Student Protest in London

[ChrisCummins]

Hi,
being your archetypical liberal student I went down to the student protests in London at the end of last year. I have some shots from the one on Dec 9th that I'd like critiques of please. Available light people photography is something I've been really trying to focus on and improve at. I find it the most challenging both technically (no control over subject) and emotionally (I'm shy by nature and find the act of drawing a camera up to by face in a crowd to be quite unnerving). Anywho, here's a the set of 8. I'll number them to make referencing them easier.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

All the best,
Chris

 

[Roberto V.]

3,5,6 and 8 are great

 

[hans voralberg]

Last one is great 😀 Sort of symbolic for many ideas

 

[wintoid]

I like these in general. I think the main reason they are so effective is that you really got in there, right in the middle of it all, and it makes them exciting.

Other than that, I have nothing constructive to say. I just enjoyed them 😀

 

[GSNfan]

Your photos got attitude. You were very close to the action and that inevitably leads to interesting photos.

Just one tip, if you like getting close then use a wideangle lens.

 

[taylan]

Hi
I could not see students in your images. These are police photographs. You seem embedded. Do not be afraid getting closer to the demonstrators. Moreover, in demonstrations everything seems very interesting but remember most of photographers take same frames. Just look at the newspapers. Try to take interesting moments of people. Also be part of the demonstration.
I am taking photos at demonstrations for several years and i am attending only demonstration that i pay importance. Thus i can be part of demonstration.
furthermore you can see some of my work at my RFF gallery
Alway be awaken, good luck

 

[ChrisCummins]

Thanks for all the responses.

@GSNfan, the photos were made almost exclusively with either 28 or 85mm focal lengths. I'm in the process of getting my rangefinder up to fighting shape, but when I do I think I would like to try a 35mm lens. The slightly wider field of view forces you closer than with a 50, and I like the subtle exageration of perspective. I think it gives everything a slight immediacy.

@taylan, I think you are right on with your assessment. This was only the second protest I have attended, and I realised while reviewing the contact prints from the first one that I was almost exclusively interested in the police, or more accurately, the sense of conflict with the police. The protest had a very strange atmosphere to it as the police were being so heavy handed with us. That day we were detained against our will for 13 hours with no access to food, water or toilets, which generated a sense of conflict, rather than peacful demonstration. Of course the vast majority of time was spent in peacful demonstartion but I freely admit that I took little visual interest in that. I'm not a photojournalist, I have no interest in neutrality.

I would like to submit a further three to the set. I feel they are all uniquely flawed, although well intentioned.

#9

#10

#11

All the best,
Chris

 

[Austerby]

Hi
I could not see students in your images.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but who are those people confronting the police in #2, 3 and 6? You have effectively documented a range of situations but like all photographs they can't show the whole truth to everyone.

Technically, these are well exposed, developed and scanned. They are well-framed and you have chosen your moments well. It would be interesting to learn whether these shots are the best of the day or whether they are more generically represenrative.

The focus is something to work on, alongside depth of field. You use motion well but there's a feeling of good luck about these shots, in that they happened to be actually rather good, as opposed to being within your control and design.

Good work.

 

[GSNfan]

@GSNfan, the photos were made almost exclusively with either 28 or 85mm focal lengths. I'm in the process of getting my rangefinder up to fighting shape, but when I do I think I would like to try a 35mm lens. The slightly wider field of view forces you closer than with a 50, and I like the subtle exageration of perspective. I think it gives everything a slight immediacy.

Sorry, I didn't specify what I meant by widenagle.

28mm is wide for normal situations, but when you're literally less than half a meter from your subjects, you want a minimum of 24mm but 21 or 18 is more preferable.

But I'd recommend using a DSLR with a zoom lens for rallies and protests. Keep your film for the artistic street stuff.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Chris,

Pretty damn' good overall, I'd say: 1, 8 and 11 aren't as strong as the others, for me. I think you chose the right FLs (well, I'd have used just a 35, but that's me). Anything wider than 28 and you have huge chunks of people's shoulders, egg-shaped heads, etc. A 28 (or better still a 35...) is 'short tele' in such a situation: you're in among it, but able to pick out details.

And I really do believe that there is a significant difference between getting in anong the action, shooting with a camera that most won't recognize, and using a generic DSLR which is more likely to say 'Police Spy' or 'Amateur Photographer Pretending To Be A Photojournalist'.

Cheers,

R.