Why Your Street Photography Is Not Good Enough
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- čas přidán 21. 06. 2023
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Not all street photography can be treated equally; some photography will be remembered and the rest will be forgotten. We can each create work that will be remembered, but it won't be easy.
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Vivian Maier... perfect example of enjoying the process, no requirement for validation.
Completely agree!
100%. Never showed a photo, ended up being one of the greatest.
Absolutely 100%
@@GeorgeHolden It's tougher to be creative in photography in my opinion than oil painting. In oil painting one can move things all over the place to suit one's image. Place that barn to the left when really it is to the right, don't bother painting power lines at all if one wants it to look like the 19th century, that sort of thing. Whereas in photography we can crop, dodge and burn a bit, but ultimately we need to find something close to one's vision actually there and in place. This isn't a knock against either oil painters or photographers, but this is a difficulty in photography that oil painters don't face that makes that composition special when it is found. There is also a fleetingness to photography that one can lose a shot in photography but with oil painting one can remember and reproduce later. OTOH, oil painting (as anyone who has attempted it knows) has its own set of challenges. Mixing colors isn't easy, and applying paint to canvas to get it to look like something recognizable is difficult. All the more if one is painting a person or an animal. Misplace a branch on a tree and no one is likely to notice, but a small deviation in proportions on a horse or a human and it really stands out.
One thing I see fairly frequently in oil paintings is something called the steelyard effect which has a center object to the composition, a heavier object near that center and a lighter one farther away, picture how things work on a beam with a fulcrum and different weights. One doesn't see this in photography because things are rarely situated that way "in the wild" but sometimes when you circle a scene 360 degrees it does match this setup to photograph, kind of like those spheres suspended from the ceiling that look like a recognizable object from one direction only but random from any other direction.
I've often thought that if she were not so afflicted with either manic/depression or agoraphobia to a minor extent, and likely she was none of those but very shy and introverted nonetheless, she would have been more inclined to put herself and her work out there and we would have been able to enjoy her work and celebrate her during her lifetime. That's only selfish one our parts, we do celebrate her and her work now and I'm thankful to have discovered her early on as she was being discovered. I'm of the opinion that the only thing that matters IS the WORK and not the pursuit of fame or recognition.
Photography is a medium that isn't instantly relevant. It ages with time. You photos in 20+ years time will start to have meaning and you will then appreciate them more. Personally, I print my own work regularly, frame it and then archive it boxes. I know in the future when I am nearly dead, I will take a final look at them and smile.
BOLD of you to say and not entirely untrue. But what about great journalistic photography, is not that by its very nature immediately relevant? Or, what about the idea that whatever the particular genre, "Street", "Journalistic", "Landscape" and "Portrait" or "Fashion" and "Commercial" the relevance IS actually immediate both to the photographer AND the consumer whether they are immediately taking advantage of the photographic work, or after some time, it is offered up for consumption. Relevance is a variable thing and not many images a photographer takes including the "Masters" become greater or more relevant the greater the time that passes. Either they are relevant and fine images when they are made or they are not, and no amount of time can augment their relevance or quality of seeing.
Because in this case this is YOUR picture from YOUR memories, for someone not in your family the pics ages does not change their inherent value.
Weird. I think I have been aging with time as well. Is anyone else experiencing this?
"Just becaus you enjoy something, that is enough reason for you to do it." Thank you for this!
You're very welcome!
The reason why street photos from many years ago are so appealing and interesting is that the streets, the people and their clothes are all so different. In another 50 years, street photos from today will be just as unique.
But there will be many, many more of them. Cheap cameras - and, indeed, cheap phones - have democratised the activity of image-making. We're drowning in them. To imagine that the images we make will be perceived to rival Cartier-Bresson's creations is delusional - not because CB was more talented, although he was - but because there are more of them, by a factor of millions.
George expresses something I have always believed: the justification for any activity we perform voluntarily is the personal pleasure and sense of fulfilment it gives us, ourselves, in the here and now. Believing or hoping it will mean anything to anyone else, either while we are still alive - or worse, after we are gone - leads to futility.
