color - ERIC KIM ₿

Jared Krause: Inspired by Light and Colour

(Editor’s Note: Words and Photographs by Jared Krause)

I started shooting in June of 2009. I had causally been thinking about photography and decided to buy a camera. I started posting to a photo blog because I felt like photography was a good way to share my experiences with other people. Shooting street photos gave my photography purpose, a goal and a style to pursue rather than just taking random shots of anything. It was a edgy and new to me.Â I decided to start posting photos to my blog every day, and did so for over a year. In that period, I got very comfortable using my camera, and quite familiar with light, contrast, colour and the other elements involved in photography. Even though I wasn’t shooting street, I was learning.

Interview with Jesse Marlow from In-Public on His New Street Photography Book: “Don’t Just Tell Them, Show Them”

Jesse Marlow is a street photographer based in Melbourne, and a member of In-Public. He recently published his book: “Don’t Just Tell Them, Show Them.” The images wereÂ shot over a 9 year period on the streets of Australia and Europe and features 50 color photographs. I interview him on his start in street photography, the book-making process, and his interest in color film.

Capturing Space, Color, and Light in Sao Paulo: Street Photography by Gustavo Minas

Gustavo Minas is a street photographer based in Sao Paulo, Brazil and part of the Street-PhotographersÂ and the SelvaSPÂ collective.

Gustavo: Hi there, I’m a 32 years old guy born in Cassia, a small town in Brazilian countryside, now living in Sao Paulo. I first got interested in photography during my journalism course at uni, around 2001. Maybe a bit earlier, as I drew a lot as a child, roughly, and photographed school parties with a point and shoot.

After university, I lived in London for 1 year, working as a waiter and just spending time. I bought a handycam with miniDV tapes and started filming everything around, later editing with Windows Movie Maker. I was inspired by those late boring Godard movies, which are mostly about apparently random images. These were the origins of my street photography, as the process was about the same – wandering alone and watching people.

6 Lessons Joel Sternfeld Has Taught Me About Street Photography

Joel Sternfeld. The Space Shuttle Columbia Lands at Kelly Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, March 1979

All photographs in this article are copyrighted by Joel Sternfeld.

Joel Sternfeld is one of the most important and influential photographers of this generation. His large-format color work: “American Prospects” was one of the most revolutionary color works of the time– when “serious” art photographers were only using black and white. Inspired by Robert Frank, Sternfeld hit the road in a small Volkswagon van for 3 years and traveled across America– seeking to capture the American landscape. In his Guggenheim report he wrote that the urge was “of someone who grew up with a vision of classical regional America and the order it seemed to contain, to find beauty and harmony in an increasingly uniform, technological, and disturbing America.”

Street Photography is What Keeps Me Sane: Jerry Pena from New York

Eric’s note: Earlier this year in NYC I bumped into Jerry Pena, a street photographer living in upstate NY. Funny story, he took a street photograph of me, and then I ran after him (not to beat him up) but to just chat. We shot a bit together, chatted about street photography, and I saw some of his color film work – and loved his refreshing style and aesthetic. See more of his color street photos below.

Jerry: My name isÂ Jerry PenaÂ and I’m a 27 year old construction worker living in upstate NY. I have a lot of time off in between jobs and street photography is what keeps me sane. I have always noticed the strange characters and interesting moments that happen on the streets of NYC and always wondered how I could captured them.

10 Lessons William Eggleston Has Taught Me About Street Photography

I first heard about William Eggleston through my good friend and talented street photographer Charlie Kirk about a year and a half ago. He mentioned that he just purchased a copy of “Chromes” by William Eggleston– and that it was one of his favorite photographic books. I asked Charlie what the book was, and he mentioned it was a 3-set book published by Steidl (I would argue the best publisher in the world) with some of the loveliest color photographs that, printed in the book, look more like fine art prints than just reproductions.

I was very excited to hear this, as I was getting more and more interested in color. I searched it instantly on Amazon, and was taken back that it cost ~300 USD. I have never spent more than 100 USD on a photo book, and the thought of spending so much was quite daunting.

The Psychadelic Color Film Street Photography of Sean Lotman from Kyoto

(“The Troublemaker” – Kyoto, Japan. Sean Lotman)

Eric’s Note: I am excited to share this feature with Sean Lotman, a film street photographer currently based out of Kyoto. His colors are phenomenal, have great richness, and soul. He will also be teaching alongside myself, Bellamy Hunt, and Junku Nishimura in our upcoming Kyoto Introduction to Film Street Photography Workshop (11/16-11/18). See his thoughts on photography and his inspiration images below.

