancamerahunter.com/
(Golden Leica???)
Check out my snapshots from Tokyo, which include trips to camera stores, Charlie Kirk’s house, drinking, and fun with Bellamy Hunt!
There is approximately one month left to submit for the International Street Photography Award in London for 2012. The deadline is Jan 5th, make sure to submit before it’s too late! I am also excited to announce I will be one of the judges on the international panel :)
>> More info
A funny story of how I got interrogated for shooting street photography at a racetrack for horses in Tokyo, an interview with Bellamy Hunt (how to best shoot in Tokyo), and fun antics with Charlie Kirk in the background!
(Fibonacci spiral above a photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson)
One of the questions that I have been pondering for quite a while is how much a great street photograph is objective versus subjective. I would say that the general consensus is that great photography, like most of art, is purely subjective. As what they say, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.â€
However I would disagree with this opinion, and argue that great street photographs are more objective than subjective. This is much more of a controversial position to hold, but I argue it is more fun to play devil’s advocate than just go with the traditional way of thinking.
Many of my thoughts will stem from studying the works of Cartier-Bresson, in which most of his iconic images that an average person will call “great†is based on strict composition from geometry – based out of compositional theories from paiting. After all, Cartier-Bresson did start off as a painter and referred to his images as “instant sketches.†I will also draw upon some of my own personal observations and opinions—which you may or may not agree with.
I will make an attempt to try to discuss how much of composition, story-telling, forms, balances, objectivity, subjectivity, ratios, etc play into great street photographs. Take everything you read with a grain of salt, as this article is more of a personal essay for me to traverse some of my thoughts on the subject.
Be warned, this essay is ridiculously long (4,000+ words) so maybe bookmark this post and find the time to read it. You’re not going to agree with everyone I say, but if you read the entire thing I can assure you that you will start thinking more analytically about what makes a great street photograph.
“There is a big difference between a photographer and someone who clicks a shutter. One learns his craft and the other looks for a quick fix.â€
– Winslo
I am an old school photographer born and bred on film. I have been shooting for a long time. When I was in photo school, it was mandatory to shoot 4 x 5 or medium format. Being a stereotypical ‘poor and starving’ student, I did not have a lot of money to spend on film, processing, and development. Every shot had to count. My medium format camera at the time was a Bronica ETRs with an 80 mm lens and one film back. It gave me 15 shots per roll. It had no meter and was manual focus. Shooting street with that camera forces you to shoot with purpose and discipline.
When I do my street shooting, today, with my current DSLR, I applied the same principle of making every shot count. I do not shoot for quantity I shoot for quality. Is every thing I shoot considered good? Of course not, but it makes culling the images easier because I know what I was aiming for when I shot. This is what Ansel Adams’ call “pre-visualization;†knowing what your photo will look like before you shot it. See his classics series on photography, Book II “The Negative,†for more info. The following is how I shoot on the street using one photo as an example.
This is the thought process that occurred as I shot my dog walker photo.
(“Cut” by Rinzi Ruiz)
I am currently reading Malcom Gladwell’s book: “What the Dog Saw†which is a great collection of his best articles published in The New Yorker.
There is a fascinating section talks about the difference between “choking†and “panicking†which I think plays really well into street photography:
(Chicago, Eric Kim)
I studied Sociology during my undergrad at UCLA. I loved learning all of the ways that people interacted, communicated, and collected in groups. It really opened up my eyes to the world around me. However little did I know that all these things I have learned in Sociology (and trained myself to see) would apply so much to street photography.
Below are some things that I have learned about human nature and interaction – which has helped me along my street photography journey in terms of building my courage and candidly taking photos of strangers. Hope these are as helpful to you as they were helpful to me!
Thomas Leuthard (85mm) is putting together a fun street photography contest that is open to everyone in the world with the topic: “Headlines“. It is free to enter, and can be a great way to get more exposure in your photography. Below is more information about the contest:
The contest is open to everyone around the world. There is no age or any other restriction. The genre is Street Photography and the photos must be taken in a candid way, so don’t setup your photos. There is a minor amount of post processing allowed. This is not a Photoshop contest and your photo will not be accepted, if there are too many changes made. The photos must be uploaded to the “85mm Street Photography Contest” Flickr group. A basic Flickr account is free of charge. There are no special requirements to enter the contest.