Doubtful. People now dress and look the same everywhere. Infrastructure aside people from Lisbon and LA wear the same clothes, carry the same phone, have the same shopping bags, etc, etc. These my reflect "our time" but they will be so common that few will have much value.
@@86BBUB That is a very western-orientated view. The world is much bigger than "the west", and it is in that 'other' world that differences abound at whatever level one chooses to observe. If you look at the whole world, people certainly do not dress and look the same everywhere.
The fact that I used Lisbon and LA as examples does not make it a strictly "western-oriented" view. Stop projecting on others.
@@86BBUB OFGS! You said "People now dress and look the same everywhere". I don't have to look up the meaning of the word "everywhere", and neither, I suspect, do you. So I pointed out that's not true. As I said, very clearly: If you look at the whole world, people certainly do not dress and look the same everywhere. Projecting? . . . pot, kettle, black. Oh, and I suspect you know the difference between "very" and "strictly", but chose to sort of . . . ignore it. Well, at least you're consistent. Sheesh.
I know this is an older video at this point, but the line "the fact that you enjoy it as a person in your short time on this planet is enough reason for you to pursue something" legitimately brought a tear to my eye.
I've shot for over thirty years. When I look back now at shots I didn't take because the content looked too "Modern" at that time. Now I'd love to have looked back and seeing the 1990s style of the street. I was looking for classic look of the older photographers managed to capture. It's only now that I see that they were seeing what I was (contemporary) just at different times. You make some excellent points. Very thought provoking!
That's a really interesting perspective, yeah I think now I also look for "classic" shots which may mean I'm ignoring the contemporary culture we'll want to look back on
After going through the stage of frustration for my lack of confidence and talent, I learned to simply enjoy taking photos. Mostly taking bad to mediocre pictures, but occasionally I found myself in the zone and take a few good ones. That’s enough for me for now.
I think that you have opened up a really interesting discussion about photos of time gone by. One element which has a huge impact on how we view older photos is that of emotion. How we feel when we see a particular image, or the emotion that it evokes in us is so important. The beauty or impact of a great photograph, like a great painting, is often in the eye of the beholder(s). But then again I may just be spouting B.S. Love your videos, George. They're such a breath of fresh air.
Photography for myself is a compulsion built into my personality like a scavanger hunt where I seek out weird lighting on a benign subject. Been there since I was 8 years old. (50 now)
I relate to that! It's the need to grab those moments and hold onto them
Again I love the feeling of the video. It feels so cinematic and so deep. You express your feelings with nice footage and well chosen music. The way you explain things just changes my view on streetphotography or just any photography in that matter. It gives every picture you see a new look. A new way of looking. I love looking at a picture and how it feels like if I was at that location or talking with that person. I love the emotions on people faces. Or the scenery of a landscape. I love the old VS new feeling too. Both ways of photography is something I love. But I do what I just love to do and that is to shoot. Even if people don’t like it but I do. Then I feel like I’ve succeeded
Thanks so much, really appreciate the feedback and yes I completely agree. Absolutely always if you enjoy the experience that's going to be most important
You know what I hate?… those sponsorship ads that youtubers slide into their videos… Having said that, they way you've incorporated your VPN rap groups ad, is just brilliant! I laughed so hard and loud!… Well done! This is fast becoming one of my favourite CZcams pages. ✊🏿
I'm not even skipping his VPN ad because it's genuine and lots of work went into it
@@Seb_Matte I appreciate that, thank you!
VPN rap groups all day! I appreciate the feedback, thanks for watching 😄
Great video. In terms of one of the issues you raised regarding "older photos" looking more appealing (If I understood correctly), I have some thoughts about this matter. I think many of those photos were shot using analog cameras, which means there weren't any "computer assisted" features. As an amateur photographer, I shoot both digital and analog. I often find that when I shoot analog, I have to put more thoughts and preparation into it since there is no immediate feedback like a digital camera. Also, I feel photographers back in those era also have to have keen eyes for color matching since manipulating colors using computer software was not possible. Also, without the medium of social media, locations, creativities, all seem to have to be "earned through effort much more" than simply geo-tagging hot spots. I think what I am trying to say is that maybe more thought process/fundamental skills/trial and experimentations attitudes, etc. were required, which may have reflected on the creation of many timeless classic photos (such as the one from Henri Cartier-Bresson that you used in this video). Just my two cent. Look forward to your future videos.
