Shooting The Urban Void

As this blog expands into a review and explore sheet over the coming years, I'd like to work through what I find as the attraction of shooting people/humanity in all its forms.

The genre (for want of a better word) is known as Street or Narrative Photography. Whilst it doesn't have anything to do with photographing a street so to speak, a lot of shooters find the open public venues as an ideal subject space within which to capture life's comedy and drama. Hence the tag.

To me, the true definition of the genre lies in the word narrative.

The old adage of a picture is worth a thousand words gives a narrative photographer quite a bit of room to maneuver to get an idea or story brought through by his/her one shot of a time and place.

Never again can this moment be repeated.

The photo of a place stamped with the emotions and actions bought forth by the inhabitants of that space are timeless. Its the general chaos over which the photographer has no control that when it comes together, offers a perspective of transcendent reality to the viewer, "my place" but another world. The mundane becomes the circus.

So on this note, what makes a successful shoot? First in my mind is awareness. One has to sink into the surrounds, so as to blend with the inhabitants of the space within which you are trying to showcase the unreality of this madness called life. This is not always easy as you may be a cultural oddity yourself depending on where you are shooting.

The second factor I feel is important is patience. With awareness, you can sense a scene is about to unfold. Get comfortable, be patient, then nail it as it happens.

Third is rhythm. Your rhythm. My first 10 to 20 shots are always crap, until I find my rhythm then things begin to flow. Rhythm involves many factors, camera controls being instinctive, a feel for the surrounding pace, intuition of people patterns within the general street bustle plus a host of indefinable stuff. Rhythm. No rhythm on the day, best to switch off and head for an espresso somewhere nice. Got rhythm, get shooting.

Fourth is location. Your Mum might think that photos of you in your lounge room are good, but if you really want to do well in this genre, hit the streets baby. Go to where its all happening.

Fifth is creative awareness of your chosen genre. What defines your vision of a good shot? More on how to appreciate style trends in a future blog, but be part of a community which shares the values of your genre. It's a great help. Seeing what others are doing can stimulate your own concepts into action. I try to spend time each week looking at other photogs work and being wowed with their creativity. Never be threatened by others you perceive as "better" than you. Frankly, in the art world, there really isn't any such thing as better. Art is just not competitive, its art and simply stands alone as what it is.

Sixth is equipment. Yeah its the last thing. Whilst I use Leica for most of my street work, I have seen great stuff done with a camera phone. More on the pixel race and gear in later blogs, but the message here is do not be fixated on equipment other than just know how to use it. What ever you shoot should feel like an extension of you. You don't have time to play with adjustments, the moment is either decisive or just another shot bound for deletion.

So awareness, patience, rhythm, location, genre style definition and equipment will help you tell a story. But YOU are the one who is the narrator.

Time to hit the road, and practice the art of the storyteller in the real world. A bard or a minstrel, with a camera instead of a lute.

Posted from Singapore