The deadline for the contest is December 31, 2011 at the end of the day.
There are also cash prizes for the contest up to $500 (enough money to finally buy that prime-lens you have always wanted!).
Love the street photography by In-Public Blake Andrews or his witty “B” blog? Check out this novel idea: his portfolio from In-Public, family shots, unseen B Sides and outtakes, and other 35 mm personal favorites printed on 52 playing cards.
Grab your preorder for only $12 and support him and his photography. You can check out the cards here.
Also check out my past video interview with Blake Andrews on my blog.
(All images copyrighted by Dirty Harrry)
Eric’s Note: For this article I am pleased to feature the thoughts about Dirty Harrry, a prolific street photographer from Crete in Greece. His images shot with flash are  not only surreal but technically well done. Make sure to also check out my interview with him here, and see his images on Flickr.
Hi Eric, thanks for your invitation once again here. My words may be obvious and don’t consider them “rules”. However these are my observations after shooting for 3 years with a flash in my street photography.
I have been in Mumbai, India the last 3 days and have been having the blast of my life. Kaushal Parikh, an incredibly talented street photographer from Mumbai, has been my host and not only shown me the wonderful streets here, but has treated me like family and is feeding me well (I probably will gain at least 20 pounds before leaving).
For those of you who have never been to India, here are some of my thoughts about shooting street photography here:
I haven’t had a single negative encounter so far. I just make sure to smile and say “thank you”. People are very receptive here and LOVE to get their photo taken. I have even shot with my flash today, and people seem very amused with it, and appreciate the attention.
India has a massive gap from the wealthy and poor. The wealthy are incredibly rich (drive around Bently’s) while the poor are dying on the streets. It is really heartbreaking to see, but makes me appreciate what I have so much more.
However this can make for interesting juxtapositions between the rich and poor, in terms of the people as well as the buildings, cars, etc.
There is so much to see and so much to shoot. Although this can be a problem at times (there are sometimes too much people on the street). However it seems wherever I go, there is always people and something going on.
I am also preparing for my street photography workshop this weekend (I am hosting 3 of them while I am here). Wish me luck and I will keep everyone updated! :)
Also if you are an Indian street photographer and would like to be considered in the India Street Photographers collective, email Kaushal Parikh at kaush_par@yahoo.co.inÂ
If you are in Cambodia or in Asia, make sure to check out the Angkor Photo Festival exhibitions coming up in Cambodia. I am also pleased to announce that some of my images will also be featured in the Asian Street Photography Group Exhibition. Make sure to spread the word, and let me know if you will be there!
(In the video above, I share a story of a recent confrontation I had in Toronto (that got physical) and how I defused the situation.)
Edit: In the video I previously mentioned an issue regarding street photography in Vancouver. I actually meant to say Quebec. Read all about the canadian street photography laws here.
Confrontations rarely occur in street photography. As long as you smile and say “thank you” after taking photos of people, 95% of people smile and say “thank you” back or just ignore you.
However 5% of the time, people typically will react in a negative manner. It is usually one of these below (I will add rough estimates in my experience):
In today’s 1-minute masterclass with Steve McCurry, he talks about getting “in the zone” when he is out shooting. He prefers to shoot alone and to quietly explore the streets without speaking much, to get a feel of the environment he is shooting in.
Although I am a big fan of shooting together in groups (it helps you be more comfortable) shooting alone is when you can be in almost a meditative state– enjoying life around yourself alone.
When you are out shooting, do you prefer to go alone or in a group and why? Share your experiences in the comments below!Â
The folks from Phaidon are continuing their “One-Minute Masterclass” series with Steve McCurry. This new episode features his secret in getting interesting photos from unique vantage points (like a high vantage point). He describes how surprised he was in terms of how accommodating people can be in letting you enter their house or patio to shoot cityscapes. This reflects my own personal experiences, such as when I was shooting in the streets of Beirut, Lebanon– random strangers would start talking to me and even invite me into their house to enjoy some coffee.
The next time you are traveling, make some friends and ask for permission to enter people’s homes and take the time to know them and chat with them. As they like to say on the internet, “ask and you shall receive.”
