{"id":25807,"date":"2015-11-16T13:36:09","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T21:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=25807"},"modified":"2015-11-16T13:36:09","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T21:36:09","slug":"personal-street-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/16\/personal-street-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"Personal Street Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kettleman
Kettleman City, 2015 #cindyproject<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

I want to share some ideas with you– specifically about “personal” street photography. I’m going to ramble a bit before that, so please be patient with me.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I just had an amazing weekend, taught a street photography workshop in Downtown LA, and hitched a ride with my friend Jordan to Cindy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family house in Garden Grove (Orange County, California).<\/p>\n

I woke up, rolled around a bit, and had about 30 minutes (while half-asleep) to just think about my life and some random ideas running around my head.<\/p>\n

The first was a realization: all the photos I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever taken (that are personally meaningful to me) are shot on film<\/strong>. Not to say that film is better than digital (or vice-versa)\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but that all the photos that meant something to me were shot in film.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure why this is. For example, I try to keep my portfolio on my website<\/a> limited to 3 projects. Why? I personally hate it when I go to another photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s site and there are too many projects. There are so many projects, I have no idea where to start\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and I just end up leaving (without looking at anything). I think 3 is a nice number\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and also a sacred number (think of the 3 holy men, the trifecta, illuminati) and also in pop culture (3 blind mice, 3 musketeers, 3 stooges).<\/p>\n

Anyways, the three projects I currently have on my portfolio include my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Suits<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d project (shot on Kodak Portra 400) and was a personal street photography project in which I photographed men in suits (a self-portrait series of how I felt when I was a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcSuit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u201d sad and miserable). The next is my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Grandfather<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d series (shot on a Ricoh GR1v with Neopan 400 film pushed to 1600) of my grandfather\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funeral. I jumped on a plane with 10 rolls of film, and just shot with my heart and soul.<\/p>\n

Lastly, my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cindy<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d project of Cindy \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the love of my life. I shot it all on a film Leica and Kodak Tri-X film pushed to 1600 (with a yellow filter, for those of you technical nerds out there). I shot a lot of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153in-between\u00e2\u20ac\u009d moments; us having breakfast, us filling up gas at a Chevron (before eating at In-and-out), us having lunch\/dinner, us at a local hipster cafe (drinking $3 espressos). I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take the photography seriously at all\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I just took personally meaningful snapshots of whatever I was feeling that day.<\/p>\n

Which made me think\u00e2\u20ac\u201d nobody gives a shit about the photos you take. When someone likes you or follows you on social media\u00e2\u20ac\u201d are they really doing that because they love your work\u00e2\u20ac\u201d or because they secretly hope that you will follow them back? And when you die; you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take the photos with you\u00e2\u20ac\u201d so why dedicate your life shooting photos that will please others, rather than please yourself?<\/p>\n

Anders Petersen<\/a> (a photographer I greatly admire) calls his style of photography \u00e2\u20ac\u0153personal documentary<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) The concept is that he photographs his loved ones, friends, family, strangers he meets in a personal way. Rather than just documenting poor people living in the streets or documenting AIDS in Africa. He makes his own personal life the center stage of his photography. Thus, personal<\/em> documentary.<\/p>\n

Which made me think\u00e2\u20ac\u201d us as street photographers should also embrace \u00e2\u20ac\u0153personal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d photography. Specifically\u00e2\u20ac\u201d personal street photography<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153personal street photography\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? I have never heard the phrase before\u00e2\u20ac\u201d so I will make a (personal) definition:<\/p>\n

\n \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPersonal street photography\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is documenting strangers in public places in a personally meaningful way.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I know this is a very general and broad definition, and I made it intentionally broad (because once again, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to shove my own personal definition down your throat).<\/p>\n

So for example, I am a naturally social and I love my fellow human beings. I therefore love to talk to my subjects, interact with them, get them to pose\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I am kind of like a director on the streets (similar to William Klein<\/a>). I dislike taking hidden \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcstealthy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 street photos while hiding in a bush, or pretending to shoot something else (I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like to shoot how Henri Cartier-Bresson<\/a> shoots). Therefore for me\u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpersonal street photography\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is following who I am as a human being\u00e2\u20ac\u201d interacting with my subjects.<\/p>\n

Now let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say you are more introverted (or you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like to make small-chat with strangers). Then shooting a way that is personally honest and meaningful to you. So this might mean not interrupting your subjects, and keeping a distance. There is nothing wrong with this. It is just different. Follow your heart, and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shoot how others shoot\u00e2\u20ac\u201d only shoot in a way which feels honest to you.<\/p>\n

This means if you are afraid of strangers (or anti-social); don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be like Bruce Gilden<\/a> and get close with a 28mm and use a flash. Gilden (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve met him) is an incredibly social person, who loves human beings, but is a rough gangster-type (his dad was a gangster-type apparently). Gilden is true to who he is as a person (rough around the edges) and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give a fuck what others think of his personality or how he shoots photography. Apparently people who have attended his workshops have cried (and even quit) because they couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t handle his tough love. But Gilden stays true and honest to he is\u00e2\u20ac\u201d he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pander to the masses nor shoot (or teach) in a way that feels disingenuous to him.<\/p>\n

