Street photography

Street photography - insights

Street photography is one of my favourite forms. I dare say that many of my best images, the most satisfying, were grabbed in a split second while out and about with my camera.

If this is a form of photography that interests you, then you should take a look at www.in-public.com. This site also has a host of links to other interesting resources and websites to do with street photography. Check out www.ak47.tv, an online magazine for documentary and art photographers, which has some excellent street stuff.

Many of the greatest photographers of our times were street photographers; notably Henri Cartier-Bresson and Brassai. Sometime in the future I'll do a small article with handy hints and tips for getting that special image when you're out there hunting with your camera.

As always I'd love to hear your feedback. So please email me.

May exhibition

On another matter my wife Magda and I have just launched our May exhibition on our website. Please take a look. Magda has an exhibition of exquisite flowers from A to Z and I'm exhibiting a series of portraits. You can see our exhibition by following the links from here. Please sign the guest book too. Your feedback is always valuable to us. Thanks.

Paul Indigo

Boy with his balloon - by Paul Indigo. I love his carefree attitude.

Comments

Overcoming creative block and self doubt

Every photographer, for that matter every creative, I've ever met comes to a point when they're not happy with the work they're producing. The pendulum between creative highs and dry spells swings continuously. For some the cycle is long and the bouts are quite mild for others the feeling of doubt about their work can be a crushing experience which returns all to frequently. It's actually quite healthy to have these periods of doubt because it can often be the beginning of something new and interesting which takes you further than you thought possible. Creatives in the commercial world have to always perform and although they may agree looking back that they've had a few patches where their work was less good, they always seem to bounce back. A very few creative geniuses deliver such high quality work that their poorest attempts still surpass the rest of us. But I have never heard of anyone, from tortured soul of Van Gogh to the supreme showman and genius, Salvador ...

What You Photograph Reveals How You Think

Photography is often described as a way of seeing. Less often do we talk about it as a way of thinking. What you choose to photograph, and just as importantly what you ignore, quietly mirrors how your mind works. Some photographers are drawn to faces, micro-expressions, emotional spikes. Others chase atmosphere, light, mood. Then there are those who gravitate towards structure, systems, order, the invisible logic holding a scene together. None of this is accidental. The camera becomes a sorting tool. It reveals what your brain prioritises. Where others see chaos, you might see alignment. Where some look for drama, you look for balance. Geometry, repetition, flow, layers, these aren’t just visual preferences, they’re cognitive ones. Strong graphic images tend to come from people who think spatially. Who notice how things relate before they notice what they mean. Lines before labels. Structure before story. And yet, the best images rarely stop there. They gain depth when human pres...

Is professional photography still a viable career?

I am not against amateurs and semi-professionals selling their photography. It's a great way to earn some extra cash. However I am concerned about the level of high quality published work and the standards that clients and the public accept these days. It seems that just about everyone is a photographer. The line between amateur enthusiast and professional is fuzzy to say the least. Photography enthusiasts are selling their images through stock libraries and microstock websites, directly to magazines or through their own and third party sites. They're accepting commissions to shoot weddings, being hired to shoot for magazines and selling fine art prints from their websites. They're teaching photography on the weekend and guiding photographic holidays and safaris. Photography became accessible to the masses with the first non-expert cameras and the famous Kodak slogan"You press the button, we do the rest." The digital camera age has taken the whole thing to a ne...

Beyond the obvious

Search This Blog