Cheryl Dunn, a filmmaker and photographer in New York City, recently put together a 16-minute short film on street photography. She is now thinking about expanding that documentary into a feature-length film. The film will include street photographers:
One of my favorite quotes by Alfred Eisenstaedt is “It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter”. When we are out shooting street photography, it is often difficult to find time to talk to the subjects we capture, as life often moves at a very fast pace.
Steve McCurry, one of the most pivotal photographers of the 21st century, shares the same notion. McCurry has traveled the world and captured subjects in very intimate settings- and one of his pieces of advice is to approach and talk to people (even for a minute) before taking photos of them. I feel that this is a very important piece of advice to take, especially when visiting foreign countries. The video shown above is a feature put together by Phaidon, which can be viewed here.
Although I still feel that street photography should be done without permission and candidly, I see no problem interacting with your subjects before, during, or even after you shoot them.
Thanks to Ian Pettigrew for the tip, and let us know how much you like to interact with your subjects when shooting by leaving a comment below!Â
First off, Hi. I’m Trevor Marczylo I am full-time photographer,  a street photographer eating, living, and surviving in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
My work tends to focus on documentary style street Photography or the simple daily patterns of how people go with their daily routines.
I’ve been shooting film for the past 15 years or so, also hand develop and print my own work but I’m not going to lie, I do a lot of digital these days too. I’ll leave that to you to decided which is film and which isn’t.
I am constantly shooting and sometimes a roll of film might take me a week or two to finish where as other days I may go though a few rolls of film in a day. I never give it much thought on what I do, I just have a strong passion for capturing emotion and documenting a moment to tell a story. I don’t start my day out to try and produce art I just leave my house with my camera in my hand and simply document as I see.
In all honesty, I really dont know what to say. Its just easier for me to explain myself with my photos. with that being said I’ll leave that to the people reading this and viewing the images.
I’d also like to thank Eric Kim for sharing my images:
Make sure to check out more of Trevor’s images on his blog! And yes, those borders are real ;)
(Photo above by Andrew Eccles. Disregard how classy the chimp looks)
Chimping– it is a disease and an unhealthy addiction that runs rampart within the digital photography community. What is chimping you ask? It is the act of looking at your LCD screen the second after you take a shot. Why do they call it chimping? Well imagine if you think you got a great shot, you show other people, and point to your LCD screen while saying “ooh ooh ooh” like a chimpanzee. Why is this bad when it comes to street photography? Keep reading to find out.
My friend Charlie was generous enough to provide this article to discuss how he shoots street photography with a flash with his film Leica MP. Also if you haven’t yet, check out his documentary on Uchujin’s blog!
I thought I should write a short piece about using a flash for street photography. I don’t profess to be an expert on the technical side, so this is simply a few paragraphs about how I shoot and what I have learnt. I am writing from the perspective of a Leica MP user, although a large part of this will apply to anyone that wants to shoot flash manually.
The Leica MP has a flash sync speed of 1/50th of a second. What this means is that the shutter speed must be set to 1/50 or slower – otherwise, for complicated and boring reasons, black bands appear on (I think) the left hand side of the photo. Practically this is a limitation. The background will likely blur unless the photographer has a steady hand. I tend to try to shoot at 1/50th as much as possible to avoid this. Shooting at less will increase the blur. While some people might want this, I ï¬nd it distracting – especially in a city like Tokyo where what happens is that you will get a lot of light trails. But I’d encourage everyone to experiment.
As with non flash photography, I select the ISO according to the time of day and weather. The thing to remember with ISO (and aperture) is that these settings affect the distance that the flash can ï¬re. The lower the ISO the weaker the flash will be. Therefore to shoot in the day a very strong flash (ie one with a high guide number) is required. I use the Nikon SB900. The other problem with shooting in the day is that the photographer is constrained by the slow sync speed. Therefore, it’s usually necessary to close down the lens to f/22 to accommodate for the slow shutter speed.
I tend to want to have as much depth as ï¬eld as possible to account for focusing errors. The fastest I will shoot at is f/8, and I’ll only do this to let in more ambient light. The more closed down the lens the weaker the flash power.
The general point to remember is to take a meter reading ï¬rst, setting the shutter speed to 1/50th. For example, on a sunny day:
Shutter speed – 1/50th (constrained by x-sync).
ISO 50
Aperture – f/11 – f/22
After this, I’ll underexpose the ambient by a stop or two for a more dramatic look. So, if the meter reads f/11, I would set to f/16.