Yes, absolutely correct. Just what I needed to hear today
Really needed this at this stage in life. I never really agreed with the phrase "everything worth doing is worth doing badly", but I came across it again today, and it really hit home after watching this video. I'm 100% still stuck worrying about achieving the "profound value" with my creative endeavors and just ended up doing nothing at all. Loved how you said "just because you enjoy making something, that is enough reason for you to do it". Going to hold on to that as I give this another shot🙂 Thank you so much for this refreshing video, and the important reminders. Rock on🙂
I've consumed a lot of Walkie Talkie content in the past week (for anybody who doesn't know, they follow a NYC street photographer for a whole day and do a sort of interview and talk about what they do) and I have to say one thing: Street photographers (I'm talking about the in your face NYC street photographers) are incredibly douchy and pretentious. They'll straight up say things like ''if your photos aren't like this or like that, then what are you doing? Literally pointless''.
Not everybody lives in NYC where you can shove a camera down somebodys throat and get away with it. Not everybody lives in one of the most interesting cities on earth. It even got to me for a while and I was doubting my art.
That's interesting, I agree some may be that way but I suggest checking out Naeem Douglas, Daniel Emuna and Poupay Jutharat - they're some of my favourite episodes, much less in your face candid and more interesting perspectives and different careers
This was great, thank you. Your channel is offering a unique perspective, keep it up!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Something about old pictures that I've realized in going back and looking at stuff I shot 15+ years ago is that a lot of pictures that maybe I didn't think were great, or were just my beginner sort of shots now begin to stand out again because they're documenting something that actively doesn't exist anymore. In my example it's mostly chunks of life in Boston, a city that has changed a lot since then. So mundane shots, or just not great pictures, now have some extra value (at least to me) because they captured something that has only become valuable through scarcity. I was also recently going through some punk show pictures I took, I don't like shooting bands but I tried it for a bit. And one stood out to me and it was something to me that at the time I took it was an obligatory "I gotta make sure to get one shot of all the members" sort of thing. But in retrospect the guy seemed timeless. I shared it on social media and a friend hit me up saying it was his brother who had passed not too long after then... maybe 12 years ago. And just how rare it is for him to see new pictures of his brother. And now that pictures is worth so much more, feels so much better, and stands out to me because it has unfortunately become something that can't be recreated. And I think when talking about old street photography, and what makes a street seen from the past better than the same street now is only time, sit on that picture 10, 20, 30 years and it might turn to gold.
Love it !!! I really needed to hear this, Thank You !
Happy to share!
thanks so much for your words, means a lot to me!
Mate this video was brilliant, explaining that you can do this or anything just for yourself to make yourself happy was a breather of fresh air to me. Have a fantastic day
Thanks so much, appreciated the feedback and yes you too
Thank you George! This one was great❗️ Much appreciated.
Thanks for sharing! Glad you enjoyed it!
This is like therapy and photography lesson combined at the same time and l absolutely love it
That is a profundly true message. So many people refrain from doing things that they enjoy, just because other see it as foolish, waste of time, etc.
This honesty is sharp, but refreshing. Thank you for the reminder to shoot more. Great vid.
Thank you for watching, glad you enjoyed it!
I find great value in your videos. Amazing work. I'll continue to discover more about photography while listening to your adventure.
Thank you, really glad to hear you found the video useful!
Framing and composition is everything (right after light balance).
I happened across your channel thanks to CZcams's algorithm and now it's one of my daily gotos!(I even rewatch many of your videos). Great advice and insight and I especially like the little skits e.g the NordVPN one or your MFT nerd (I mainly shoot MFT). Keep it up and thanks
Thanks Simon, really appreciate the feedback!
