Street Photography
Eugene Atget
The Pantheon 1924
- Atget documented Paris when it was transitioning; historic sites were being demolished
- Used a large format bellow camera, cumbersome with log exposure times
- When he did take photo of people, it's quite obvious to everybody
Storefront Avenue des Gobelins 1925
- Also known for taking photos of everything, things that lack that 'decisive moment', this inspired legions of photographers
- Lower class people, storefronts and bridges, just because the equipment is huge and expensive doesn't mean the subject need to be grand and 'superior'
- 35mm existed around 1920's, but Agent preferred to use negatives on glass
- Man Ray knew him and often bought and exchanged ideas with Atget
- His photos has this ephemeral quality to it, yet technically they are quite the opposite
- With his setup, his view is eye level, so it's what we normally see
- But Atget frames his shots to shoot ordinary things, which was novel back in the late 1800's
- I like to think Egtet pioneered street photography, he set out just to document the changes yet inadvertently he spawned generations of photographers to use the city as their playground
August Sanders
Secretary at West German Radio Station 1931
- Face of Our Time, a collection of people across the Weimer Republic published in 1929 captured all types of German during the interwar period
- He had the right skills at the right time, rise of nationalism from the aftermath of Treaty of Versailles, political turmoil and hyperinflation were all reflected in his shots
- Like Atget, a snapshot of what was happening during that period, captured more than just the people's features
- Like Atget, Sanders used daguerrotypes for his portraits
- Long exposure times meant most of his subjects didn't smile, any little movements would look a bit out of focus
- Didn't smile = what most people felt
Gypsy 1930
- His Faces of Our Time project was divided up into 7 sections, each one a group of people
- With the rise of eugenics and fascism , Sanders shot regardless of their race, he even took photos of those who were persecuted and political prisoners
- Sanders captured a pivotal moment in modern history, not only the turmoil but also of the art scene that was happening (New Objectivity)
Saul Leiter
Haircut 1956
- Cropped, vividly coloured shots were shot with his telephoto lens, which was unusual because in street photography you would use a fixed lens, a prime one
- With a prime lens and high aperture your dof is narrow so you need to be close, Leiter's shots were from a distance away, like walking around the city with a telescope
- As a painter his choice of colours depicted a version of America that was unique, subjects became colours and not the person/building
Through Boards 1957
Wegee (Arthur Fllig)
Woman and man laughing 1940s
- Narcissistic person, he was called Oujia (Wegee) because he could "predict" (he had a police radio in his car) and be at the scene earlier than the police
- He had a portable darkroom in the boot of his car, so he can develop his photos and send them to news agencies for quick cash
- His flash, f/16 with shutter of 1/200 with only 10ft in focus created this distinctive noir look
- He was drawn to murder scenes and the dark underbelly of New York
- unlike the previous photographers, he focuses on most significant moments, sometimes to the extent of staging shots
- He also uses infrared film in dark areas (the cinema shots) to sneak up and take photos without flash
Heat Spell 1941
Vivian Maier
Self Portrait 1953
It's pretty cool because I watched the documentary on her years ago, before I considered photography as something I would do.
- Two periods, most known for her Rolleiflex, then there's her colour reversals with her SLRS
- Because of the Rolleiflex, she shot from her chest and below
- different from large formats and SLR's, everything was lower
- She shot everybody, like Sanders she included homeless people also
- Interesting selfies, shadows or reflections caught in moments
May 1955
William Eggleston
Red Ceiling 1973
Had the honour of seeing his stuff before I knew about his popularity, I thought it was the iconic Americana vibes that set him apart. I was right, ish.
- He used colour when they were considered inferior to B&W in the realms of fine art
- He used colour reversal film, something that was reserved for commercial and advertising purposes, because they had higher contrast and vibrancy compared to colour negatives
- reversal film has a much much narrower latitude, that meant Eggleston had to get the correct exposure, so technically it was marvellous
- As if that wasn't enough he used the already-obsolete dye tranfser method of printing, this gave it even more saturation and contrast
- starts with a reversal or negative film, you get three negatives of the original image though colour filters
- the three (blue, magenta and yellow) negatives are then coloured and combined into one super colourful image
- this method was super expensive
Daido Moriyama
Stray Dog 1971
- Daido documented post war Japan, his shots were blurry, grainy and casually framed
- His shots focused on the lost of traditional values, he did that simply by being inside a city
- Again he was at the right place at the right time
- He subjects purposely lacks narrative, but it is so emotionally suggestive and dark
Provoke No.2 1969
Boris Mikhailov
Case History (Series) 1997~98
- Mikhailov was known for documenting the dissolution of the USSR and its effect of its people, before that in his Red series it was about the totalitarian regime in everyday life
- He captured the grittiness and rawness of the homeless people, his flash illuminated their rags, subjects were normally naked or almost
- kids doing things that are not normal for their age, social disintegration
Red (Series) 1968~75
Tom Wood
Looking For Love (Series) 1989
- Flash captures a moment in time, briefly lighting up the pane and capturing all the ugliness in one shot
- Wood's series had this emotional appeal, nowadays these clubs either closed or have more stringent restrictions that people can't revisit
- It has this nostalgic effect, because the people now viewing this remembered how wild they were back then, and realises it is lost forever
- Technically, Woods was super close to his subjects, used flash that was right on top of the camera, to create this hard look
All these photographers used film, and that's something I will use also (because I only have a SLR). This sounds obvious, but the city is a microcosm of whatever trend/mood that is prevalent at that time, these photographers did not shun away from what's happening; instead their works documented a specific aspect of it, and their take on it. With varying gears and technology, all of them strived to capture the beauty in the mundane, and they achieved this either via effects like graininess or flash, or choice of subject.
