Do you shoot documentary projects?

[Peter David Grant]

Hey everyone,

In a similar question to what Lauffray posted here, I was wondering how many of you are working on documentary photography projects? I ask because I am interest to know who's had a similar experience to mine, moving from Street to Documentary, and that this forum seems primarily to be street related.

I came across RFF as I moved from being a beginner photographer, snapping anything and everything, into street photography.

From there I got into the arty type street shots (here a few which I've posted here before, many moons ago);

1.

2.

3.

As time has gone on though, I've become less and less fulfilled by street (perhaps in part due to my home town Oxford, not being full of subject like London), and my interests outside of photography have grown mostly though reading. I've realised that I'm fascinated by what people are doing and why, so I've pushed myself towards documentary, and using that to gain access behind doors I wouldn't otherwise be going through. Photography has gone from becoming the end, to becoming the means to the end, and feeding my interest in what is going on.

Interestingly, my experience contacting people who when I dreamt up projects while doing street, I would have thought to ask has been overwhelmingly positive.

How has your photography developed?

Peter

 

[kbg32]

For me, they go hand in hand. I sometimes work on them simultaneously.

 

[Roger Hicks]

How do you define "documentary"? Does it have to have people in it?

I shoot series of pictures but I'd be hard put to force most of the series into exactly one category.

Cheers,

R.

 

[grouchos_tash]

How do you define "documentary"? Does it have to have people in it?

I shoot series of pictures but I'd be hard put to force most of the series into exactly one category.

Cheers,

R.

I can understand this, I haven't a clue what my photographic style is, I guess I'd have to get other people to tell me.

 

[Peter David Grant]

How do you define "documentary"? Does it have to have people in it?

I shoot series of pictures but I'd be hard put to force most of the series into exactly one category.

Cheers,

R.

Ahh yes, sorry I should have of course given my definition, my apologies Roger.

In my context, lets say that "documentary" means overt permission to be in a place that would otherwise be closed off to another individual, often shooting over more then a single visit.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Ahh yes, sorry I should have of course given my definition, my apologies Roger.

In my context, lets say that "documentary" means overt permission to be in a place that would otherwise be closed off to another individual, often shooting over more then a single visit.

Dear Peter,

Thanks. Yes, I've done that, quite a lot, but not recently. It seems to me a somewhat narrow definition.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Yes, I have shot many documentary projects. That is virtually all of my non-commercial (fine art) work. Right now, I have several in progress. Some are the work of more than twenty years.

 

[airfrogusmc]

I have in the past. My last major project in college was a documentary on Maxwell St here in Chicago. Shot in the mid 1980s when it was gasping it's last real breaths. Some of the work is in the Chicago History Museum's permanent collection. I haven't worked on a documentary project in a very long time though.

 

[Peter David Grant]

Thanks for the replies all of you.

It is interesting because, I don't feel like the vote actually represents what I tend to see here on, which appears to be more publicly accessible locations.

Discussions don't seem to start on how to get access, or writing proposals etc.

Maybe I am just getting to niche...

 

[Bob Michaels]

...... Discussions don't seem to start on how to get access, or writing proposals etc. .....

Below is a cut and past from an article by Bill Ferris, that I believe is quite descriptive of the access style many of us use. (Forget proposals, there is NO money in this. You finance this out of your own pocket because you love it and believe it is needed.)

Bill Ferris said:
Others have long sensed that, too: In 1968, Christine Thomas opened the door of her house in Leland, Mississippi, to find a slender, serious young white man. It was Ferris.
"What do you want?" she asked.
He kept a respectful distance.
"I'm looking for James Thomas," he said.
"He doesn't live here," she answered, and he turned to leave. "What do you want with him?"
"I'm doing a book on the blues," Ferris answered, "and I want to put him in it."
She studied the college student for a moment: "He'll be back in an hour. Come in and wait."
Nearly five decades later, Ferris remembers that day as the start of a relationship that produced loads of interviews, recordings, photographs and even the name of his obsessive 2009 book about rock 'n' roll's daddy, Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues. The title is a Thomas lyric.
In subsequent visits, Thomas' children would take Ferris' hand and walk him into their bedrooms, where they would sing him their songs. Those kids made it onto Ferris' tape recorder. They remain his friends.
"I was never turned down," Ferris says. "I just wanted to get in the door. Once you were face-to-face inside, things began to happen, which would lead to other people, and the circle would quickly widen."

 

[airfrogusmc]

Below is a cut and past from an article by Bill Ferris, that I believe is quite descriptive of the access style many of us use. (Forget proposals, there is NO money in this. You finance this out of your own pocket because you love it and believe it is needed.)