I needed to hear this right now, excellent advice.
Thank you for watching!
very cool and interesting conversation to have about street photography
Lovely take on art as artifact. Deeply enjoyed this one.
Nice, thanks for sharing. I got a lot from this, especially the micro project idea. I went out recently and did something similar without articulating it. When thinking about what I wanted to shoot, aside from practicing looking for colours, shapes and patterns, I was looking for things that were temporary. A food cart, the new casino that was in construction and nearly completed, the big ferris wheel. I didn't think they were the best work, or even my best work, but I enjoyed sharing photos that documented the local area and hopefully can look back on and think "oh yeah, that wasn't always like that".
Love that James and thanks for watching!
very good take on the topic. the worst thing is that if you try to come out with your honest work and you will look for validation, you're gonna be missed out on most of the time. and you're gonna feel bad for it, because validation is everything today.
and it's not that your pieces are bad - it's just so much content online (mindless, I must add, just look through average tiktok rolls) and the algorythm is that much devastating for small content creators. the amount of work sometimes just isn't enough.
just do your thing for yourself and your closest ones, just focus on your closest area. it's just enough, create your story.
if you encapsulate what's goin on here and now, there will be time some of it will be appreciated soon enough.
Nice video. Very thought provoking.
The classic Bresson photo you compare to also works very well is because of the lines - the jagged curve of the stairway leads to the cyclist but as it isn't smooth curves the eye perceives excess energy leading to the cyclist much like a lightening bolt. The blur emphasizes motion and give a 3 dimensionality to the photo. Often one of the biggest problems with our photos is we get caught up on the image and content but forget the compositional aspects that can give a photo depth, line, intensity and direction. We also like as viewers some cues to hierarchy - which of the subjects should be our focus and the elements of composition can do this.
This was a great video!!
Cheers!
You got me to subscribe because of your courage and honesty. I wish you well (in every sense)
Thank you very much for watching and subscribing
I felt the same way about making music... found this video because of my photography hobby. Great vid, it was nice to relate.
Thanks for watching and great to hear you related even in a non photography context too!
The perfectionism problem is very familiar to me. Thanks for your video! I'm gonna force myself to finish all the things I have to finish even though they might me imperfect. That's a great motivation!
Thanks! Maybe even break them down into parts or chapters, just getting started makes them feel more achievable
@@GeorgeHolden Yep, I always try to do this because it helps me to systemize my work :)
Hahaha the humor, as always, is on point here. I love how you start with a high level sketch and then go into the deepest reflection ever. Great one my friend!
Haha! Glad you enjoyed it, what do you think of the mixing with sketch idea?
I think it was great! Specially how it melted with the add, it wasn't as disruptive as it sometimes is when a youtuber just drop the add out of nowhere. Here you casually drag me there 😂, and that actually made me laugh haha
Thank you for the feedback, appreciate it! Yeah I would prefer to make the ad enjoyable in some way rather than the classic 1950s style we've all fallen into 😅
haha, yeah, I mean seriously, I really like your style because we can see that you are genuinely enjoying it, so it is never awkward or cringe. It is just you having a great time. Keep it up man!
I like your videos a lot. You are one of my favourite youtubers!
Thank you!
this vid is great.
at first I thought it's some of these classic "you do this, this and this wrong"-videos because of the title and stuff but it was really encouraging and empowering.
thanks
Thank you, yes I don't like those videos - so I'm happy I surprised you!
Well said!
Cheers!
thanks George - I needed to hear 'because you enjoy it, that's enough'. The pressure to get some really good or perfect stuff has actually stopped me from shooting as much as I'd like. Time to change that, thanks :)
That's great to hear, thanks for sharing!
Great video, focused a new way of thinking about and street photography for me🙏
And that NWA reference alone was worth it!
Thank you! And thank you again for recognising the NWA reference 😂
Good Onya mate, that's the shot,
loved and believe this so much !!!!
Thank you!
Wonderful insights and discussion. Many thanks. I will try to implement your suggestions. Small goals, well defined finish line.
