Tag: anders petersen

Learn From the Masters: Lesson #7 Don’t Be a Slave to Your Camera

Copyright: Anders Petersen
Copyright: Anders Petersen
Copyright: Anders Petersen

“You are not supposed to be a slave of mechanical tools, they are supposed to help you and be as small and unimportant as possible not to disturb the communication.” – Anders Petersen

There is a disease and a sickness out there. It afflicts thousands (if not millions) of photographers globally, and it costs people hundreds and thousands of dollars. This disease breeds insecurity amongst photographers, and causes photographers to make tons of excuses about their photography.

The disease? It is called “G.A.S.” (gear acquisition syndrome). The concept is that you become addicted to getting new cameras, new gear, new lenses, and new gadgets in photography (rather than focusing on just becoming a better photographer). You make excuses about your gear, and that your camera and equipment is holding you back. You tell yourself, “Oh if I just had camera ‘X’ I would be more inspired in my photography, and take better photos.

I personally still suffer from G.A.S. Whenever I am dissatisfied with my photography, I always think that buying a new camera or lens will help inspire me to become a better photographer. It never does.

The only real way that I have improved my photography is by traveling, attending photography workshops, buying books (not gear), and by just shooting.

I have discovered that when you are actually out shooting, you become very unaware of your camera. You get caught in the “flow” of shooting— and all the excuses about your camera or lens disappear. You become one with your camera, and it is almost as if the photos take themselves.

I always lust for gear when I spend too much time online and on gear forums or review sites. Beware: 99.9% of the photography sites online are just dedicated to gear (as advertising and affiliate sales of cameras drive the photography industry).

How can you cure yourself of “G.A.S”? Unsubscribe (or block) all gear review websites, and whenever you have the urge to buy a new gear just buy a photography book. Realize that your camera is just a tool to create images.

As photographer Anders Petersen tells us, just try to get a small camera that is unobtrusive and focus on making images. He shoots with a simple Contax T3 (a point-and-shoot 35mm camera), and focuses on the emotion in his photos. Focus less on the camera, focus more on shooting, telling stories, and use your cash to travel.

Learn From the Masters: Lesson #2 Shoot From the Gut

Copyright: Anders Petersen
Copyright: Anders Petersen
Copyright: Anders Petersen

“My photography is not ‘brain photography’. I put my brain under the pillow when I shoot. I shoot with my heart and with my stomach.” – Anders Petersen

Anders Petersen is one of the most influential contemporary master photographers. He shoots with a simple point-and-shoot film camera (Contax T3) and shoots soulful black and white images which he refers to as “personal documentary.” He makes himself and the people he meets as his main subjects, and he shoots from the heart.

A photograph without emotion is dead. The problem that a lot of photographers make is that they try to become too analytical with their photography. They are too preoccupied with composition, framing, form, nice light, and they forget the most important thing of making a memorable image: creating an image that has heart, soul, and passion.

So when you’re out shooting, try not too be too analytical. Shoot from your intuition and your guts. If you find anything even remotely interesting, don’t self-censor yourself. Don’t let your brain tell you: “Don’t take that shot, it is boring, and nobody will find it interesting.” Take the photograph anyways, because you can always edit it out (remove it) later.

When is it time to become analytical?

Eric Kim / Tokyo, 2011
Eric Kim / Tokyo, 2011

“It is more after when I am shooting when I am looking at my contact sheets, and then I try to analyze and put things together.” – Anders Petersen

Shoot from your gut when you’re out on the streets, but use your brain when you’re at home and editing your shots. Analyze your images after-the-fact as a post-mortem, and learn how to “kill your babies” (your weak photos that you are emotionally attached to, but you know aren’t great photos).

Separate the shooting and editing sides of your photography. They use different parts of your brains, and if you try to do both of them at the same time, you will fail. As a practical tip, turn off your LCD screen when shooting, and refrain from looking at your images immediately. Let your shots “marinate” by not looking at them until a week after you have made your images.

Letting a photograph “marinate”

I shoot both film and digital, but one of the biggest advantages of shooting film is that you’re forced not to look at your photos immediately after you’ve shot it. I generally don’t get my film processed until 6 months-1 year after I’ve shot it. This helps me truly help disconnect myself emotionally from my shots, which allows me to look at my photos more objectively.

For digital I find it a lot harder to let my shots “marinate,” as I am prone to “chimping” (looking at your LCD screen immediately after you’ve taken photographs).

For this photograph above, I saw this woman juxtaposed against this billboard behind her in London. I got close to her, and took two photos: both with a flash. One of them she was looking away, and one she was looking directly at me.

At first I didn’t think that it was an interesting shot, but then I let the shot “marinate”— and the longer I sat on the image, the more I ended up liking it. I also ended up showing the photograph to a couple of my close friends, who all agreed that it was a strong image.

For some shots, the longer you let your shots “marinate,” the more you like them. For others, the longer you let your shots “marinate,” the less you like them. Imagine oil and water in a bottle. You shake the bottle hard, and they are both mixed. But the longer you wait, the oil will soon rise to the top (your good photos), while the water will sink to the bottom (your weak photos).

Learn From the Masters

If you want to learn more practical wisdom from the masters of street photography, read more below:

10 Things Anders Petersen Can Teach You About Street Photography

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(All photographs in this article copyrighted by Anders Petersen. Photographs used with permission from Petersen)

Anders Petersen, b. 1944, is a Swedish photographer, who is best known for his intimate and documentary-based photography projects. He is best known for his project, “Café Lehmitz” in which he photographed prostitutes, transvestites, lovers, drunkards, and drug addicts from 1967-1970. The photographs are very close and personal, and incredibly humanistic and soulful.

I was honored to meet Anders when I taught my street photography workshop at Fotografiska (he taught a workshop at the same time). People I knew who met him described him as very intense and hardcore- and I was a bit nervous meeting him. However upon meeting him, he was an incredibly loving, caring, and down-to-earth-guy. He looked at my work and gave me great words of advice and inspiration.

Although Anders describes himself as a “private documentary photographer” – I love his thoughts, feelings, and philosophy that I feel many of us street photographers can learn from. If you are curious about learning more, read on!

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