Street Photography & RFs - Video

Great find. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

Maybe it's for this filming only (and I dare say), but don't you think some of the photographers in the footage taking really long time holding the camera up for a shot for street photography? :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
I'm not convinced mind you about some of the narration. It's full of lovely sounding references to 'truth' and the 'human condition' but this for example just does not stand up:

''In the kind of photography we're talking about here the actual is not at all transformed.'' [begining of part 3]

If it was not at all transformed, it would not be possible to view it on a flat surface. I think I know what Chris Weeks means, but he really should be more careful than that.

www.urbanpaths.net
 
Last edited:
...don't you think some of the photographers in the footage taking really long time holding the camera up for a shot for street photography? :rolleyes:

That's right, what happened to all that ''...a ghost would make best street photographer'' (C.Week ''street photography for the purist'') aproach?;)

But I've learned a nice trick from the austrian guy. Did you notice how he's checking his exposure on his hand? I was usually using pavement/street for that, but since my hand has always the same luminosity it should be a better reference thus give more consistent results.

Btw. here's another interesting quote form the above mentioned book (yes, I was a carefull reader):
''Taking a digi-cam photo and stripping the saturation in a photo manipulation programme such as PhotoShop is not street photography'' :D

Apart of that... dang! that Canon makes nice movies!
 
'Taking a digi-cam photo and stripping the saturation in a photo manipulation programme such as PhotoShop is not street photography''

So how is Weeks getting B&W from his M9?
 
'Taking a digi-cam photo and stripping the saturation in a photo manipulation programme such as PhotoShop is not street photography''

So how is Weeks getting B&W from his M9?

People go through different techniques for getting b&w. Some of which are much, much, much more complex than stripping the saturation and increasing contrast.
 
I saw the film and loved it.

There's a thought by Chris that I try to put into practise on a regular basis: the fact that even dull little towns provide some street photogrpahy opportunities.

But, I have to make an exception on that. His thought only is true when people do not mind being photographed.

I live in the north of The Netherlands, people are kind of reserved in their nature here. They have a sort of suspiciousness about them and do not like being photographed in general and specifically not in the streets. I've had unpleasant run-ins with people coming up to me and asking why I was taking pictures of strangers. Even strangers to them. I get a lot of people turning away, shielding their faces and even interfering when I try to shoot.

On occasions, I visit Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Utrecht for a day to shoot, so I can at least get some time doing street. But I'll never excell at it unless I move there.
 
Thanks you for the video. I enjoyed it a lot. To be honest I don't see how my Nikon F3 is much bigger than Chris Week's rangefinder. Also I can probably shoot a lot faster than he does but that's another story. He seems to be a bit biased with the Leica system but overall a really nice video. Thank you.
 
There's a thought by Chris that I try to put into practise on a regular basis: the fact that even dull little towns provide some street photogrpahy opportunities.

But, I have to make an exception on that. His thought only is true when people do not mind being photographed.

I live in the north of The Netherlands, people are kind of reserved in their nature here. They have a sort of suspiciousness about them and do not like being photographed in general and specifically not in the streets.
This really is the crux of the matter. The general impression I got from the documentary is to approach subjects in the street with confidence and a sense of purpose. There are all sorts of ethical questions here that any photographer needs to ask themselves. I move with the crowd, I work well in very busy streets.

I agree, people are much more likely to question you in small towns where personal space is generally larger than in big cities. I do a lot of work in Brighton on the South Coast of the UK and although it is a small city, the vast majority don't worry too much as there's a large transient population and non-conformity has always played a stong role in the social fabric of the place.

www.urbanpaths.net
 
Last edited:
... I agree, people are much more likely to question you in small towns where personal space is generally larger than in big cities....

In summer time, I try to find time to visit cities that are used to digesting large amounts of photographing tourists (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, etc) and I look for specific occasions as well (start of the Vuelta in my home town, other festivities) to get some shots.

But just getting out and shooting street whenever I feel like it unfortunately isn't an option...

Chris seems to enjoy himself shooting in the film, wish I could accompany him in LA for a week or two:cool:
 
I'm surprised that there were no swearing in any of the 3 videos :) Must be part of Leica's conditions :)

I enjoyed the videos. Severin K is my current favourite online street photography blogger.
 
I saw the film and loved it.

There's a thought by Chris that I try to put into practise on a regular basis: the fact that even dull little towns provide some street photogrpahy opportunities.

But, I have to make an exception on that. His thought only is true when people do not mind being photographed.

I live in the north of The Netherlands, people are kind of reserved in their nature here. They have a sort of suspiciousness about them and do not like being photographed in general and specifically not in the streets. I've had unpleasant run-ins with people coming up to me and asking why I was taking pictures of strangers. Even strangers to them. I get a lot of people turning away, shielding their faces and even interfering when I try to shoot.

On occasions, I visit Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Utrecht for a day to shoot, so I can at least get some time doing street. But I'll never excell at it unless I move there.

Here in DC either people dont mind at all, or they get really really grumpy.

Never understood that though, since we're all getting taped on security cameras constantly, or showing up in the background of iphone photos that end up on facebook etc. But, take out a 'real camera' and people might get a bit touchy.
 
this movies are made very perfect and of course they are also interesting to see how those crazy guys work.
I'm not only impressed by the theme, I'm also impressed by the professional camera work for that movies, that's realy good enough for TV or moviehteaters.
 
Back
Top Bottom