Then I’ll enter the ISO and the aperture into the flash and see what distance it gives me. For my flash this will be about 1-2 meters. This means that my subjects need to be at the distance from the camera that is showing on the back of the flash. If I want to take a picture of a subject that is further away, I can zoom the flash, which sometimes might get me an extra meter or two.
I take the same approach at night, although I care less about the ambient light as often the background is just black sky. The other difference at night is that the ISO will be 1600.
This means that the flash reading will probably be around 5 or 6 meters. So I reduce the flash power to give me a 1 meter or so reading.
I’m no technical expert, but one thing I have noticed is that the flash tends to freeze subjects when they are closer to the camera. This is important as a 1/50th shutter speed will not freeze them. But when subjects are close it is very important to get the flash power correct, otherwise subjects will be under or overexposed. Underexposure is very common due to the inverse square law (light falls off more quickly the closer the flash is to the subject).
The other point to note about the inverse square law is that it is very hard to light multiple subjects at different distances from the camera with one flash, especially where the nearest subject is close to the camera. The only way around this is to bounce the flash off the ceiling, use more than one flash, spread the flash beam (if you have that setting) or shoot when the nearest subject is a bit further away.
So that’s about it. Please let Eric know if you have any questions.
Inspired by Thomas Leuthard’s post on how street photography has changed his life, I want to take this opportunity to talk a little about my street photography journey, and how it has changed my life for the better, beyond my wildest dreams.
The cool folks over at Street Reverb Magazine are teaming up with Xperia Studio in a joint “Reality Remade” street photography competition. There are lots of great prizes including a £2200 grand prize, including free Xperia phones.
In order to enter, you will need to put together a project proposal interpreting the theme “Reality Remade” and submit a short biography about yourself, accompanying your portfolio. The 5 best proposals will move onto the next round of the competition, where they will be given an project budget of £300 and a Sony Ericsson Xperia Phone to capture 5 images for the theme.
This competition is free and a great opportunity for you to get your name out there– so make sure to enter!
I am pleased to announce the opening of the YOU ARE HERE Street Photography Exhibition tonight at the Think Tank Gallery in Downtown LA sponsored by Leica. The concept was that 30 photographers weregiven 10 days to shoot one square block in the Fashion district in Downtown LA. Despite the restriction, all the photographers were able to capture the soul and essence of the place in a beautiful way.
The exhibition is FREE will feature over a hundred photographs, and complimentary drinks and food will be provided. Free parking is located all around the gallery at 939 Maple Ave, and the exhibition will run from 7:00PM-1AM. If you are in the LA area, stop by!
Please RSVP via the Facebook invitation and I hope to see you all there!
Hey streettogs, just got interviewed by the folks over at 500px. They asked me some questions about my approach in street photography, how my work has evolved, as well as my thoughts on some controversial topics. If you got a minute, make sure to check out my feature here!
Thanks to Jen Tse for the interview, and Neil Ta for hooking us up! Â
(Above image by Norman Estrologo)
Eric’s Note: This article is written by Norman Estrologo, a Los Angeles based street photographer who has recently attended my introductory and intermediate street photography workshops. In a relatively short time, he has found his passion in street photography and has been experimenting with his style and shooting constantly.Â
There are many different approaches to street photography and I believe that body language plays a role in most of these. My approach to street photography started out with photos of multiple characters but then as I progressed, I moved a little closer, held up a flash and focused on one distinct subject (a style highly influenced by Bruce Gilden, Charlie Kirk and Eric Kim to name a few).  I just found this approach a bit more challenging and rewarding at the same time. Not to mention, a very niche following. Personally, it’s because of the fact that not many venture into it that I decided to indulge myself in doing street photography with a flash.
When talking about composition, there are many things to consider but I am particularly interested in capturing body language (facial expression, posture, hand gesture and etc). The fact that I usually have only one main subject means that I have to make up for story telling through the actions of an individual.
Here are some of the common forms of body language that I tend to look for in my subjects:
(Above image by Blake Andrews)
Blake Andrews, a member of the In-Public street photography collective and prolific blogger over at “B” has a list of 10 great street photography assignments. Check them out at the link below and try them out!
