Shooting essays/ reportages on Neopan 1600! Any ideas?

I would like to develop my picture taking skills and instead of shooting single

frames of interesting subjects, I'd like to start doing reportage/ story

telling photography. Problem is I have a demanding (time consuming) job which

leaves photography for the weekend.. . Does anyone have any idea what kind of

series would be interesting? How should I come up with a theme/ subject for

this? It's harder then I thought. Do you think Neopan 1600 is a good choice for

this kind of work? (I don't care if it's a little grainy, it adds to the mood

of a photograph IMO...) . Any ideas are highly appreciated.

It says in the Photography Rulebook that reportage can only be shot on Tri-X and developed in D76. Failure to abide by this rule will cause Leica-owners to fondle their cameras furiously.

 

No, but seriously, if you can only shoot at weekends, shoot something that mostly happens at weekends. Make a list of such things, then pick one from it - and you'll be on a level playing field with full-time professional photographers.

"Does anyone have any idea what kind of series would be interesting?"

 

I know someone who does. That person is you. What ideas do you feel strongest about and

think about the most. Sports? Music? social inequalities, political power, economics /

money , art, sexuality, identity, health, cultural identity, science, racism?

 

It helps to write down your general ideas and then see what specific themes spin out of

that, start doing research on those themes and find out which you have the easiest

physical proximity to. It does no good to plan on doing , for example a photo essay on

coal miners in West Virginia if you live in Southern California or New York City or even

further away. Figure out what you can work on steadily over a period of time in your

immediate neighborhood, town or city.

 

For inspiration see Bruce Davidson's "East 100th Avenue or "Subway" books.

Neopan1600 is not particularly grainy. It's a very good film around the 640 mark. At 1600 there's not much in the way of shadow detail.

I really like Neopan 1600. I rate it at 1250.

 

Russ