autismkid Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I started trying street photography several months ago, after I feel tired of landscape or still life (not I am any good at those). So I starting shooting on the street, and looking others' works. I spend a lot of time on in-public.com. There are several artists whose work I quite admire. Nils Jorgensen, Narelle Autio, to name a couple. There are also some work that I simply couldn't get. For the rest majority, I have this strange feeling that there is something missing. The same feeling bothers me all the time when I look at my own shots. For example, below is one of my favorites shots since I start shooting on street, and others like it too. But the more I look at it, the more I feel that it is not the kind of photography I want to do. <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2273/2225525964_3408dd2a0a_o.jpg"/><br> I am not sure exactly what is bothering me until I watched "The Impassioned Eye" a couple of days ago. I can't say that I appreciate all of HCB's work. But a large portion of his work has such an elegant fusion between fine arts and documentary. For example <a href="http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx? VP=Mod_ViewBox.ViewBoxZoom_VPage&VBID=2K1HZO6ETWV7S&IT=ImageZoom01&PN=40&STM=T&DTT M=Image&SP=Album&IID=2S5RYDILGK_N&SAKL=T&SGBT=T&DT=Image">this one</a> and <a href="http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx? VP=Mod_ViewBox.ViewBoxZoom_VPage&VBID=2K1HZO6ETWV7S&IT=ImageZoom01&PN=39&STM=T&DTT M=Image&SP=Album&IID=2S5RYDIPAPAP&SAKL=T&SGBT=T&DT=Image">this one</a>. That, I think, is what is missing in lots of street work we see today. What gets on my nerve most is the statement that, to do good street photography, you need to get close. No, that will make your photo bold, shocking, interesting, or maybe funny (like the one I posted). But that will not necessarily make it aesthetic, or make it a good piece of visual arts. If street photography and fine arts photography excludes each other (which I don't think is true), then I need to find my balance point. I am not good at writing, even in my mother tongue. But I feel that I need to put these thought into words, so I know clearly about the direction I am heading. Also I'd like to hear opinions from you guys. Please bear with me if this makes an awful reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiao Cai Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 From examples you showed here, I think the problems you faced are composition problems. Probably you need to learn how to make your photography composition better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/robert_m_johnson/633105832/" title="Untitled by Robert_M_Johnson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1280/633105832_a5e86388e6_o.jpg" width="802" height="535" alt="Untitled" /></a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 <p>> <i>I started trying street photography several months ago, after I feel tired of landscape or still life... But the more I look at it, the more I feel that it is not the kind of photography I want to do.</i></p> <p>Too many photographers I know are like this. They first start out in photography because they like taking pretty pictures; then they realize that a "pretty picture" is not enough to bring them any serious recognition; and so they fall to the charm of the supposedly anti-aesthetic grittiness and artiness that street photography exudes (BTW, this "grittiness" forms an aesthetic of its own, thus contributing to the SP's downfall by not making it fundamentally different from pretty-picture photography).</p> <p>After a while, they realize that SP is only a very marginal genre, with its own group of followers who are mostly middle-aged men who meet mostly on the internet, and who fall into the either the category of hobbyists or outsider artists, and that SP does not and will not give them a ticket to the mainstream art establishment they hoped it would.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Eugine, your biological clock is ticking, time is running out to create that masterpiece hidden within you! :-) At 24 you should have a body of work by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/robert_m_johnson/793197980/" title="Untitled by Robert_M_Johnson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1122/793197980_241d9a51ec_o.jpg" width="802" height="535" alt="Untitled" /></a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akochanowski Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I think Eugene is on to something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I'm actually 25. Some people can't do math... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/robert_m_johnson/463014406/" title="Untitled by Robert_M_Johnson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/172/463014406_bb2e5289fb_o.jpg" width="802" height="534" alt="Untitled" /></a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 And some have an obsessive-compulsive irrelevant picture posting disorder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 tick, tick, tick... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 "I'm actually 25. Some people can't do math..." TICK, TICK, TICK! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Is that a Geiger counter in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 <p>I prefer to take things easy...</p> <center><img src="http://eugenescherba.com/medium/4789c769798ef"></center> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_motskin Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Jia, I agree with Robert and Xiao. Compositionally it is too busy and the relation between the person and the bikes is unclear. There are also some tonality problems. But also I think you should give some thought why did you take this picture. Why do you want to have a person walking past the bikes? What does it tell the viewer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orvillerobertson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Street photography is no different than anything else in life; you have a few original talents, and then there's a whole bunch of folks whoexcel at imitating those talented people. The secret is to have enough talent and soul to cut your own path. Ofcourse we all sometimes borrow someone else's machete to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autismkid Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 Xiao, > Probably you need to learn how to make your photography composition better. No doubt about that. But are you implying that I should take your class? :-) Robert, > Keep it simple... I hope it is that simple. Eugene, > then they realize that a "pretty picture" is not enough to bring them any serious recognition. ... that SP does not and will not give them a ticket to the mainstream art establishment they hoped it would I am not trying to do arts for a living. But I think you are right. At first, mainstream photography (or at least my mainstream photography) start looking boring and too formularized. So I seek for fresh air in SP. But then I realized it is a completed type of visual art. Someone says HCB is one of the forefathers of the genre of SP. But seems to me his work is far different from today's SP. I guess I am just looking for something fresh yet aesthetic (in conventional sense). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Jia, visit Orville's site... http://www.newyorkstreetphotography.com/Orville_Robertson_Web_Site/Home.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 <p>> <i>At first, mainstream photography (or at least my mainstream photography) start looking boring and too formularized. So I seek for fresh air in SP.</i></p> <p>Two points. One, how are you, then, saying above you're not sure SP is the kind of photography you want to do? -- SP is as full of stale air as film noir. Two, a composition and an allusion to simple life with an exclusion of contemporary elements (what you see in many of HCB's photos) does not a good photo make. HCB is way overrated. If someone were to take HCB-like pictures today, he/she would be considered an amateur not worth looking at. Not because HCB has done this or that first, but simply because the pictures would not be saying much. What do, for example, any of HCB photos say to you? To me, they say very little except that HCB was one of those nostalgic people who dream of retiring in a cottage where milk is delivered every morning and who like to exclude telephone wires from their photos.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Robert -- do you really think a portfolio with "I sell prints for $ blah blah" and little cute Mac Pro buttons is worth visiting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 It looks like you're in San Francisco. If you want to focus, find an aspect of life there that interests you and explore with your camera.<P> <center> <img src= "http://www.citysnaps.net/SFWeb%206-14-06/image/p6.jpg"> </center> www.citysnaps.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 "worth visiting?" I think that it might be the kind of work that Jia was eluding to. You can't have it both ways Eugene, you now have a problem with someone selling street images that are beautiful in all respects? And Eugene, when my son was your age he was helping program that little video game called Bioshock! tick, tick, tick... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 "When my grandpa was your age, he wasn't trolling on the internet." tick, tick, tick... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_scherba Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 <p>> <i>You can't have it both ways Eugene, you now have a problem with someone selling street images that are beautiful in all respects?</i></p> <p>Doesn't matter. When an artist advertises prints for sale, that always lowers my opinion of him/her.</p> <p>> <i>when my son was your age he was helping program that little video game called Bioshock!</i></p> <p>I'm currently programming an online CMS (content management system) for photographers and artists. <a href="http://eugenescherba.com/design2/">A non-public preview</a>.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 >>> Robert -- do you really think a portfolio with "I sell prints for $ blah blah" and little cute Mac Pro buttons is worth visiting? I just took a look. It's an outstanding portfolio and definitely worth visiting. So where's yours? www.citysnaps.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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