Video: Leica street photography

[jimsimmons]

Boris's suggestion on the Phaidon book is a good one. If you don't "get" JM from that, then you just aren't going to get him at all. Haven't seen this video yet, but I'll watch it home tonight. And if you're really interested in street work, you'll get his book "Bystander" and read the whole history of street photography. He and his cowriter did the genre proud.

[smc_.]

For those of you who think Meyerowitz looks like Batman or a carjacker, you should realize that he is "invisible" in midtown Manhattan on a winter day. Lots of people wear lots of black in the winter in NY, so his clothing wouldn't draw much attention.

[boris c hann]

"he looks like a pervert"

 

Fantastic comment. Have a look at the profile pic of the guy who posted this. Irony is alive

and well.

[cjfraser]

Thanks for the book rec. I like a lot of JM's stuff. For on-line viewing, if you register at his web site, there's a gallery of "previews" available. One thing I admire about him is that he's done both top-notch street work and very fine landscape work -- not that many people do both.

[john_mayerhauser]

He certainly didn't look invisible to me prowling around the way he was, but he seems pretty comfortable in thinking he's invisible and that's probably more than half the battle. He's a talented, interesting individual - thank you for the link.

[._._z]

<i><blockquote> Maybe I'm alone in this, but his color street work from the 70s taken in harsh daylight looks pretty striking to me. Meyerowitz is one of the more interesting photographers of the last 40 years

</blockquote> </i><p>

 

He was quite accomplished at street photography, and his switch to LF (and its radically different aesthetic and method of working) was all the more shocking. I think I probably enjoy his earlier work more. <p>

 

I remember reading or hearing an interview with him in which he said he used to hang out on 5th avenue in NYC to shoot, and he used to see Winogrand prowling around. <p>

 

I wonder what ever happened to Meyerowitz's E-1 pic-a-day project from a couple of years ago. Apparently, Olympus paid him a nice stipend to shoot at least on photo a day for a year with their digiflagship, but I never saw more than a jpeg or two online....

[aizan_sasayama]

i was just about to say the opposite. i like his later work better.

 

thanks for the link. while it was for beginners, it was nice to watch him taking pics. he certainly moves around more than i do, but i guess you have to in ny.

[leon chang]

--- The mighty Leon Chang: "color nagative film in Sunny f/16 light, doesn't make for striking shots. I'd rather use Tri-X for the streets" ---

 

Boris, I should have added "IMHO" right? Tastes differ.

[gee-bug]

Here's an April 2005 p-net thread about the Natalie Merchant video:<br><br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BiC4&tag=">http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BiC4&tag=</a><br><br>

 

Indeed, right-hand focusing an M3 seems a bit inefficient, especially when the right hand blocks the rangefinder window and focusing becomes impossible. There is also the problem of having to move your hand back to the shutter release when you actually want to make an exposure...

[andrew robertson]

She focuses using the Force, obviously.

[michael_hassoun3]

Something striked me when looking at the video:

JM is certainly not invisible but with his all black clothes, black gloves and black camera, THE CAMERA movement and position is not very clear. Of course no photog is really invisible, but the feeling people have of him/her is what counts. That's where a leica is better than a huge SLR+zoom combo. Both are clearly seen but the later is a clearer "threat".

Maybe that's part of the trick?