₿LOG
Inspired by Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” I interviewed bigheadtaco, a local Vancouver-based street photographer driving around. Take (his real name) gives great practical advice on Instagram, branding, street photography, life, and following your own voice and vision.
Enjoy this interview, and make sure to follow him on his channels below:
I’m very excited to share this recent interview I did with Daniel Arnold. You might have heard about Daniel and his work through the controversy of him getting kicked off Instagram for showing nudity on Gawker, his Forbes feature on how he made $15,000 in one day selling 4×6 prints for $150, or his profile on Wired (titled: “On the Prowl with Instagram’s Ultimate Street Photographer”).
Upon reading all these headlines, I knew that there was more to Daniel, both as a photographer and as a human being. I checked out more of his work on his website (where he now posts mostly film shots), and was blown away by the humanity, humor, but also the complex emotional images he captures in NYC.
In this hour and a half interview we delve deep. We talk about the process of shooting film (versus shooting digitally on an iPhone), his favorite photography books, how he overcame his fear of shooting street photography, thinking about life and death, and what ultimately brings him happiness in life (clue: it isn’t about the followers).
You can watch the video interview above, or listen to the podcast below (you can see all the episodes on my iTunes podcast channel):
Read more to see all the show notes, links, book recommendations, and quotes from the interview.
(Editor’s Note: Words and Photographs by Ryan Tacay)
In a world of instant-gratification and disposable media, it’s hard to take something like instagram as a serious way to share something artistic and long-lasting. Going past the jokes about it being all about the bathroom selfies, things I ate today, or this afternoon’s sunset, it’s actually one of the best ways to get one’s work out there and seen.
For starters, with instagram claiming they have about 300 million active users compared to the 92 million that Flickr has, it’s safe to say that although the images are displayed no larger than a 640×640 pixel square format, there’s a larger audience. Having come from Flickr since 2005, I get more traffic and activity on instagram these days. It has become my preferred method of sharing my street photos.
You can see all my composition lessons here.
I have been quite fascinated with the square-format in street photography for a while. My fascination first came about from Jeroen Helmink, a photographer from the Netherlands (you can see a fun video we made on shooting Hasseblads). There was something quite sexy about the 6×6 format– the way that it created perfect balance in the frame, the simplicity, as well as the novelty.
Of course as Instagram has become insanely popular– the square-format just looks like an “Instagram shot.” I have heard of Instagram as “ruining” the 6×6 format (medium-format film).
However I don’t think it really matters what camera, format, or aspect ratio you shoot in. Ultimately the most important thing is to create a visually compelling image that speaks to our hearts or souls.
Anton Kawasaki is a member of The Mobile Photo Group and also a street photographer based in NYC. He uses the iPhone more or less exclusively for his work, and started shooting around the same time that Sion Fullana started as well. Coming from a nearly a 20-year background in the comic book industry and also being an editor, his photos of NYC are colorful, vivid, and introspective. He gets close both emotionally and physically to his subjects, and is able to capture those wonderful “decisive moments” which bring a little humanity and life into the crazy life of the big apple.
In this interview we discuss an article he wrote, “Is Instagram Defining, and Therefore Ruining, Mobile Photography?” and get more in-depth about his thoughts.
* Once again, the interview was done in a crowded and loud cafe (it is impossible to find anywhere quiet in NYC) so pardon the excessive noise!Â
(Above image: “Carlton” by Misho Baranovic)
When I was in Melbourne, I met up with street photographer and co-founder of the Mobile Photo Group (MPG), Misho Baranovic. For those of you who may not know Misho or the MPG, they essentially shoot street and documentary photography with mobile devices and share their work online through a number of platforms, including Instagram.
Being an Android user myself, I never understood the hype of Instagram. To me it seemed just like another camera app where people would take photographs of flowers, sunsets, or lattes and add tons of crazy processing (lomo or vintage film anybody?). I essentially thought it was a platform only for Justin Bieber lovers or hipsters with too much time on their hands.
“I believe that, more than ever before, photography is about a community and a culture, rather than the camera.” – Oliver Lang
I had the chance to interview Oliver Lang, one of the founding members of the Mobile Photo Group. Oliver shoots street photography in the sun-drenched streets of Sydney with his iPhone, using the Pro Camera application and capturing phenomenal light and moments in his images. He makes it a point to shoot every single day and even post-processes his images in the iPhone with the Snapseed application.
Make sure to follow him on Twitter @oggsie, on Flickr, and follow him on Instagram @oggsie.
Make sure to also check out the Mobile Photo Group Blog, where they talk about street photography, mobile devices, Instagram, and much more. You can also see all of the Mobile Photo Group Photographers here.
Do you shoot street photography with an iPhone or mobile device? What do you think is the future of street photography and Instagram? Make sure to leave your thoughts below, and let us know which of Oliver’s photographs are your favorite!Â