So friend, think what feels honest and personally meaningful to you in your street photography. Make up your own definition of street photography, and remember to have fun. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care how many followers you have on social media, and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t listen to the advice of anyone else (unless it resonates with you). Even with this blog\u00e2\u20ac\u201d take everything you read with a healthy dose of skepticism. If you read something that I write and you call \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bullshit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I respect that. I speak a lot of bullshit at times, and to be honest, 90% of what I write on this blog is for myself (I have personal demons I am trying to get rid of) and writing is a process of self-therapy for me (as well as my photography).<\/p>\n

If you have a great idea for a photography project, please don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ask others for their opinion. Just go out and shoot it. Figure out the details later. If you have a great idea, if you tell it to others, you are actually less<\/em> likely to execute the idea.<\/p>\n

Even when I started this blog, I had no idea what I was doing. I started the blog because I had a passion for street photography and I wanted to share that with anyone else who was curious. Even now\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I have no idea what I am doing. I just write because I enjoy it, and I have a few tips\/ideas which I think will be useful to others (as they were useful to me).<\/p>\n

So enjoy your life. Have a nice coffee (preferably a single-origin espresso) at a local cafe, enjoy your photography books, read some literature (poetry and philosophy rock as well), chat with a friend, share photos that are personally meaningful to you, and only listen to feedback from people who matter to you. Listen to what others say\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but remember, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to blindly follow the advice others give you. And at the end of the day, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t listen to people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s words, follow their actions. For example, if a photographer tells you to not worry about gear (and they own a shitload of cameras and lenses and constantly buy the newest gadgets that come out), don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t listen to them (myself included).<\/p>\n

Random updates<\/h2>\n

To end this letter to you, I want to share some random stuff\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I am trying to embrace more of an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153analogue\u00e2\u20ac\u009d lifestyle\u00e2\u20ac\u201d to not<\/em> read on a Kindle, to not<\/em> read e-books, and to not<\/em> constantly be plugged into my phone (I am a fucking slave to my phone).<\/p>\n

I do this party because I want to be a pacific-northwest Portland hipster, and mostly because I hate distractions. I am like a pigeon\u00e2\u20ac\u201d if I see something shiny, I totally lose my line of thinking. And I hate nothing more than being distracted.<\/p>\n

I was reading a lot on my Kindle on my smartphone, but I would constantly be distracted (even when in Airplane mode). I would check the time, then turn off airplane mode and Google\/Wikipedia things I was reading, then inevitably be distracted by texting\/Instagram.<\/p>\n

So the biggest reason I am trying to read more physical books is because it is just a less distracting reading process. And I like writing notes in a physical notebook\u00e2\u20ac\u201d nothing more soothing than it.<\/p>\n

I am currently re-reading \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Bed of Procrustes<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by Nassim Taleb, and writing notes in a notebook (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Public Supply<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d notebooks which donate 25% of their proceeds to public schools). I also plan on re-reading \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thinking Fast, and Slow<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by Daniel Kahneman which is the most useful book I have ever read on human psychology. I also am enjoying my time with Cindy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s younger sister Jennifer\u00e2\u20ac\u201d we are at a place called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ink and Bean<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in Anaheim; enjoying a nice espresso (Stumptown \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcHair Bender\u00e2\u20ac\u2122) and talking about whether I should join Snapchat or not (probably won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, but would like to experiment with\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but then again, it will just be another distraction).<\/p>\n

The beautiful sun is shining on me, I feel a cool breeze, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m listening to Kanye West, and I have a nice caffeine buzz. I am going to stay with Cindy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family from Monday-Thursday (then doing another intermediate\/advanced street photography workshop in LA). I hope this week can be a good opportunity to spend some quality \u00e2\u20ac\u0153family time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Cindy is so jealous that she has to stay in Berkeley and study for her oral examinations in Vietnamese-French\/Colonial history).<\/p>\n

So friend, enjoy your life. Enjoy your time with your friends, family, and loved ones. Shoot because you enjoy it, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t force yourself to shoot if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like it. Fuck it, life is too short; YOLO<\/a>. Pursue your photography projects as if today were the last day of your life (or if you only had 1 year left). I had a few friends-of-friends who have died recently (one went jogging in the morning and got hit by a car, aged only 25). So you never know when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to go.<\/p>\n

Love always,
\nEric<\/p>\n

Monday, 1:20pm, Nov 16, 2015 @ Ink and Bean Coffee in Anaheim, California.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friend, I want to share some ideas with you– specifically about “personal” street photography. I’m going to ramble a bit before that, so please be patient with me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_1509.jpg?fit=1545%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}