Helen Levitt’s Color Street Photography from New York City in the 1970’s

Click to see more photos by Helen Levitt on American Suburb X

Helen Levitt is one of my favorite street photographers – as I love her celebration of life through the classic shots of NYC. To me her work speaks to my heart- the small joys of everyday life through the children on the streets and people just living their everyday lives out and about in the neighborhoods of New York.

I recently visited the photography section of the MOMA, and came upon a slideshow of Helen Levitt’s Slides (in the video above). In 1959 and 1960 she received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation to shoot the streets of New York in color (her previous work was done in black and white). A crazy story is that the best of her shots were stolen from her apartment in 1970. However undeterred, she continued to shoot and her work was featured at the MOMA (in 1974). What remains is a soulful look into the city, in the vibrant medium of color which was very underutilized in that era.

Photos by Helen Levitt

If you want to see more color photos by Helen Levitt (in high resolution), check out this feature on her on American Suburb X here.

Books by Helen Levitt

Below are some lovely books by Helen Levitt (and affordable!). Highly recommend you guys to pick up a copy via Amazon.

Helen LevittÂ (a great and affordable collection of her work-recently published)
Slideshow: The Color Photographs of Helen Levitt
Helen Levitt (an older publication of her work, you can find really cheap used copies on Amazon)

What do you think of Helen Levitt’s work – and which of her images are your favorite? Share your thoughts and love in the comments below!Â

7 Things I Have Learned About Shooting Street Photography in Color

(Above photo: From my newly published “Downtown LA in Color” series)

I have always shot street photography in black and white. After all, it is what all the classic street photographers did. Whenever looking at famous photographs shot by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andre Kertesz, Garry Winogrand, and so forth they were always black and white.

The last 6 months or so I have shot exclusively using color film (Portra 400). After about 5 years of shooting mostly black and white and now shooting mostly color I have learned a lot about the benefits and the difficulties of shooting in color. I have also discovered many influential early color photographers who have had a profound impact on myself.

Curious? Read on.

Interview with Street Photographer Trevor Marczylo in Seoul, Korea

A few days ago I attended David Kim’s Film Photography Workshop in Seoul and was finally able to meet up Trevor Marczylo in person! I have featured Trevor’s work on the blog before, and he has also written articles on Why Street Photographers Should Print in the Darkroom, How to File Out Your Negative Holder, as well as his thoughts on What Makes a Great Street Photograph.

Trevor moved out to Korea around 6 months ago from Winnipeg, Canada and has been shooting quite a bit of color work (compared to his black and white work in Canada).

Take a moment to check out my interview in the video above, and scroll down to see his new color work in Korea!

Color Work in Korea

Follow Trevor

Which of Trevor’s new color images from Seoul are your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments below!Â

8 Ways How Money Can Buy You Happiness in Street Photography

(Pictured above: Leica M9-P Hermes Edition. Only $50,000)

We are always told that money doesn’t make us happy. Although I like the saying, it isn’t entirely true. Scientific studies do show that money buys us happiness- but only to a certain extent. For example, if you literally make only $10 a month, of course you will be miserable. However making $10,000 a month compared to $5,000 a month won’t make much of a difference. According to some study I read, money can only buy you happiness to the point that you make $70,000 a year. After that, it doens’t make much of a difference.

Money can make us happier in street photography. You also don’t have to be rich to reap these rewards. Curious on how money can buy you more happiness? Keep reading to find out.

Black and White or Color in Street Photography: How Do You Make the Decision?

"Green Umbrella" - James Maher

Eric: Quite often I am asked by the community when it is appropriate to have a street photograph in black and white or color. It is a question I grapple with myself daily as well, and I enlisted the help of James Maher, a talented New York street photographer to help write an article on it. I hope you enjoy it!

James: Street Photography has been around for a long, long time. And for all but the last 10 years, the photographer has had to make a choice before walking out the door: should I use color or black and white film today?

Which is Better? Black and White vs Color for Street Photography

Black and White vs Color for Street Photography

I recently got an email from one of my readers, Kit Taylor, asking me the following question:

Color or B&W? What goes into the decision to finish a street/candid
photo as color or black and white? Some photographers have a strong
specialization. Some of us use both almost equally. Some photos are
obvious; often I have some that are difficult to decide on.

I’m really glad that Kit asked this question, as this is an issue that I grapple everyday as a street photographer. There are many pros and cons to both color and black and white street photography– which I will outline below.

Free Color and B/W Lightroom 3 Presets!

Raw Images (before)

So these are some presets that I made in Adobe Lightroom 3 and frequently use when converting my images into color or black and white. Granted that I will still do some fine-tweaking to each image after applying these presets, they are a great starting point for the starting Lightroom 3 user. Also make sure that your images in RAW when applying these presets, or they will come out really funky! Enjoy!

Before (Raw)