DO SOME INDEPENDENT RESEARCH INTO STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

My response:

Street photography in the early days was staged, and was the extension of the studio, but with the advent of smaller less conspicuous cameras photographers were able to work on the street without being seen. Stephen McLaren editing “Magnum Streetwise” said the cornerstone of what is now known as street photography is “the impulse to take candid, unrehearsed pictures in the public realm” (2019).It normally features chance encounters and random accidents in public places, but doesn’t have to take place in the street. The French “Flaneur” the city walker was one of the earliest street photographers observing the streets closely for theatrical moments and inspiration. That said we are now aware that Street photography does not need the presence of a street or even an urban environment.

Street photography is prevalent again, with the work of photographers such as Vivian Maier, Chris Steele Perkins, and Martin Parr. I have in the past explored the photography of many photographers famous for their Street Photography; for instance Garry Winograd famous for his edgy close ups, William Klein whose work was  innovative and intimate, often shot at eye level, Elliot Erwitt known for his wit in his images, and Cartier- Bresson of course. So here I will explore the street photography work of photographers who I’ve not researched before:

Christian Anderson

Is an American Magnum photographer who says his roots are in the classical street photography tradition especially influenced by Brice Davidson, and Moriyama. He has moved towards street photography that is relevant to him, working digitally and worrying less about the technical aspects and more about the emotional aspects of subjects. He crops hard to exclude extraneous contextual information.

 Capturing and “trying to be aware of an emotional sense of the people that I am photographing” (McLaren, 2019:48) is important to him. He describes how when working on the street he scans and then notices everything and wonders who people are and what they are thinking about. He uses the available street lighting, neon signage and smog to create atmosphere around his decontextualized subjects.

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I do particularly like his use of colour as accent and for atmosphere, more especially knowing he what was naturally on the street; it’s hard to believe that some of his portraits are shot on the streets rather than in a studio.

Sergio Larrain

A Chilean photographer worked professionally only during the 1950s and 60s. He lived a solitary life, saying he only did work that he cared for. One such project was on the reclusive mafioso from the streets of Palermo, Corleone and Ustica. He believed that photography should be free of convention but not forced, you should “Don’t ever force things, otherwise the image would lose its poetry. Follow your own taste and nothing else” .(McLaren, 2019:251).

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His images are poetic but the  thing that I take away from them the most is the unusual perspective he used, I guess this came from the freedom from constraint he valued and the value he put on following your instinct.

Constantine Manos

He shot initially in black and white, these are some of his first serious images taken when he was 18:

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  (Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, 1952)

Manos switched to colour after 30 years for his work “American Color” (1995), for which he deliberately sought out a different type of picture, he felt that American was waiting to be photographed differently; he continued this as he was enjoying it with American color 2:

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(American Color 2, 2010)

In 2001 he shot in Havana, Cuba, 2001 walking the streets “There was much life in the streets, and people were not self-conscious. In their daily lives there was a poetry, not found in more materialistic and industrialized societies” (Havana, Cuba, 2001).

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    (Havana, Cuba, 2001)

He later returned to black and white with a digital Leica, he claimed he’d gone back to basics “Looking for remarkable moments that make you catch your breath” (McLaren,2019:281).

I read that he was against cropping, as he thought it made you lazy; you should move your feet instead. I feel the same way, in that I should get it right as I am looking at something, there and then. Often when you look at his photos, he has people in both the background, mid and foreground but rarely overlaps the bodies, this seems to sharpen his message. Manos said that “A successful picture is always a surprise” (McLaren,2019:281) and his images are full of ambiguity. There are a lot of small details in his photographs, maybe this is how he achieves the poetry in his images.

Jonas Bendiksen

I choose to look at Bendiksen because at first look his photography seems quite different to the other photographer’s I’ve reviewed above or maybe I expected it to be because of his Scandinavian origins?

Apparently, he thinks about his approach hard before shooting, saying the research puts you into the right frame of mind, but that when he shoots “I guess I’m a fairly simple photographer. There is very little hocus-pocus about what I do” (McLaren, 2019:69), it’s fairly instinctive.

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I’m interested in his work on urban development and future urban development, “when I’m out on the street, I try to leave all the thinking behind” (McLaren,2019:71).

MY LEARNING:

• Try to be aware of an emotional sense of the people
• Consider using the available street lighting, neon signage and smog to create atmosphere around subjects.
• Don’t force things,
• Follow your own instincts and leave thinking behind.
• Crop lightly
• Use ambiguity and surprise the viewer
• Research to put you in the right frame of mind

References:

American Color 2, 2010 | Constantine Manos: Photographer (2010) At: https://constantinemanos.com/american-color-2-2010/ (Accessed 18/06/2020).

Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, 1952 | Constantine Manos: Photographer (1952) At: http://constantinemanos.com/daufuskie-island-south-carolina-1952/ (Accessed 18/06/2020).

Havana, Cuba, 2001 | Constantine Manos: Photographer (2002.) At: http://constantinemanos.com/havana-cuba-2001/ (Accessed 18/06/2020).

Jonas Bendiksen • Photographer Profile • Magnum Photos (2020) At: https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/jonas-bendiksen/ (Accessed 18/06/2020).

Magnum Photos Photographer Portfolio (2020) At: https://pro.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL53ZQ5L (Accessed 18/06/2020).

McLaren, S., 2019. Magnum Streetwise. Thames & Hudson

Sergio Larrain • Photographer Profile • Magnum Photos (2020) At: https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/sergio-larrain/ (Accessed 18/06/2020).

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