Perspectives

 I have mostly shot color in my little Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim, but it handles black and white well too.  These are from a roll of Arista Edu Ultra 200 processed in HC-110e.

On The Street

 I periodically encounter conversations online about street photography.  Such exchanges are characterized mainly by listings of the reasons people do not do street photography.  Photographers fear confrontations with subjects who object to having their pictures made in such a fashion.  Occasionally people report actual such interactions which have made them forever forego further attempts at snapping candid shots in public places. I have some sympathy up to a point with those attitudes. I am neither particularly sociable or courageous. Nevertheless, I have done street photography over a period of many years, most intensively in the late 1960s when I was first getting serious about photography.

El Paso - Kiev IIa

A couple factors combined to push me beyond my initial anxieties about the undertaking.  An important one was the flowering in those days of street photography as practiced by some extraordinary photographers such as Gary Winogrand and Diane Arbus.  Those two deployed very different techniques in practice.  Arbus worked mostly with a cumbersome twin lens reflex camera usually equipped with a flash, and she tended to engage directly with her subjects.  Winogrand shot with a compact 35mm, moved very fast down the street and shot yards of film on every outing.

NYC - Nikon S

 

 The other big thing that got me started in street work was the opportunity presented by time and place.  I was living then In New York and attending a commercial photo school in the financial district at the south end of Manhattan. . The school taught a commercial style of photography, mostly practiced in studios; it held little real interest for me.  I did learn some important photographic basics in the course, but what really motivated me was capturing images on the fly by day and by night in Chinatown which was just a short distance from the school's location. I spent weeks walking the streets and making candid shots of the area's residents as they went about their lives.

 

Chinatown - NY - Nikon S

My photo technique resembled Winogrand's more than that of Arbus.  I moved fast, shot a lot and tried to capture expressions, postures and interactions without arousing the attention of my subjects. I shot Tri-X, a fast, wide-latitude film.  The focus of my Nikon S camera was usually pre-set to around ten feet; with the aperture at f-16 that gave me optimal depth of field, and a high shutter speed avoided camera shake even when I was in motion. 

 

Chinatown - NYC - Nikon S

 I typically had the camera on a strap and hanging at waist level.  With a little practice it is possible to accurately frame the subject and trip the shutter with a thumb without raising the camera to eye level.  That hip-shot technique probably accounted for half the pictures I made. Often, of course, when a subject's attention was away from me it was perfectly feasible to shoot by raising the camera to the normal shooting position, and having the exposure and focus pre-set enabled a very quick capture of the scene.

Rhodes, Greece - Voigtländer Vito II

I don't recall a single instance of anyone objecting to my street work in making that long series of pictures in Chinatown.  Shooting technique aside, I think the fact that the community was very accustomed to seeing large numbers of tourists with cameras in their midst was also helpful to avoiding any critical confrontations. Beyond that, I think my own frame of mind played an important role. My objective was not just avoiding objections; I was trying to create a visual narrative about the essential character of the community without interfering with the natural flow of life on the street. I have never intentionally tried to candidly capture subjects in situations that would be embarrassing or demeaning and I would certainly not use a picture of that type if it were accidentally recorded.

Las Cruces, NM - Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 35

It will be argued that times have changed and that the mood of the street has shifted toward paranoia and combativeness.  I don't disagree with that thought, but I think it can be overstated.  Regardless, there are still techniques available for making street photography possible.

UNM - Albuquerque - Ansco Panda

Film shooters have something of an advantage these days because the old cameras attract interest and are nice excuses to start conversations. My twin lens reflex cameras always elicit comments, and in use they don't arouse suspicion because looking down into the viewfinder does not produce the appearance of a fixed forward stare which can be interpreted as an aggressive posture.

From a recent stroll in Tiguex Park - Mamiya C330 tlr

The need for stealth in street work can be lessened by the choice of venues.  At places like amusement parks, street fairs and holiday celebrations there is an expectation of photography taking place, and often holiday events include people who are in costume and looking for attention. In Albuquerque the Day of the Dead celebrations offer many such opportunities in which subjects will become collaborators.