Thanks so much, and yes give it your best shot!
What if like me you don't define any goals ? I like just taking my camera out there wherever I go and pictures when I am inspired.
As for probably many people, I've come from shoot a lot - throw a lot, to shoot less - compose more, identifying what was wrong and not to my liking in my pictures.
However I've seen many videos like this one with the advice to have goals or projects. This is probably true for a lot of persons but I struggle to find myself included.
May be because photography is a hobby to me and I shoot when, how and what I like.
@@ElectronInc Sounds like you have a wonderful approach to photography. Enjoy!
The deeper profound value & perfectionism. Been there, and with analysis paralysis too. Some good points to help people be more productive or even productive at all. Cheers.
Yeah I relate with the analysis paralysis too, thanks for sharing!
Truth !
Great video. Subscribed.
Thanks for the sub!
Thankyou master🙏👍❤️
You are very welcome
old pics are , largely, precious, even rare especially then in a time where taking pictures are not as common as now -- they are not really necessarily that well executed. of course some are truly outstanding but most are not. the values are more nostalgic, historical than anything. however, that in itself is worth our attention and appreciation
I like the advice! Completionist project in your head for years but you still plan to do it.
Cheers!
Bresson never shot 28mm. He shot mostly 50 and sometimes 35. The reason is stands out is because most of them were artists. They knew the rules of composition. But you mention “rule” now and people freak out. BTW, the reason the bicycle is blurred is the limitations of camera he was using then.
There are some rules to follow when taking photographs like the rule of similarity and where to place the subject. I have studied those in the past and it helps a lot.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that looks at old photos with the way people dressed and compare it to today. I'm the same way. I was born in 1970 and was a teen in the 80s. I remember a lot of the crazy styles there were back then. 50s had the poodle skirts. The 60s had the go go boys and short skirts. I always think of polyester leisure suits and pointed collars in the 70s. I can't remember a lot of the 90s and after. I just don't find today's style very profound. Skin tight leggings seems to be what women like to wear today. The older I get the more fond I am of the past. Even though we have so much great technology today, I still miss the good old days. I love my Nikon z8 but I just recently bought a Canon AE-1 to play around with.
damn, literally was looking for your account like 2 hours ago cause I didn't see u in the algorithm for a while, Love ur videos and photos man
Thank you! Yeah I've fallen out of the algo a bit recently 😂
The number one "gear" for a photographer, especially for a street photographer, is: patience. It helps if you are a bit of a lazy person who like to just sit and watch their surroundings. This will help you more than running around in search for a subject. And shooting many pictures does not help. Anyone can shoot hundreds of pictures within an hour, without any good results. Tip: Take up drawing street scenes. This will slow you down and improve your talent to observe. All you need is a pencil and a little notebook. Just give it a try! The famous Henri Cartier-Bresson (who took the picture of the stairs and cyclist shown in the video) started with drawing and took again to it later in life...
10:30 Oooooo thank you! I needed to hear that
Great video and very thought provoking. I really enjoyed that! On a side note, what was that book you were flicking through?
Blur, grain and black and white are the unique expressive tools that photography has over any other visual art and yet modern photographers and camera manufacturers seem to want us to try to avoid these things. Older images posses an ‘otherness’ often due to technical limitations.
I agree and vibe with the mindset. Do what makes you happy and keeps you curious and thinking, like you're a child. Look at photography that inspires you and what you love about it. Usually, the rest (improvements) comes with it.
As you imply the ironic thing about perfectionism is that it keeps people from actually improving the only real way you can---doing. I do a lot of journaling and meditation and reflecting solely on this exact thing. I'm not a stellar or even good photographer, firstly I just don't have enough experience, but there's little like being out there shooting and seeing the small beauties in the world. Probably helps I don't look for an audience, but still.
That Henri Cartier-Bresson picture has the logarithmic spiral within it; pleasing mathematicians and art students alike. I watched another video that said that he mostly stuck to a shutter speed and changed aperture so the motion blur may have been either by chance or it was more important than picture clarity in his pictures? I'm sure you and many others are much more knowledgeable than myself though. . Insightful. Thank you😊
Interesting! Liked, and subscribed.