>> Ten Street Photography Assignments by Blake Andrews
Which of these assignments do you find particularly fascinating? Share your thoughts in the comments below!Â
 (“What’s on a doorman’s mind?” by Simon Garnier)
Eric’s note: The following guest article is by Simon Garnier, part scientist and part street photographer who lives and works in New Jersey. Read his previous article about getting close in street photography and this new article where he discusses what it takes to take a great street photograph.
What does it take to make a good street photograph? Many, many, many things. Some weeks ago on this blog, for instance, I discussed the importance of taking a picture at the right scale, that is, at the scale of the event you are photographing. As you can imagine, however, the scaling problem is not the only challenge one faces when doing street photography. I might be at the right scale, but not at the right position or angle; the natural light might create shadows masking important elements; the composition of the picture (that is, the organization of the different components of the image relative to each other and to the dimensions of the picture) might diminish the meaning and clarity of the photograph; the colors (if you shoot in color like me) might simply not get along very well (try flashy green on purple for instance :-) ); the contrasts might be too low to easily distinguish the foreground from the background; etc, etc. Street photography is an easy genre to start with (the easiest maybe?), but for sure it is one of the hardest to master as all these problems must be tackled under strong time constraints.
When I first started shooting street photography, I was always frustrated that my autofocus would always be too slow to capture the decisive moment. After trudging around the internet, I was first introduced to the idea of “zone focusing” by Markus Hartel on his blog.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with zone focusing you essentially use a high f-stop number with a deep depth of field (f/16 or f/11) and have your camera pre-focused to a certain distance to get your photos in-focus. This is beneficial because although modern autofocusing systems are quite good, they are not 100% reliable. Using zone focusing when shooting street photography allows you to get far more keepers.
Regarding the settings, I typically use the following when shooting:
Alfred Eisenstaedt once said, “It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter“. Upon reading this quote, it made me start thinking differently how I approach my street photography. When I started off, I would avoid eye contact at all costs, often shooting from the hip or being a little more sneaky. However nowadays, I actually prefer making eye contact with my subjects the majority of the time and even interacting with them after taking the shot. Often times when things are a bit too hectic on the streets, I don’t talk much with people but whenever I have the opportunity I try. Keep reading to learn how to interact with your subjects more when shooting on the streets.
(Above image by Erik Lauri Kulo)
In the late 90s photographic film made, what would seem, a last push to stay on top of the photography market with a row of new cameras such as the Olympus Mju-II that quickly sold around 3.8 million examples. Or the Canon EOS 1-N that served the purpose of showcasing just how advanced Canon’s technology really was at the time.
But with the millennium came a new king of the market: the digital camera. With the new Canon 1D and Nikon D1 film truly appeared to be losing the battle. And today when technology has reached a level that was a mere fantasy of science fiction fans a couple of years ago, it would seem like film is dead.
Interview conducted by Jacob Patterson, co-founder of the ThinkTank Gallery in Los Angeles.
I recently received my copy of Tenderloin USA, which is a 50-page black and white introspection of the Tenderloin, one of San Francisco’s most vibrant yet often overlooked neighborhoods. Street photographers Brad Evans and Travis Jensen go into the heart of the Tenderloin, and capture soulful images of the people who work, hustle, hang out, and live in the colorful and culturally diverse neigborhood.
The most inspirational part of Tenderloin USA is that 100% of the profits will go to the Larkin Street Youth Services, a San Francisco charitable organization that helps at-risk youth in the area. I am a huge advocate for helping out the community through photography, so do your part and pick up a copy! The journal is only $20 through HP’s Magcloud, and you can buy a copy here.
Help support this project and the community now!
Hi 
(Above image copyrighted by Alex Majoli)
Bill Reeves, a passionate photographer who is fortunate enough to have Magnum photographers Eli Reed and Paolo Pellegrin as his mentors, told me about a blog post that Magnum had a while back regarding advice to young photographers. It was put together by Alec Soth, who has done a series of fascinating projects such as his most popular, “Sleeping by the Missisippi” which was done on a 8×10 view camera. An interesting excerpt that Bill put together about Alec is below:
Alec writes up lists of things to shoot. Some normal objects, like suitcases, and others more weird, like unusually tall people. He would tape this list to his steering wheel, and be reminded to shoot those things when he saw them. When he found someone to shoot, he would talk to them, and from that conversation find the next thing to go looking for. An example is he did a portrait of a guy who built model airplanes, and then a portrait of a hooker. The link? She had airplanes painted on her nails. He then went to photograph Charles Lindberg’s childhood home, which led him to photograph Johnny Cash’s boyhood home and so on and so forth.