Day of the Dead - Ansco Panda

So, the street is still a viable venue for photography.  Some good examples of current work on the street can be found in ongoing conversations at the Rangefinder Forum:

• Our Street Photography . . . Post yours!
•  W/NW The Streets of Yokohama! 
• Recent Street Photos 

Update:

I was reminded in coming across a review in the New York Times by Arthur Lubow about an interesting, if enigmatic, practitioner of street photography, Vivian Maier.  She preceded the era of Arbus and Winograd, but had no influence on them or anyone else of that time because her work remained totally unknown to the world until 2007.  Lubow thinks Maier's best work is to be found in her self-portraits, and he calls her a talented photographer, but not a great artist.  What Lubow did not do was to identify or even speculate on any influence Maier may be having on the practice of street photography since 2007.  Her work has certainly had significant impact on the art appreciating public and critics.  I have seen a lot of comments by photographers who have expressed admiration for her work.  Whether that has translated to actual stylistic influence is hard to know.

More About Still Life

Still life art (Google)

A work of art that depicts inanimate objects, such as fruit, flowers, or dead game. Still life art can be a celebration of material pleasures, or a reminder of the brevity of human life. The term originated in the Middle Ages and Ancient Greco-Roman art, and became a distinct genre in the late 16th century.

I am mostly happy with the conservative definition offered by Google, and that describes what I am looking for when I search for still life examples.  In practice, though, I take a looser approach beyond the traditional strictures, often looking to express a feeling of stillness.  I have also often here presented pictures of found arrangements which I have identified as belonging to the genre.

Still, I try to stray not too far from the historical approach which implies a composition with a  purposeful arrangement of objects.  The plural is important, I think, as a delineator to establish a difference between still life and macros, close-ups and product shots.  To represent an arrangement, it seems that at least two elements are required. Online photo sharing sites tend to feature offerings which mostly depict isolated items including flowers or other natural or manufactured objects.

Recently, while looking for sources of inspiration I came across a conversation about still life at Rangefinderforum.com which started sixteen years ago and has continued intermittently since then.  The images and words of participants show that nearly all struggle to define the character of their efforts as well as to master the relevant photographic techniques.

Most of my own efforts to create still life compositions have found their way to my Still Life Album at Flickr.

Bottles

My still life compositions tend toward the minimalistic.  Partly, that is because I don't have anything approaching a studio setting; my setups are done on the fly.  Also, I rely on window light, which changes through the day.

My photography over the years has mostly been a product of discovery during long walks.  With diminished mobility still life seems increasingly appropriate if I want to continue with photography.  So I'm going to try to be somewhat more thoughtful in preparations and execution.

Getting Out

 We have had some marvelous blue sky days which have encouraged me to get out with the cameras.  On Monday I took the dog along on a short hike in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains east of town.  It was really nice to get away from city streets and into the natural setting, so full of forms, shadows and textures.

I decided to try a red filter which is not something I have done before.  The auto-exposure of the Pentax ME handled the challenge ok, but the dark filter made it nearly impossible to see what I was aiming for.

When I got up to the base of the hill I was delighted to see a small group of mule deer peering down at me.

They were aware of the dog nosing around in the brush below, but they seemed more curious than fearful.

 If the weather holds I'll try to get back to the same place with a longer lens.

A week earlier:

I had heard and seen a lot of Sandhill Cranes in the sky, so I went out to the Los Poblanos Open Space just east of the river where they can often be seen this time of year.  In past years the birds have shown up there in the hundreds, but they are not attracted to the area in such numbers now since there has been no corn planting.  On this occasion I saw only about a dozen on the ground  and a few more in the air.

 I'll get out soon to some likely spots on the river to look for the cranes.

Paul Caponigro

 He died on the 10th of November, just short of reaching the age of 92.  I have written here a couple times about his work and how he showed what photography is capable of producing, particularly in black and white.  His son, John Paul, posted a brief appreciation of one of his father's great pictures. (I only learned today that he lived in southern New Mexico for twenty years.)

Death Has Its Day