Thanks!
love your video,and after watching your video i bought g9 and gx1,they are really brilliant for street photography.they are now my everyday carry camera.thank you
Thanks and great to hear, glad you're enjoying the cameras!
@@GeorgeHolden In China ccd cameras are very hot, but more of them are dumb cameras, not the kind of professional cameras you are presenting. In China as well, people who have relatively more experience in photography will not look up to the older ccd cameras, and they will disparage the m43 format and smaller format cameras. There is also very little content on Chinese video sites about these cameras, so thank you very much for your video content and I hope that one day you will come to China to try street photography😃！
@@user-vf8cw8zq7z that's very interesting to hear! One day I may go to Shenzhen so hopefully I can shoot some street photography then! In Manchester, many of the Chinese exchange students use CCD cameras - more than local British people! Hope you enjoyed the video 😄
@@GeorgeHolden 😄But I live in Wuhan, the city where the covid first broke out. But because of my network there is not much access to show you the content of my street photography in Wuhan, the city，which is a bit like Liverpool, a city of docks where you will have a wealth of photographic content. I hope one day you will come to Wuhan and I will take you through the local culture and street photography. I really like your video, cheers!😜
I am a hobby photographer. When I got the iphone 15 I realized how much fun it was to go on hikes or visit other cities and just walk around and shoot images. Everyone was "hating" on me for ditching my real camera, but I dont care...I dont do this to get more instagram followers, I do this because its a lot of fun. :D
Especially when its just a hobby people should not stress themselves too much. To me this was the same with painting. I am painting for 30 years and in school my teachers told me I could not draw art with a ballpen, or paint with a certain technique, or mix graffiti and paint on a canvas blah blah blah. Funny enough years later my artworks even sold for some good money. :D
So you never know. Dont stress yourself with other peoples opinions too much. Have fun.
Well said
It’s about difference. This is exotic places such as Hong Kong, Japan, Egypt, Morocco yield amazing photos. They are locations you are not familiar with and so they are special. I am from Australia and in 2016, visited the United Kingdom and came home with thousands of photos as London and its streets and locations are so different to what we have here in Australia and for me it was absolute eye candy
Always introspective, great content as always. Go out and shoot if you enjoy it, period.
Thanks for watching and yes agreed!
We should consider that people used to live more on the street, without using always their phones, there was more action and not a lot of paranoy about being photographed.
Also everything was more beautiful, even cars, and i don't thing that today we look at the first decade of 2000s aesthetic like the 90s 80s etc.
P.S. i'm 35.
That's very true, today people aren't spending as much time existing in the street. I do think today fashion, cars etc we'll like to look back on in 50 years time
I have a completionist hack: do bad work. To terrible work on purpose. The more comfortable you get with doing bad work, the work you're going to be willing to do work in general. The more willing you are to do work that might be bad, the more you're going to do, and that mileage will produce good work just because you're doing more work.
Absolutely!
I was so anxious with my marks at university that I totally forgot that I actually enjoy taking pictures, I was too focused on what the teacher will love that I was loosing myself
Thanks!
Thank you so so much! I nearly missed this notification, really appreciate you contributing to the channel 😄
I absolutely love the one at 8:21. A lot of street photography leaves me cold, but I do love those images which spark intrigue. I’m intrigued about what’s going through the girl with the purple iPhone’s mind; she seems oblivious to everything around her.
Cheers!
Fantastic video man - it felt like you were channelling your inner Jamie Windsor. Very thought provoking
Cheers man! That's the second time I've had a Jamie Windsor mention - am finally gonna check out his vids 😅
@@GeorgeHolden duuude he is so good - you'll love him
So true 32 years in NHS my photography is my outlet despite decline in health.
Thanks for sharing!
I was looking back at the street photos I took years ago and I'm underwhelmed. Between 2018 up to this year, I haven't been active because of work from home lifestyle. It does make me want to go out more often to improve.
The shots that I do like atm are the ones are the ones I didn't take.
