The
subject of street photography often
arises in photographic discussions and
invariably many photographers express the
view that they can see no meaning to some of
the street images which are seen on the
internet.
Some go even further and state that 'street
photography' is just a collection of
'snapshots' of people and street
locations..........with very little meaning
or interest. With aging, these 'snapshot'
photographs somehow, just like some 'art'
develop a 'historical' acceptance and invoke the emotion
of nostalgia in the viewer. Even worse, do
young photographers hunger to view 'old'
images' of past societies and street scenes
and use them as a metaphor to justify their
own street photography today?
Lets face it, anyone can purchase a 'point
and shoot' digital compact and head of down
the street and capture images of people
milling about, in coffee shops, pubs,
leaning against a lamp post, queuing for a
bus, even waiting at the train station but
the majority of the shots, with ANY camera,
can be just plain boring. I should know, I
have taken plenty of street pictures that
have absolutely no character to them, no
statement, no content!
Henri Cartier-Bresson
He is reckoned to be
the forefather of street and reportage photography and many of today's
street photographers have copied his style. There is a great deal more
to
Henri Cartier-Bresson's
style and body of work than just walking down the
street taking pictures with a Leica camera. In his early days he studied
music and he did train as an 'artist'. From the very start of his
photography he did have an eye for the 'artistic' image and this did
influence and accelerate his photographic skills. Martin Munkasci's'Liberia'
(Three Boys at
Lake Tanganyika)
greatly influenced him as did the
'Surrealists'
who helped to channel his photographic direction. I am not totally in
'tune' with the
'Surrealists'
who maintained
that ordinary photographs contain a wealth of unintended, unpredictable
meanings.
I have witnessed this 'taken to literally'
in street photography whereby the images are just plain boring and
without soul. I think that the image 'Three
Boys at Lake Tanganyika' does make an 'artistic' impression and embodies
'human life' within the image which is surely the statement. It was much more
than an image that could be defined by the 'Surrealists'
and I firmly believe that Cartier-Bresson transcended their perceived
photographic ideals............this combination of 'art' with the
'visual statement' within the image is why his images were so
successful!
The Ideal Focal
Length
– It is no coincidence that Henri Cartier-Bresson preferred a 50mm
lens on his Leica
35mm
‘Film’ rangefinder camera. Henri was a man that started with art and
painted the scene as caught by his eye.
Henri’s 50mm lens produced a true 50mm ‘field of view’ and delivered
an image very similar to a scene as seen by the human eye and with
minimum distortion. It also provided the ‘optimum’ camera to subject
to background distance ratio, depth of field and on subjects
(especially the entire body of a person at a reasonable distance
away from the camera) he had the ability to create a 3D effect where
the person is separated from a blurred (out of focus) background
with a creamy smooth bokeh effect!
Today’s version of his kit is the Leica
M9 digital ‘full frame’ rangefinder and Leica
50mm f1.4 ASPH Summilux M manual focus
lens.
Many photographers have abandoned the
50mm
lens on a ‘full frame’ sensor digital camera and prefer the 35mm
‘wider’ lens for their everyday shots. A 35mm focal length lens will
provide a wider ‘field of view’, where the background is pushed
further back from the primary subject and a photographer can still
manage to create a 3D and bokeh effect,
especially if the lens has excellent image quality when wide open at
aperture stop f1.4 or f2. However, the photographer has to take up a
position much closer to the subject, especially when capturing the
full body of a person and the effect will never match the
perspective of the 50mm lens.
Henri Cartier-Bresson - 'The Decisive Moment'
This
must be one of the best bits of 'SPIN' in the history of photography!
From his book, Images à la sauvette,
whose English edition was titled The Decisive Moment this phrase, leapt out - "There is nothing in this world that does not
have a decisive moment". Those words originated from the 17th century Cardinal de
Retz and Cartier-Bresson used them as part of the keynote text in his
book. Henri was reputed to have regretted ever
mentioning them.
Today, many photographers still conjure up 'grandiose ideas' and write
rubbish about the decisive moment..............the academics
love
the debate!
All photographers have their 'decisive moment' the
'fleeting' opportunity to catch
the light on a grand landscape, the smile on a wrinkled face in a
portrait, an interaction in sport or in wildlife photography but that's
all it is............the shutter button is pressed, the image is
good or bad, other people love it or hate it!
Henri was known for his 'inward analysis' that to be creative in photography
you must be quick to seize the moment, that point in time where the
scene, the art, the statement are interpreted by the eye and the shot is
taken, the image captured. Photography to Henri was a vocation, it could
cause him great anxiety when he over indulged and the images did not
come. He regarded it as a physical pleasure that stimulated his senses
and admitted that it did not take any brains to be a photographer. Call me cynical if you like but I have lived
long enough to understand how prominent people 'blend' their ability,
especially after they are recognised! Henri admits to planning some of
his locations and waiting on subjects to enter the scene, he recognised
the possibility of 'art' in the shot, whilst he waited for the right
moment, the right step and the image he desired? He also accepted that
there was no rule, no set limits on the number of shots he would take to
achieve one suitable image.