Bill Ferris said:
Others have long sensed that, too: In 1968, Christine Thomas opened the door of her house in Leland, Mississippi, to find a slender, serious young white man. It was Ferris.
"What do you want?" she asked.
He kept a respectful distance.
"I'm looking for James Thomas," he said.
"He doesn't live here," she answered, and he turned to leave. "What do you want with him?"
"I'm doing a book on the blues," Ferris answered, "and I want to put him in it."
She studied the college student for a moment: "He'll be back in an hour. Come in and wait."
Nearly five decades later, Ferris remembers that day as the start of a relationship that produced loads of interviews, recordings, photographs and even the name of his obsessive 2009 book about rock 'n' roll's daddy, Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues. The title is a Thomas lyric.
In subsequent visits, Thomas' children would take Ferris' hand and walk him into their bedrooms, where they would sing him their songs. Those kids made it onto Ferris' tape recorder. They remain his friends.
"I was never turned down," Ferris says. "I just wanted to get in the door. Once you were face-to-face inside, things began to happen, which would lead to other people, and the circle would quickly widen."

This is great Bob...

 

[Peter David Grant]

Bob, sorry perhaps I am miss using the word proposal (I am self finding everything I do). I mean the act of proposing to the people I am trying to get access to.

Thanks for the quote from the article. It's a very forward method, that I am perhaps to meek to try, or at least have been so far.

That last line is fantastic...

Thank you Bob.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Peter I just had a peek at your Oxford project. Wonderful work.

I think it is always important to be authentic in the way you approach a subject. I am very out going and the way I approach people works because it is just the way I am. From what i see of your work you seem to have your own way of getting what you need. Just keep doing it. I remember Davidson talking about bringing a small photo album with him to show people what he was doing so they would open up to him. He would then give them photographs and they would then tell their friends etc. He found that to be his way in. I have no idea if my words have been any help (LoL). If not sorry but from what I can see just keep it up. Really like what I am seeing.

 

[Daniel Teoli Jr.]

OP, Nice Pix!

Yes I do lots of projects in the social doc field. Google my name and you can see samples of the areas I work in.

Projects are what can make or break a photog. Good you are becoming aware of their importance.

 

[Bob Michaels]

Bob, sorry perhaps I am miss using the word proposal (I am self finding everything I do). I mean the act of proposing to the people I am trying to get access to. .....

yes, I did misinterpret your question. Regarding proposal for access, or permission to photograph, I see many different approaches. Some photographers only feel comfortable after they have obtain affirmative permission. Others, like me, simply smile and start shooting. Lack of a negative response is good enough for me. I have had too many photo ops disappear while trying to obtain permission.

 

[Alpsman]

I have two neverending documentary projects which I'm working on.
First is to photograph all buildings of my hometown, about 2800 or so at the time.
Second to photograph all buildings to be demolished bevore they would be demolished.
Of course on BW-film.

 

[Peter David Grant]

Peter I just had a peek at your Oxford project. Wonderful work.

I think it is always important to be authentic in the way you approach a subject. I am very out going and the way I approach people works because it is just the way I am. From what i see of your work you seem to have your own way of getting what you need. Just keep doing it. I remember Davidson talking about bringing a small photo album with him to show people what he was doing so they would open up to him. He would then give them photographs and they would then tell their friends etc. He found that to be his way in. I have no idea if my words have been any help (LoL). If not sorry but from what I can see just keep it up. Really like what I am seeing.

Thank you for your kind words. And they have definitely been a help, other than reading what the likes of HCB and Salgado have published, I have no way to see how other people operate.

I have found the spread of people talking, to be a wonderful way to be introduced to things I wouldn't have otherwise been privy too.

Thank you.

 

[Peter David Grant]

yes, I did misinterpret your question. Regarding proposal for access, or permission to photograph, I see many different approaches. Some photographers only feel comfortable after they have obtain affirmative permission. Others, like me, simply smile and start shooting. Lack of a negative response is good enough for me. I have had too many photo ops disappear while trying to obtain permission.

Hi Bob,

Remembering your photographs from Cuba, I can imagine that process working really well for you. I guess it also depends on what type of permission you're seeking. Getting access to a science project, or something a business is involved in, will always require overt permission.

I've always wondered how people get intimate access into the homes of their subjects...

Cheers,
Peter

 

[Peter David Grant]

I have two neverending documentary projects which I'm working on.
First is to photograph all buildings of my hometown, about 2800 or so at the time.
Second to photograph all buildings to be demolished bevore they would be demolished.
Of course on BW-film.

Hi Alpsman,

That sounds like a great (and mammoth) project! How many have you managed so far?

Peter

 

[airfrogusmc]

Peter and I apologize in advance because you probably already know this but I remember Davidson talking about East 100th Street and the problems he had at first getting the peoples trust. He worked a lot with a view camera (not at all suggesting that LoL) but he went down to East 100th St everyday. If I remember correctly said at first he wasn't getting anything. But then after some time the folks there started warming up to him, started calling picture man and he started to get invited into their homes and private spaces. Not saying this is the right approach for you but I think in any situation where you need some kind of personal access trust is a big deal. So my point is you need to gain the trust first, however and whatever that might require.

Boogie and his gang photographs would be another example.

Anyway, again I really enjoyed viewing your images and I hope to see more soon.