That's a tale as old as time, always the shots we don't take that come back to haunt us and we think "what if?"
Hi George.
The street pictures looking the same are like the people who've tried to recreate the picture of the cyclist by, Henri Cartier-Bresson, from the same position on the staircase at the original location. They need to find their own equivalent subject to that staircase.
I always recommend that people look at a copy of "Polaroids" by Andre Kertesz that he shot on a SX70. More importantly, read the background behind his taking them towards the end of his life.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Thanks for that, will have a look!
In my experience most people don’t know why they like a photo, they just react to an emotional response.
That's true I think
excellent inspiring video
Thank you for watching!
I enjoyed this video and thank you for sharing your perspective. What book was that you were leafing through? The one with the red cover.
Thanks! It's Magnum Streetwise
The “perfectionist” excuse is prevalent across all creative work. I used to believe it too, about my UX design work. Until I realized that *anything* was better than *nothing* which, incidentally, only occurred to me when I started taking photography more seriously and going out more.
I love that anything being better than nothing, completely agree - thanks for sharing!
THANK YOU, I feel seen... I have all these photography techniques and many type(compared to a regular person) of camera but I will stop myself to take pictures or taking pictures purely for the sake of instagram.... I have to go back to basic...
Thank you! So happy you enjoyed the video and great to hear it resonates with you
A good thing to mention is that the environment we grow up in is extremely saturated with photography, wether it's stills or motion. People get born with a camera in their hands. There is a ridiculous amount of visual noise more than any point in the past. Literal chaos. There are many reasons why photography from the 40s, 50s and 60s is better than contemporary, but I think an important one is the fact that photography was not as diluted as it is today. Any moron with a camera nowadays can call themselves a photographer. I support easy access to the arts, I am a product of it, but people need to put more groundwork. There is so much behind those seemingly simple shots from back then that people nowadays cannot even comprehend how much work and practice went into honing the craft. Nobody knows how many years of hard work and planning it takes to make something that whitstands the test of time.
This is really wise and good. Shamefully, I've mentally stolen a couple of your photos from the city centre and will be trying them out myself... some really good ideas I'm afraid!!
yes
I also think you are so right about photos taken now will be looked back favourably. I think whilst phones are everywhere, in 20 years well look back on this period as the time when our bionic communication devices that controlled our lives called ‘phones’ were all the craze ahaha
Yeah we may end up with neural link or permanently wearing Vision Pro!
I had a recent chat with a gallery curator from your neck of the woods. We were going through some of my photos with a view to him advising me on the best way to approach a self-published book. But he could not help but keep asking me why I had not taken a photo a certain way, rather than the way I had.
And after a while I got a little hacked off with it. I suggested that the best way we approached this advice session was for him to assume that the photos I had taken were EXACTLY the way I wanted to take them.
This did not go down that well; he clearly expected me to have taken the type of photos that HE preferred. The advice session ended soon after. 🤣
Hahahaha, hard to do much with that advice though! You could always ask photoshop AI to change the perspective to the curators instructions 😂
Intreresting video, sometimes I think photos need time to ferment, their context shifts over the years. I do wonder how many digital photos will be erased and not last. BTW what was the book you are showing in the video, looks like street photography?
What is the name of the title and author of the red photography book you are looking through in the video?
I agree that there is a bias towards favouring the classic and nostalgic street photography of the past. I also agree that we should document our present time, and our photos will also increase in value as ti.e goes on. That said, I think the part that you miss is scarcity - meaning that many of those classic photos were taken at a time when the average person was not walkong around woth a pro level prifuction studio in their pockets. Thr overwhelming eays that our world is recorded and documentrd today could mean that street photos wont be quite as valuable as they were in the past. What do you guys think?
This video appears to suggest that the value of current street photography will not be realized until some future date when it will become nostalgic to view it and then the video goes on to suggest projects are the way to make your videos good enough. To me; my best street photos are spontaneous and have a lot to do with being observant to the constant changing environment around you and a bit of luck.