Like many of today's aspiring photographers, Henri often thought he
recognised the quality in the scene, he lined up the camera viewfinder,
pressed the shutter button but later when he saw the end result of the
image in print, he binned it! In this digital age, images are being
deleted in their thousands if not millions, great shots in the mind's
eye that later turned out to be rubbish! Strange though it may seem,
this is a positive analysis of photography!
There is a
great DVD which you can purchase on-line. It is an 18 minute 'short
film' which was made back in 1973 with samples of his images and
narrated by Henri Cartier-Bresson himself. He speaks very good English
with an interesting accent and discusses his images and
technique..............................'The
Decisive Moment'
Planning Subjects + Locations
It is very difficult to develop my own style
of street photography. Location is all important and I guess that
photographers who travel through various countries have a great deal
more access to 'diverse' material. Special events, such as
carnivals, parades, great historical events and even wars, often provide
a lucrative source for interesting subjects. I never forget that Henri
Cartier-Bresson had access to some incredible 'historical moments' in
history and documented them in his images with great success.
I have reached a stage in my 'street
photography' (2011) where I now plan the
subjects and the location, just as I do with
landscape photography. Sure, whilst I
undertake the 'planned project' the odd
'lucky' street shot may jump out in front of
me?
Working in Monochrome
I have given a great deal of thought to my 'street photography' and
I strive to produce an
image which is broken down into two distinct areas, the artistic
impression of the scene and the statement
within the actual photograph as dictated by the content..................without either
the image seems to have very little meaning! As I move forward, I seem
to be working more in monochrome as opposed to colour. I am not sure but
monochrome images, just like old black and white movies, seem to promote
an artistic statement.
Street Photographers
Some street photographers are absolutely
brilliant at their 'craft' and have honed it
into an art form. Their senses have evolved
into
the ability to
'see a shot as art'. The finished image is
visible in their thoughts, they see the
location, the subject material, the statement and they know that this image
will be perceived to have an art content
already there; whereby post processing or
alteration might be minimalistic in it's
required application? Now that's what I
aspire to achieve with my street
photography!
Enzo Penna
is an
example of my style of street photographer.
Please click on the highlight to visit his
website. Let his home page 'slide show' run
and also visit his urban collection.
Rui Palha
is a street
photographer who has some very interesting work on his site. Enlarge his
gallery images and then use the right click arrow to move through them.
The full size on the screen effect is most excellent, especially his
rainy days section which is simplistic yet the art in the photography
leaps out............his site is proof that to produce photographic art
you do not have to alter the original image!
Rui is surely the 21st
Century version of Henri Cartier-Bresson and to me, he has
improved on the style of Henri and is one of the foremost 'street
photographers' of his generation.
I have long followed his work and he is an inspiration to all
'street photographers'. This is a very nice video of some of his
'street' images and is well worth
watching.
For more information
about this great photographer, please visit his site - Rui
Palha
Lenses?
Each camera and lens combination can stamp
their own quality and offer a different
'lens draw' on the image. This can affect
the 'statement' that the photographer is
trying to make in the final picture!
Many street photographers like to work in
close and capture wider scenes, they
invariably use a 35mm lens. Some prefer 50mm
as it is nearer the native eyesight, others
shoot further away from their subjects at
100mm to draw in the scene and create
shallower depths of field for effect and
others at 135mm up to 200mm for an even
tighter field of view and depth of field
control. In virtually all cases, each
photographer desires a camera and lens that
is unobtrusive, compact, lightweight and
fast in its operation.
The choice of camera and lens combination is
always driven by a budget which rules the
aspirations! Ideally the camera follows the
lens, within reason. It is the lens focal
range and aperture coupled with the
preferred type of street photography that
dictates the choice. Lenses which are used
include those with apertures which are wide
f.95, f1.1, f1.4, f2, f2.8, and these are
the 'desired choices' for greater depth of
field control and the ability to isolate a
subject as well as working in low light
conditions.
Many street photographers use a zoom lens
but these days the size and weight of a wide
aperture zoom lens with a f2.8 maximum wide
aperture remains quite large although most
compact digital cameras with their built in
zoom lenses are smaller and some even go to
f2 wide apertures.
With a budget in mind, many photographers
will want to select a lens to go with a
'full frame' sensor digital camera but if
the budget is tight, the alternative choices
are many, the most popular being cameras
with APS-C 1.5x crop sensors, Micro 4/3rds
2x crop sensors down to the smaller compact
cameras with even smaller sensors.
