Humour in photography

[jamesb]

I normally don't think much of humour in street photography but this

guy has a way with images. (A large helping of Gary Larson, but don't

let that put you off).<p>

 

<a

href="http://www.in-public.com/site/nilsjorgensen/portfolio/index.php">Nils

Jorgensen</a><p>

 

There's about 55 shots, its worth going through them all (press the

triangle on the RHS).<p>

 

Apologies if you've seen this guy before.<br>

 

Anybody got any others worth mentioning?

 

<p>

Thanks, James

[bongo]

I've seen his work before, and enjoyed looking at it again. His stuff works for me because he's NOT photographing something funny, someone making a funny face, etc, rather MAKING humour thru his wry juxtaposing - the elements if not framed just so in the photograph would not be funny on their own. This is in my view dead center in the purview of SP. The problem however is when you mix humourous shots with straight SP shots. People tend to look for the joke, and when they don't see one in your straight work thing something is off.

[eugene_scherba]

<a

href="http://www.in-public.com/site/nilsjorgensen/portfolio/14.php">This

one</a> caught my eye. One of the pigeons is eyeing the scene on the

quilt as if the frenzy on the pavement has suddenly ceased being

interesting. Kind of like the pigeon that saw the light of God.

Still, the whole thing makes me wonder whether there is more to

street photography than just this art of astute observation.

[jamesb]

Bongo - absolutely, I was going to say that.

 

It seems to me that there is quite a small vocabulary in street work. The shot Eugene mentions is about similarity. The shot works mainly because of the similarity between the painting context and the pigeon context. 2 contexts that otherwise should not co-exist. And in this case I think that is the souce of humour. The cheekiness of drawing parallels between a serious religious icon and a bunch of pigeons. Strangely I think that if a crack political cartoonist did the same thing, we would be disappointed somehow. The fact that someone constructed this from luck (and from making their own luck) supplies the 'edge' necessary to make it interesting.

 

So what is the vocab of street photography?

- pose a similarity between 2 contexts

- an interesting face

- an unusual but graphically obvious situation

 

probably about 1/2 a dozen others but not much more I think.

 

James

[barefoot]

Humour is great. It is just a state of mind. It is as valid in street photography as melancholy.

bile, anger and lust.

[working camera]

Another shooter who injects an element of humour into much his street work is Roger Scott

 

http://www.joseflebovicgallery.com/Photography/RogerScott/Pages/pg02.html

 

 

The reproductions arenﾒt the best but still worth a look through if you're are into this sort of thing.

 

C.

[roger krueger]

I like <a href="http://www.mattstuart.com">Matt Stuart</a>, but he also shows the

problem Bongo mentioned--the shots without a "punch line" leave you forever wondering

if you missed something.

[janne1]

Nils Jorgensen has great stuff, I often go back to browse the in-public site just for his pics.

[billfoster]

Thanks for showing that. Haven't heard of him but I loved it.

 

What struck me is how much the pictures depend upon on each other. THe first few set a mood and get you looking for the "hook," which isn't always obvious. Some of the pictures wouldn't be near as good if taken out of context. I think he put a lot of thought into the order of these pictures. Anyway, quite good. Thanks again.

[ray .]

Lots of this stuff is cliche' but there are some good cliches. Take

a look at Tony Ray-Jones and Elliot Erwitt for like-minded takes.

Humor is central in sp, I think more sophisticated and subtle

with Winogrand and Friedlander, for example.

[working camera]

Ray has in a nutshell,

 

when done well this genre of street has a poetry all its own. At its worst it takes on a triteness that wears thin after one has viewed a few images.

[kbinner]

a lot of good stuff on In-Public. humor is what SP is all about for me, though more influenced by garry winogrand than gary larson. unfortunately i haven't seen much of this type of image-making on Photo.net, or anywhere else for that matter. why? it's an interesting question i've meant to submit to this forum (maybe this thread isn't dead??).

[hashim a]

Good link... thanks.

[blowingsky]

What's good about Nils images is that they deliver their impact in 1/125th of a second. I think street photography has that stiff requirement necessary to be good. Because it uses the seen-everyday environment, it must forcefully punch. No thinking until afterwards. There should be a SHOCK of understanding. Sure, a lot of street photography uses an ironic language, but some of the best simply INSTANTLY realign your viewpoint. And later you realize why. Never simple.

[eugene_scherba]

<i>Because it uses the seen-everyday environment, it must forcefully

punch.</i>

<p>well said.</p>

[chris_waller]

c><div></div>