When walking the streets in search of a great subject, building, or moment, I run across so many people with dogs, or even cats, I decided to make a dedicated folder on my website for dogs, cats and their friends. This way I can separate the street photography which is more spontaneous, and artful from the times I want to chat with the owners of animals, and take a few shots. People love having their animals get their celebrity moments. There are many great street photography photos taken over all time, of course, and they can be artful / geometry, tell a story, or better yet a mystery, simple show beauty of a scene, or like a beautiful women - timeless. You can mix between street portraits and street photography, as long as it is clear it is a portrait and not some staged event. It's all good! I might change my site with so - so many shots taken every month to one of just ten to twenty best shot. That skill is so dang hard to accomplish --- weeding down the images to what stands out as special. I simply like sharing the adventures, I guess, and in that process no doubt adding too many shots - getting overlap of theme and such. I think, at least in my neck of the woods, have enough images to show what this areas is like, and typical events which occur, so it may be time to prune-down to showing less images each month. I may never accomplish that task, but I certainly will try to be more discerning. What I found is that people view shots I thought to be just good enough, more than what I thought to be a best shot taken. Maybe one must forgo the pat on the back and post shots with the longer view in mind, as in what may stand the test of time?
Thanks for the video, Loren
Thanks Loren, really interesting to hear!
0:03 So George's Full Frame nemesis (that always appear on the background) is now promoted to Mr. Curator with decent speaking lines. HAHAHAHA.😂
On a more serious note, I truly agree with your statement regarding being a completionist. In jobs / fields that require creativity we often overthink things and miniscule details, this leads us to a perfectionist mindset. Being a perfectionist can be double edge sword, it can make us do wonderful things but it can also limit the things we complete because we always have the thingking that it is not good enough and something needs to be changed or improved.
So in my opinion, knowing when to stop / just complete something even though it's not perfect can also be considered as a skill. Because completing more let's us gain more lessons/knowledge from various good or bad experiences. (I hope I made sense 😅)
Made complete sense! Totally agree Jose, thanks for sharing! And yes!! This time they have more lines, they were a bit of a diva on set so we'll have to see if they get another episode 😂
5:58 - "We get to imagine what life was like back then and get go envy the photographers who(m) got to shoot on the streets in that era" - true, but we have the chance to do the same for those that might be around in 50-70 years from no. The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, but the best time for any photography showing everyday life is now - get out and get snapping :-)
Not sure what the difference is really. Photographers still had the darkroom where negatives could be edited in a sense ie dodging burning etc . Just fascinating to see what life was like in the past. With everyone owning a camera these days it seems many images just are not seen. Same format but very little in modern times can replicate that of the past.
Or because everyone speaks so much about back when. They feel why should I show my images when photographers today get judged on the so called good old days?
Thank you for your content! Can you name the book, that you show at 6.40?
I wonder if back in the 40’s people were just taking photos and now we are so aware of techniques and styles that a lot of images come out as derivatives of these artists
True very likely, we're so keen to analyse and attribute meaning to images that often creators did unintentionally
I’ll tell you what art curators like. They like blurry photos. Whenever I go to museums with photos (I’m in Manhattan, so like MoMa) the photos are blurry. Blurry photos is the key. 👍
Without becoming mired in a long-winded exposition on the subject, I'll only comment that no matter when the photograph is taken, it still has to be a very good photograph to stand the test of time and has little to do with the sentimental or nostalgic. If that were the case then there wouldn't be Maier's, or Eggleston's or, Shore's or Cartier-Bresson's or Atget's or Leiter's or a Walker Evans! There were and still are a lot of "photographers" out there and some are good or even great and overlooked, possibly to be discovered long after they're gone, and some that are just journeymen or even not that talented. In the end even a lack of inspirational or creative talent is no reason for one not to do something if it makes them happy or gives them the satisfaction of having expressed themselves or created something. There are many, who create and realize that neither their work nor they themselves will ever be enshrined in the Louvre, or Poet's Corner and yet the work is still done.
In all forms of photographic art, whether it's the calm of a landscape or the frenetic energy of the street practitioners