10 Things Henri Cartier-Bresson Can Teach You About Street Photography In preparation for my upcoming street photography workshops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago I have been doing quite a bit of research into Henri Cartier-Bresson, the Godfather of street photography. LA-based Bo Lorentzen even lent me a copy of a documentary on HCB himself, which was quite insightful about his approach to street photography (as well as footage of him shooting on the streets of Paris). Although my current approach in street photography is more like Bruce Gilden and less of Henri Cartier-Bresson, HCB influenced much of my earlier work and I still deeply respect his photography and philosophies. I hope you are able to enjoy these things I believe you can learn from Henri Cartier-Bresson about street photography. 1. If you look at the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, he applied geometry to his images poetically. Don’t only see the world as it is, look for shapes and geometry that occur naturally as well. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Books by Henri Cartier-Bresson
Photographer of the Day: Flavio Scorsato Shows Us the Way to “Slab City” When photographer Flavio Scorsato arrived at Slab City, he was conscious about keeping his expectations in check. In a place known as The Last Free Place in America, there is certainly the question of invading the privacies of the residents known to exist “off-the-grid” without telephone lines, electricity, internet connectivity and other utilities. “When I frist arrived in Slab City with the idea of documenting the place, I didn’t know how people would feel about being approached by a stranger asking for taking pictures of their homes and getting into their lives” Scorsato tells Resource Magazine. Eventually, during the course of his stay, he was able to gain the trust of the Slab City residents “I think that when you are respectful with people they are willing to share their stories. A trailer where people live © Flavio Scorsato One of the 3 brothers that moved out from Pennsylvania about one year ago, to experiment a life of freedom. © Flavio Scorsato Paul © Flavio Scorsato
Chris Jordan - Running the Numbers II This ongoing series looks at mass phenomena that occur on a global scale. Similarly to the first Running the Numbers series, each image portrays a specific quantity of something: the number of tuna fished from the world's oceans every fifteen minutes, for example. But this time the statistics are global in scale, rather than specifically American. Finding meaning in global mass phenomena can be difficult because the phenomena themselves are invisible, spread across the earth in millions of separate places. There is no Mount Everest of waste that we can make a pilgrimage to and behold the sobering aggregate of our discarded stuff, seeing and feeling it viscerally with our senses. Instead, we are stuck with trying to comprehend the gravity of these phenomena through the anaesthetizing and emotionally barren language of statistics. Compounding this challenge is our sense of insignificance as individuals in a world of 6.7 billion people. ~cj
10 Famous Street Photography Quotes You Must Know (Above image by Garry Winogrand) If you want to get a deeper insight into street photography and take better photos, I feel it is very important to study the work of the street photographers who came before us and paved the way for the rest of us. Not only that, but reading the quotes and words by these influential street photographers is a great way to train your mind to take better photos as well. 1. This was one of the first quotes that hugely influenced my street photography. However don’t mistake this quote for getting close simply for the sake of getting close. 2. When you are out shooting and you felt that you got a “keeper” it is easy to run home, post-process the image, and upload it to the internet for the rest of the world to see. Nowadays I try to wait either a few days or a week before deciding whether my photo is a “keeper” or not. 3. Street photography is all about telling stories, and also a mode of self-expression. 4. 5. 6. 7. 9. 10.
New York City In Color: The Photography Of Sally Davies | Michael Ernest Sweet Color street photography has been around New York City since the very beginning - of color photography, I mean. Early proponents were people like Saul Leiter, Helen Levitt and Joel Meyerowitz. Sally Davies has been carrying on this tradition since the 80's here in New York City. Her work is vivid, fresh, and engaging. Almost like paintings, Sally's storefront images are little self-contained stories. Michael Sweet: Who is Sally Davies? Sally Davies: I spent the first 7 years of my life growing up in rural Midwest Canada, in an existential crisis. Walking the 2 miles to school, in 35 below zero every day, I wondered how far I would get if I made a run for it. Somewhere around my 12th birthday I had the revelation that no one was like anyone. Michael: How did you get involved in photography? Sally: My father gave me a camera when I was 15. I loved it right from the start. Michael: Why storefronts? Sally: No one gets up and says "I'm going to be the storefront girl". Michael: Good answer.