Good Stuff
Ok here are some points the lecturer (professor to be or something, she's just really smart) talked about:
- Terry Jones 2001 (minus 3)
- 1909, invention of newsreel
- Cinema of Attraction (Theory)
- Nick Knight's fashion video Sweet from Showstudio
- Loie Fuller
- Ron Rice Chumlum and Man Ray Emak Bakia
All very dense and packed with super complicated bits my foundation mind can't possibly comprehend, but I will try
Terry Jones is a graphic designer and magazine editor, creator of I-D (Instant Design) magazine. For the Florence Biennale in 1998, he combined 22 designers with 22 photographers in Florence's Stazione Leopolda, a "cavernous old disused railway station". Jones chose designers who were avant garde, because he wanted the space to push boundaries of what design and fashion is. In fact, he called Leopolda a laboratory "away from the constraints" present in a catwalk or a collection, where "new things can be tried".
Designer: Daryl K Photographer: Anette Aurrell
How does it show relate to 2001: A Space Odyssey? Jones himself says that the feelings and atmosphere cinema creates is akin to fashion-- they capture the zeitgeist and feeling of a moment in time. Similarly 2001 is also like that, as it tries to capture what the pinnacle of age of discovery.
Newsreel:
- not much here, other than what started out a way to get PSA's out actually turned into a visual spectacle
- because it was so easy to publicise them (present in theatres or specified public spaces), it can cover lots of topics, naturally then fashion will be one of them
It is important to note that early cinematography didn't have much narrative, that concept just didn't exist. Something that appears to move on 2D surface is mind-blowing enough, why even try to incorporate a story? This is when I introduce Gunning's theory of Cinema of Attraction, which is pretty dang interesting.
Cinema of Attraction:
- Early film makers were interested in dazzling their audience with visual spectacles
- exoticism, aesthetically stimulating the audience was the name of the game
- most importantly, they want the audience to know they are putting up a show for them, in that sense the screen is a door and not a window
- after 1910 narrative films are becoming more popular, audience are more voyeuristic, and our gazes are unrequited
So anomalies like High School Musical or Wizard of Oz are cool, because they have a narrative, yet they practice exhibitionism by singing directly to us, for our enjoyment. This spectacle based film making is ironically characterised as avant garde, we got Man Ray showing us trippy videos from as early as the 30's. Again, theatrical acts back in the early 20th century were similar to film. Loie Fuller in her silent film in 1905 did her serpentine dance for the audience. She actively acknowledges the audience as she does her dance with her robes, furthermore to heighten the exoticism and fantasy film editors spliced the film at bits to make her transform from a butterfly and disappear into the background.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dda-BXNvVkQ&pbjreload=10
http://justselina.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/2010/04/27/cinema-of-attractions/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQpcaoc4X3Q
Nick Knight's Sweet
- Fashion film is something Knight thinks he invented, or made it the way it is today, popular and stuff
- That's not really true but hey he did some cool stuff back in 2000 with stylist Jane How in their video "Sweet"
- How recreated her look from Spring/Summer 2000 from sweet papers, cupcake wrappers and doilies, then Knight recorded them on a 3D-scanner (wow)
Some stills from the video, obviously due to the phenomenon of the Uncanny Valley, this is quite disturbing. On the other hand all this is quite new, scanning models with found objects emulating a look then putting it on a video with bust-like figures floating and merging with one another...first impression is confusion obviously, but that's the whole point, it's to dazzle.
http://showstudio.com/project/sweet/film
Ron Rice's Chumlum, Man Ray's Emak Bakia
- Emak Bakia and Chumlum are both films that have no or little (Ray's) narrative
- Chumlum was a mumbo jumbo concoction of Eastern tribal music with tapestry and people weaving in and out of scenes
- Audience slip in and out of attention, the hazy and generally disorientating
- Man Ray is more technically impressive, in his video he uses phonograms, soft focus and double focus to create his video
Chumlum and Emak Bakia
Nowadays these videos are a hallmark of every modern art gallery, I can almost imagine the bean bag I'm slumped in watching Chumlum; it's something I can appreciate but not enjoy. On the other hand, Ray's Emak while is still on the visual spectacle trajectory, blends different techniques into the film, making it not so boring.