I found the advice that these Magnum photographers is golden–and have shared it here to spread the love and knowledge. Keep reading to see their inspirational images and advice. You can also download the free PDF here.
Sorry for the delay, but finally chose the Top-3 Winners of my first international “Decisive Moment” street photography contest! Many of you voted on your favorite submissions to make it to the top 10, and I chose the top three which I felt captured Henri Cartier-Bresson’s aesthetic of what he would have believed to be the “The Decisive Moment”. Congratulations to everyone who submitted and the winners will be awarded Lens Bracelets of their choice!
Stay updated as I have lots of other new street photography contests coming up! Keep reading to see all the amazing images and the stories behind them!
I recently got these 10 street photography tips from an anonymous street photographer who wanted to share this information with you. I found these tips to be very insightful, and I hope you will too! Keep reading more to learn about all the goodness.
Eric’s Note: This is article is part of an on-going weekly column by Japancamerahunter (Bellamy Hunt) where he talks about vintage cameras, film, and street photography. You can check out his part articles here.Â
Now that you have taken the plunge and bought yourself a film camera you might be wondering what film you should be using. Well, this is a rather difficult one to answer, as one man’s meat is another man’s poison.
But, never fear, Eric asked me, your charming uncle Japancamerahunter to try and steer you through the rough (and sometimes expensive) seas that make up camera film.
Now this article is timely in that it comes off the back of an announcement last week by Fujifilm that they will be cutting production of a number of films. This seems to be a growing trend, and I can imagine it will not be long before only the smaller specialized companies like Ilford and Efke are making film. So if you are fancying a crack at the film game there is no better time than now. Get on it while the going is good.
(Cover photo by Charlie Kirk)
Stu Egan, a passionate street photographer and magazine editor from London recently put together the first issue of Radiate Magazine, a new street photography magazine filled with great street photographers from all around the globe. Not only does the magazine include great images, but it includes insightful interviews and features from street photographers such as Paul Trevor, John Battaglia, the un-posed street collective (Michal Adamski, Damian Chrobak, Pawel Piotrowski, Zbigniew Osiowy, Tomasz Lazar and Maciej Dakowicz), Charlie Kirk, Misho Baranovic, Bruce Byers and Justin Sainsbury.
The magazine is 100 pages and is only $21 if you wish to get a real paper-back copy. The magazine isn’t priced to make any profit, and is priced at the basement price to get the thing printed. If you really love street photography, you should pick up the paper-back version and enjoy the beautiful images. I just ordered mine and can’t wait until I get it in the mail!
They also offer a free digital download at the link below.
Make sure to also keep posted with their magazine and blog.
Let us know what you think about this magazine by leaving a comment below!
(Above image by Garry Winogrand)
If you want to get a deeper insight into street photography and take better photos, I feel it is very important to study the work of the street photographers who came before us and paved the way for the rest of us. Not only that, but reading the quotes and words by these influential street photographers is a great way to train your mind to take better photos as well. Below are some of my favorite street photography quotes that are concise, inspirational, and have influenced me in one way or another.
Eric’s note: The following guest blog post is by Simon Garnier, part scientist and part street photographer who lives and works in New Jersey. Read about his experiences in getting close in street photography–and how he grapples with the idea of getting close in street photography. Interestingly enough this post was written before Fabio Pires’ video came out, but it is more relevant than ever.Â
Simon: I am not an experienced street photographer. I started shooting street and candid pictures about a year ago, after several years of irregular experimentations with film and digital cameras. Everything you will read in this post is therefore the result of an ongoing reflection about something that I thought was true, but that I start to find overestimated, and potentially problematic for street photography in general.
The Think Tank Gallery is looking for 32 street photographers from Los Angeles for a fascinating project. Selected photographers will have 10 days to shoot in an undisclosed location during October 1st-10th. Those chosen will then have their best 3 images shown in their gallery during the LA Downtown Artwalk on October 13th.
If you are interested in participating, shoot an email at youareherethinktank@gmail.com with your 5 best images in JPEG format (resized to 950px wide). This can be a great opportunity to get more exposure for your work and even get featured in an up-coming gallery!