With all of these cameras the actual lens of
choice to match the desired 'FIELD OF VIEW'
will be different, for example 35mm on the
1.5x crop is a 23mm lens and on a 2x crop
the lens is actually around about 17mm. The
compacts vary but usually a modern digital
compact is now supplied with a 'field of
view' from 28mm to around 105/135mm.
Low Light + Night
At wide apertures of f.95, f1.1, f1.4,
f2 and with various digital cameras, you can
work in dimmer lit conditions and even in
the dead of night under street lamps. The
shutter speed of the camera can be increased
by raising the ISO to around ISO:400 up to
ISO:1600 and in some cameras, even higher.
At these ISO settings the image noise SHOULD
still be manageable and the image quality
maintained! A fast shutter speed and wide
aperture are essential. This is the main
reason street photographers like to work
with a 35mm lens at night; 'hand hold' the
camera and yet manage with a higher shutter
speed against a wide aperture setting to
'freeze' a moving subject. One must be
careful in selecting a camera and lens, as
very often the wrong camera can be chosen
for low light photography whilst the camera
noise versus image quality at high ISO
cannot deliver!
View Finders
Optical viewfinders, either built into the
camera or clipped on the top are very much
the favourite choice amongst street
photographers. Modern digital cameras,
especially some compacts only have an LCD
where the scene can be viewed to make
changes and then you press the shutter to
capture the image but in bright sunshine
they can fade out and let you down. I have
used and still use a LCD built into my GF1
camera but I prefer a viewfinder which is a
pity because the GF1 external viewfinder is
not that good. Its a consideration to make
when you select a camera for street
photography and watch out for the weaknesses
in some external clip on viewfinders!
Cameras
The Leica M
has been the favourite camera of choice for
the last 50 years or more for street
photography and photo journalism. It is a
rangefinder camera with a built in optical
viewfinder, which uses manual focus lenses.
The new Leica M9 digital is a 35mm 'full
frame' sensor camera which is very
expensive. It uses Leica M lenses which are
also very expensive but both Zeiss and
Voigtlander offer cheaper lens alternatives.
For those who want to use Leica lenses and
it could be argued there are none finer, a
35mm 'Film' Leica M rangefinder camera can
be purchased 'second hand' like the M3, M6
TTL, M7 and the MP, all offering a great
alternative choice..........the film
negatives can be developed and scanned at a
reliable store, please see my
Living with Film
article!
Leica
also manufactures a Leica X1 digital camera
with a fixed lens and optional external
viewfinder as well as digital compact
cameras which are all worth checking out on
their website!
Fuji
has just launched their X100 (March 2011)
which is a fixed 35mm 'field of view' lens
with controls very similar to the Leica M.
Reviews for this camera will come out soon
after it is released and time will tell if
it delivers? I have another article
regarding the Fuji X100 on the 'Articles' page.
Canon
offer many different type of digital 'IXUS'
compacts and 'Powershot' compact digital
cameras which have fixed zoom lenses.
Nikon
are similar to Canon and offer a range of 'Coolpix'
digital compacts which have fixed zoom
lenses. In the 'second hand' marketplace you
can pick up Nikon 'Film' SLR cameras and
Nikon AI-s lenses very cheaply. I use a
Nikon FM3a 'Film' SLR with 28mm, 50mm and
135mm AI-s 'prime' manual focus lenses for
street photography.
Panasonic
offers both digital compacts and their micro
4/3rds camera range with interchangeable
lenses. At this current time, I am using a
Panasonic GF1 micro 4/3rds camera with a
Panasonic Lumix 20mm (40mm field of view)
f1.7 Lens..........please click here for my
GF1 Diary
and links to my image samples! The GF1 is
still available (just) in the supply chain
and the GX1 replacement model still requires an optional 'clip on'
viewfinder. Value for money, the new
Panasonic G3
with
it's built in viewfinder is also an excellent alternative.
There are many other manufacturers I could
mention such as Olympus, Sony and
Samsung but I believe the ones I have marked
with links are the ones at the top of my
list, although Fuji remains to be 'proven'
in reviews once it is released.
I have not covered Digital SLRs and many
photographers use digital single lens reflex
cameras with 'full frame' and APS-C sensors
for 'street photography'. I have used a Canon 5D MK 1 DSLR + Canon
24-105L Zoom Lens extensively for street photography whilst travelling
abroad without any problems.
Moving Forward
Street photography is a photographic subject that I keep re-visiting in
my attempts to develop a style and technique that pleases me and to
deliver images that I like. So far, it remains a work in progress with
little success.
I have expanded this article with my articles on
Photographic Art
and
Leica M
Series Cameras.
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