More Good Stuff (From Bilbo)
Workflow didn't work, so I made a docx
Street Photography
The shooting experience on Thursday:
- I thought breaking rules was easy, because I had no experience in photography at all
- I made sure my photos were dim and lacked narrative
- I focused on textures, extreme closeups of windows, rooms and surfaces
- I borrowed my friends DLSR, because I can't get immediate results from my pinhole nor my SLR
- When shooting I was picturing how I can position my body to a interesting angle on something
- for example in the first shot I was on my back shooting the slide from bottom up
- all the shots I played the f/stop and ss, I wanted to see the effects
- Just like what Moriyama said in an interview in 2012, my works revolve around recreating home, connecting scenes, scents and mood that resemble my childhood
- I realise these moments will only exist in my mind, but that doesn't stop me from recreating them
- Perhaps like Maier I will shoot endlessly and hoard massive amounts of undeveloped film
- When I shoot, I would want to share my photos, maybe that was what Maier hoped for, that she would be discovered posthumously and recognised as a harbinger of street photography or whatever like Van Gough
From my assessment, I agree that my reflections are convoluted. I mix in too much obsessiveness and make it a huge mess to follow. I also need to have faith and patience in the development; I want results fast and now and it's not feasible.
At the same time when I was shooting on the DLSR, I was also testing my pinhole, I still haven't developed my photos yet but I will soon.
For the upcoming days till the end I will continue to use film, I will emulate Moriyama's grainy and suggestive style.
Editorial Wrap-up
Yup ok time to finalise and wrap this up:
In one day I developed 6 rolls of 35mm (my first time by the way), printed and bound my zine, and I only started doing all that after I finished shooting in the evening. In total I shot in three locations: Somerset House, Shoreditch and Regent's Canal.
I went to these locations with the intent to shoot, problem was I didn't know what. Sure, in my mind I was thinking Moriyama and my shots will be blurry and grainy. Well there is a difference between blurry and over/under exposed photos... From most of my negatives, I still didn't have a proper grasp of f/stop and lighting. My method of note taking was too tedious and it got in the way of shooting, hence sometimes when I look back I can't tell what I was shooting.
Some sections I shot in Shoreditch. Street photography is a page in Where's Waldo or looking at a medieval tapestry; there are interesting stories if you look closely. I was overwhelmed by the sights and shot everything I thought was interesting, this includes meeting a street artist named Brian from CA, an aspiring photographer named Edward, and some students from UAL doing photography and graphic design. I climbed to the top of BoxPark took some photos, stayed at a traffic light and shot whoever came right in front of me, I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted, I just wanted to have shots in Shoreditch.
Brian doing his thing.
This made me realise where I was going as a noob photographer, I wasn't good at composing shots nor was I good at manipulating the settings, I was bracketing all the time and didn't know how each specific setting affected my shots. I then set my camera on Programme, the camera determined the speed when set at f/22. I got shots in Somerset House that looks good, they could've been better if I had developed them longer (developer wasn't warm enough). Also, I realised when I set things on P I felt I had more room to compose my shots, whereas when I shot in manual I was constantly guessing and turning dials randomly.
Somerset House and the ice rink was an explosion of people engaged in various activities, there were people interacting with the exhibits, skating in the rink, and also just walking around. Moving on, I definitely need to create a different way to catalogue my shots, maybe create a series of ranges of when to shoot what. Wait, hold on, all this actually exists online. Now I guess just shoot more and get the hang of it.
My subjects and location were based off things that reminded me of home. Home for me is not a physical location nor people, it's more like memory of how I felt in the past. The dim ambiance of the canal was like walking home from school, hanging around in Shoreditch reminded me getting groceries in the weekend with my mum, and going to Somerset house reminded me of how much I loathe annoying instagrammers in exhibits. My research and inspiration was all visual; I took from Moriyama and others how the photos looked like, stored in my mind and while I wasn't actively trying to emulate them I trying to capture whatever came to me in an interesting way.
This is a page from the zine, Sunny 16. I chose Sunny 16 as the title because it fits the "guide" and "instruction" aspect well, it's a rule after all to ensure proper film exposure. My zine is a documentation of success and failure of various settings in different environments. I did state which settings get a proper shot in my zine, but it wasn't comprehensive enough (for me at least) to establish rules; the zine was more like what happens if I shoot randomly and under develop it.
I wanted to create a little pocketbook to let aspiring photographers find the beauty in going manual, with all that negative bits I mentioned above I think I achieved it. After the critique I have gotten people asking how to develop film, how and where I shot and so on. Mission accomplished, but personally I still have lots to work on.