*Deadline to submit is September 15th, 2011
*You don’t need to be from Los Angeles to participate, but you will have to be in Los Angeles during October 1st-10th to participate.
This event is sponsored by Leica Camera.
(“Leaving” by Rinzi Ruiz)
I am excited to announce that I have chosen the Top 20 “Decisive Moment” Street Photography Contest Finalists. Find the images on Facebook, and vote on your favorite images by “Liking” them! You will have between September 6-14th to vote on the images.
The 10 final images with the most “Like’s” will advance, and I will judge the Top 3 images.
See more details from the contest here.
Recently I have been thinking a lot about marketing oneself as a street photographer. Through the past year on my blog, I have featured a great deal of street photographers who are extremely talented yet haven’t had the coverage that they deserved. Thinking more about the subject, I thought especially about Vivian Maier who was indeed one of the great street photographers, but was unknown until after she died. Of course Maier purposely didn’t share her photos with others, but I think that photographers have a duty to share their images with others to inspire and show the beauty of life.
I know there are many street photographers out there who are still very talented yet don’t know how to get their work out there. I have divided up this blog post up to three parts which will hopefully help you understand what you want out of street photography, how to get your work out there, and how to get your work recognized as well.
I am excited to announce that Thomas Leuthard (85mm) has just released his second book on street photography titled: “Collecting Souls: What Street Photography Means to Me“. This book is much more advanced than his previous book, and contains more of his personal thoughts and ideas when it comes to street photography. It includes more than 30 short chapters about street photography, and should help with your own story-telling and style.
As with Thomas’ other street photography book, it is totally FREE and available for download here.
If you haven’t checked out Thomas’ first book “Going Candid“, you can also download that here as well.
Show Thomas some love by leaving a comment below and telling him what you think about his book/generosity!
Hey streettogs, the Think Tank Gallery in Los Angeles is looking for 32 street photographers for a fascinating project. They will select an undisclosed location, and you will be given 10 days to shoot during October 1st-10th. Those chosen will then have their best 3 images shown in their gallery during the LA Downtown Artwalk on October 13th. If you are interested in participating, shoot an email at youareherethinktank@gmail.com with your 5 best images in JPEG format (resized to 950px wide). This can be a great opportunity to get more exposure for your work and even get featured in an up-coming gallery!
*Deadline to submit is September 15th, 2011
*You don’t need to be from Los Angeles to participate, but you will have to be in Los Angeles during October 1st-10th to participate.
Some of the talented street photographers over at Seconds2Real, a co-operative of thirteen passionate Austrian and German street photographers are going to be hosting an exhibition titled:  “Fascination Streetâ€, their first exhibition of contemporary Street Photography. The Berlin show opens October 15th, 2011 and runs for two weeks. They will also be showing more than 100 prints at the unique MEINBLAU Kunsthaus.
Read more information below to get the inside scoop.
Eric’s Note: For this blog post I am excited to present this article written by Bellamy Hunt (aka Japancamerahunter). Not only is he a skilled street photographer, but he is a professional camera hunter. If you are looking for a vintage or classic camera, he is your man. Knowing nothing about classic cameras myself, I asked him some tips that you may need to know when looking to buy one. Read what he has to say below!
So, you have decided to take the plunge and buy a classic camera, well hold on to your horses, this is something that you shouldn’t run headlong into with wild abandon.
Obviously if you are buying a $20 camera most of this will be completely irrelevant to you, but if you are thinking of getting something a bit nicer, then there are a few things you should consider.
First up, and perhaps most importantly, know what you are looking for. Don’t have a vague idea that you want a film camera and just buy the first one you see; you will just be disappointed.
Here is a little list of things that you should be looking for when you are buying a classic camera.
Don’t forget to order the new re-print of “The Decisive Moment” by Henri Cartier-Bresson!
I have been doing quite a bit of research into Henri Cartier-Bresson, the godfather of street photography.
Although my current approach in street photography is more like Bruce Gilden and less of Henri Cartier-Bresson, HCB influenced much of my earlier work and I still deeply respect his photography and philosophies. I hope you are able to enjoy these things I believe you can learn from Henri Cartier-Bresson about street photography. Keep reading to become inspired and learn more.