Braveheart: You are braver that you think!
Braveheart: You are braver that you think!
navilluspm said:
Hi Mark. I missed you last Saturday (I went out later in the afternoon).
As the one who started this post, I have bit the bullet and decided to just try street photography. When I went with Mark, it was a lot easier. When I am by myself, it is harder. This past Saturday was really the "first time" for me alone. I went one other time, but really did not take any pictures of people. There were a couple of cool shots I could have taken, but I ended up helping people instead of taking their picture (like of an elderly man carrying something heavy down the stairs).
Wow, you opened a door! I think some of the best street work is built on having some kind of relationship with the subject. I'm not always the best to follow for an example, but here is a
great example of how a great photograph might have happened. Actually, it might
STILL happen. Do you realize (of course you do
😉 ) that you now have established a relationship with this elderly man? And it is based on trust and concern for his well-being. You never know, but you might run across him again someday and I would almost bet that he would love to talk more and even offer to let you photograph him. Okay, so you say it wouldn't be candid. But have you studied the portraits of H-CB? Many of them were taken when the subect knew he was holding a camera and was planning to photograph them. And he did, but many of them were candids! Wonderful candids, that could never have happened without the relationship that H-CB had developed with the.
This past spring I found myself headed towards a genre of photography I never though I would care for, that of people photography. Like many others, I have found my photographic passion far away from people, in a field or a marsh where I didn't have to deal with the confrontation of another person. But I felt a tug to do street, and I knew that the human element would be necessary for me to feel fulfilled. Animals did it for me out in the wild, and people would be required for me to feel that same satisfaction if I wanted to shoot street. Now, as I stated a little earlier, I'm not the best at following my own advice, but I know where I need to go if I am going to feel fulfilled at shooting street. And that will require confronting strangers. It will probably never get to the point of being easy, but it might get
easier! I try not to look at my camera as a tool to produce a picture, but rather a tool to meet people and hopefully form relationships with some of the people I shoot. The relationship might only last 5 minutes, and we may never agin connect. But I believe that when we can have this connection with our subject, incredible things can happen. The hearts of the photographer and the subject become common denominator, the driving force behind making the picture, and that can never be wrong.
I am constantly looking for venues where this confrontation might be easier, and last weekend I found one, that was at the Gallery Walk in Milwaukee's Third Ward. This past summer, I have spent an occasional Saturday on the south side of Milwaukee Public Market, where street artists and musicians will share their gifts with the pedestrians passing by. There is always one or two acoustic guitarists playing for us. They always seem receptive to me taking their picture. Here is one I got earlier this year. The guy moving out of the picture had played earlier, and whn he saw me shootinh his friend, I think he thought he was doing me a favor by moving out of the shot. Well, he was! I anticipated his decision to move, by keeping an eye on him and watching his body language. Without his decision to "help" me out, this would have been a boring shot of some guys strumming on his guitar. But now at least there is something interesting, something different, maybe een something that opens up a question for the viewer to think about!
Last Sunday, I headed to the same place. There was a new guitarist there, someone I hadn't seen before.When he saw me checking him out for a shot, he aske me,
"Should I get risky?". I said,
"Sure, why not be brave?!". He was. He started using a technique that I've seen before, but can'r seem to recall the name. Anyway, I saw the light falling on the front of his face and on his guitar, and I
knew I had the shot! I saw the passion in his face and hands, and heard it in the music. And I felt the passion in my shot. That is such a great feeling. Not only because it worked how I was envisioning it would, but also because I felt a connection between the guitarist and me that made it all happen. I dropped a couple dollars into his bucket, flashedmy business card briefly to him motioning that I was dropping it in also.
navilluspm said:
Last Saturday I found myself walking fast and all nervous. I shot from the hip a couple of times. I met a group of hippies hanging around for a ""Grateful Dead" type band. I talked to a guy selling pizza from his van, who said that he was from Utah, and follows this band in the summer. We had a cool talk. I asked if I could take his picture and he was cool with that.
Cool, another relationship! And this time you got a picture!
navilluspm said:
I asked if I could take pictures of others, and he said, "You should ask first. They porbably won't mind." I asked a lady, she said, "I would rather that you didn't." I respected her and moved on to the next table, still in ear shot of her. She, quite loudly, talked to other people. "That guy wanted to take my picture. What does he think we are, a bunch of freaks?" And then all the hippies started looking at me as if I were some freak, so I went over to the pizza sales man and talked somemore. He asked if I wanted my pictures taken. I said yes and gave him my camera. He asked if wanted the hippies in the back ground and I explained in a volume that the hippies could hear, and yet in a tone that was very respectful, "They do not want their pictures taken. I asked them and they said no, so I'll just stand by your van away from them." "Really, that's wierd," he replied.
Hey, they don't all work out. It seems clear to me that you had more courage last weekend than I did! You confronted your fear, and have a couple great stories to tell. You are braver than you think!
navilluspm said:
Anyway, I have the negatives drying right now. I think they turned out, but none look spectacular as I look at them hanging. I might post a couple, if any are at least halfway descent. Thanks for all the encouragement.
I would like to see something, if you feel okay about sharing. If not, that's okay.
By gthe way, I'd like to shoot with you this weekend, if we can work something out. I'll call or PM you.