10 Things Henri Cartier-Bresson Can Teach You About Street Photography Don’t forget to pre-order the new re-print of “The Decisive Moment” by Henri Cartier-Bresson! I have been doing quite a bit of research into Henri Cartier-Bresson, the godfather of street photography. Although my current approach in street photography is more like Bruce Gilden and less of Henri Cartier-Bresson, HCB influenced much of my earlier work and I still deeply respect his photography and philosophies. I hope you are able to enjoy these things I believe you can learn from Henri Cartier-Bresson about street photography. 1. If you look at the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, he applied geometry to his images poetically. Don’t only see the world as it is, look for shapes and geometry that occur naturally as well. 2. When Henri Cartier-Bresson would talk about “The Decisive Moment” he said sometimes it would be spontaneous but others times he had to be patient and wait for it. 3. 4. Apply the same mentality to when you go out and shoot. 5. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos 6. 7.
101 Inspirational Street Photography Quotes (Above Image Copyrighted By Steve McCurry / Magnum Photos) Charlie Atkinson: So for this weeks post I thought I would share my favorite quotes from some of my favorite photographers as well as a few others that can be applied to photography as well! They are also not in any particular order, this post is by me as well (not Eric!) as I think there was some confusion on the last gear post I did :). Enjoy! 1.”Q: Do you really distance yourself from your subject? (Copyright: Peter Barker-Morgan) 26. (Copyright: Charlie Atkinson) 51. Images: Steve McCurry Charlie Atkinson Peter Barker-Morgan
Photographer Niki Feijen's eerie images of the abandoned farm houses Photographer Niki Feijen specialises in urban exploration; capturing boarded-up buildings and decaying farm housesImages reveal furniture and clothes that remain in decaying homes where owners have long since departed By Kerry Mcdermott Published: 09:07 GMT, 30 April 2013 | Updated: 06:57 GMT, 1 May 2013 From the pile of books in the bedside cabinet to the neatly folded duvet, this bedroom looks almost ready for its owner to turn in for the night. Aside, that is, from the peeling walls, patches of damp, and the thick layer of filth shrouding everything in the room. The eerie photograph is part of a series by Dutch photographer Niki Feijen, who has captured furniture, ornaments and clothes frozen in time in homes where the owners have long since departed. Empty: The bed is still covered by a neatly folded duvet in this abandoned farm house - but it's unlikely anybody would want to sleep in it Ghostly: This eerie photograph captures the dusty pews and peeling walls inside a boarded up church
Zen in the Art of Street Photography (All photographs in this article provided by Rinzi Ruiz ) My good friend Nicholas Susatyo recently recommended a book to me: “ Zen in the Art of Archery .” In-fact, it was the book that Henri Cartier-Bresson said had the deepest influence in his photography. I have been meaning to read it for a while, so on my flight to Philly I decided to give it a go. The book is written by Eugen Herrigel , a German philosophy teacher who went to Japan for several years and learned the art of archery (while teaching philosophy at a Japanese university). He heard about the art of archery, and was fascinated with the zen philosophy which was embedded in the art. Zen in the Art of Archery As we all know, archery is no longer practiced in the “real world” in battles and such. However with some good luck (a good introduction by a Japanese friend) and some persistence, Herrigel was able to go under the wing of one of the greatest archers in Japan. 1. Rinzi Ruiz Suggestion: 2. 3. 4. 5. Conclusion
How To Take Stunning HDR Photos With Your iPhone I’m often asked the question, “What is HDR on the iPhone camera?” Even those who know that HDR stands for High Dynamic Range often get confused about when and how to use it. In this article, you’ll discover how to get the most out of HDR photography on your iPhone, including achieving amazing exposure in your landscape photos. The above photo is an HDR photo. Without HDR, the exposure wouldn’t be balanced throughout the image – instead it would be biased towards either the shadows or the highlights, depending on which part of the image I had set exposure for. The photo was taken using the Pro HDR X app and then edited in Snapseed to add a vintage filter with scratches. What Is HDR Photography? HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. The human eye can see a much higher dynamic range than any camera, including the camera of your iPhone. That’s right, the windmill becomes so dark that it’s almost black. Of course, we could try to correct this by setting the exposure on the windmills, right?
How to Direct Your Subjects When Shooting Street Portraits (Above video: New street portrait POV video I recorded in Chicago. Chicago Street Portraits, Volume #5 ) I have always been drawn to people, especially those who I find are interesting “characters.” I tend to gravitate towards people who have interesting facial expressions, to those with outstanding outfits, or accessories. Although the majority of the street photography I do is done candidly, I have been drawn towards doing more posed street portraits of people I find interesting. Why? So once I get my subjects’ attention– how do I direct them and what is some of the psychology that goes behind it? Why get my subjects to pose? A portrait of a guy I shot in Downtown LA at Starbucks. Street photography is generally understood as taking candid photos. I still do believe that candid photos tend to be more interesting than posed photos– but I think with enough luck and determination you can still get interesting posed photos of people on the street. How to approach your subjects Conclusion