“A photographer is sometimes a passerby and sometimes a sojourner. But that only changes his perspective, not the act of continually looking. A photographer cannot cure like a doctor, cannot defend like a lawyer, cannot analyze like a scholar, cannot comfort like a priest, cannot bring laughter like a comic storyteller, cannot transport like a singer. He can only look. That’s enough. No, that’s all there is. To a photographer, looking is everything. That’s why he must continue looking from start to finish. He gazes at the subject straight on, he faces the world with his whole being transformed into a pair of eyes. A photographer is one who stakes everything on looking.”
– Shōmei Tōmatsu
Look down while walking
When walking down the streets, you should always be conscious about what lies ahead of your feet. Just so you don’t stumble. But also photographically speaking, it can be worth to scan the ground ahead.
This lost glove, lying at the entrance to a subway station, caught my eye. I liked the shape, that almost looks like a life hand is still inside. That just threw away the spit-out, flattened chewing gum. Or a baseball glove that’s stretching out for the incoming ball. Maybe you can come with some stories of your own. I also liked the texture of the concrete surface.
Continue readingStreet Photography Quick Tip (17)
Street Photography Quick Tip 17 – Shoot with what the sun gives you
My Street Photography Quick Tips are short, easy to read and easy to use tips that I think could help you while shooting in the streets.
Photography literally means „drawing with light“. The sun is the principal lightsource out in the streets. But unlike a studio lightstand, you can‘t move the sun around to direct the light to where you want/need it. Obviously there are some workarounds, like using a reflector to throw back the light on the subject and brighten up the shadows. But in street photography, this is not practical and we need to shoot with what the sun gives us.
Continue reading “Street Photography Quick Tip (17)”Wise Words of Photography
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”
— Elliott Erwitt
Love you to death
After transitioning the “Streets of Nuremberg” to the new blog layout it’s finally back to street photography with an image I shot last week in Portland. “Love you to death” was also my entry for last weekends 52frames challenge dubbed “Uncommon”. I decided that this skeleton, obviously still decorated on the occasion of the recent Valentines Day, qualifies.
This photograph also demonstrates that street photography is by no means limited to shooting people. This genre depicts an unadulterated image of reality as life happens in the streets around us, expressed in the conscious selection of the detail of reality and the design with photographic means. Continue reading “Love you to death”
Time to relax with a coffee in the sun
Sure there was some “Angst” right before pushing the button to activate the new blog theme (Baskerville 2). I did some testing and experimenting using the new theme’s live preview in the WordPress customization area. When I was happy I went live, hoping that all my blog contents created during the past three years would still be there. It was. This morning I had a chat with the WordPress support to obtain some custom CSS code for viewing platform specific dynamic sizing of my logo that sits on top of whatever header image I desire to feature. I got the code after ten minutes, and it looks ok to me. Also, with the switch to the new (officially supported) theme, it looks like the broken functions are fixed again. The search works. Continue reading “Time to relax with a coffee in the sun”
Forced road work ahead
Everyone knows that well-traveled roads wear down over time. They develop cracks, then the first potholes appear. Work crews are deployed to patch up the superficial damages. Traffic continues to roll. Then you notice larger surface alterations. And you realize, that the road has a damaged foundation. And you need to do a larger reconstruction, totally removing the old road surface, fix the foundation and then apply a totally new pavement. If you are curious how this analogy applies to the Streets of Nuremberg, continue reading…. Continue reading “Forced road work ahead”
She didn’t look up
Street Photography is about capturing scenes of every day life as it happens. Like this girl reading a book while sitting in the window of a coffee shop in Portland. I liked her style and the just so slight smile on her lips. I was standing on the sidewalk directly in front of her, snapping a few initial photographs. I always want to make sure to capture at least one good shot before the scene changes. Continue reading “She didn’t look up”
Under the meteorite showers
Ok, technically this is not a meteorite shower. It is an art installation called “Moving Mountains” by PNW artist Annette Bellamy. It is part of the special exhibition “the map is not the territory” in the Portland Art Museum. I took this indoor street photograph during last weekends visit to the museum that I used for some indoor street shooting.
But to me it looks like a meteorite shower. Or a snow- or hail shower. And this is exactly the kind of weather hitting many parts of the continental US today. Making for less than ideal travel conditions for my trip back to the Streets of Nuremberg. Continue reading “Under the meteorite showers”