Continuing my month of street photog inspiration, I’ve become a little obsessed with Daido Moriyama and his utterly compelling body of work, with its very consistent low fidelity aesthetic and dynamic composition.
The following are a selection of photos from recent travels to Greece, specifically Athens, inspired by Moriyama’s work.
I’ve been inspired to begin sharing my street photography again this month, in particular due to two “walkie talkie” videos produced and hosted by Paulie B, a New York based street photographer.
The first, and perhaps more conventional “street photographer” is Matt Weber, whose work I was previously aware of but hadn’t really explored. What inspired me about Matt, beyond the quality of his body of work, was the consistency he has demonstrated over such a long period of time. He has played the long game, adopting a stoic attitude to the probability of success on any given day, and this has yielded some phenomenal results.
The second, and most inspiring (for me), of the photographers recently profiled by Paulie B is Daniel Emuna. The quality of his given name aside, Daniel’s work speaks for itself. He’s heavily focused on portraits, often of a group, and his body of work tells you almost eveything you need to know about his approach to photography.
Daniel comes across as deeply humanistic and community oriented. His “walkie talkie” episode reveals a confident, social approach to compassionate documentary photography, with a focus on consent and interaction – a stark contrast to the more candid approach adopted by many street photographers.
Whilst I do love this approach, the video and a review of some of Daniel’s work did get me reflecting on what is lost in the interaction with one’s subjects. Daniel’s work is authentic and his photography conveys a very strong sense of the characters and relationships at play between his subjects, but there is a tendency towards posed street portraiture which lacks the spontaneity and range of interactions which are often the most compelling aspect of street photography for me. The compositions are also very consistent, which is no bad thing, but I miss the happy accidents of composition which can come from rushing to capture the frame in an instant.
Reflections on subject interaction aside, Daniel’s sincerity and awareness were utterly inspiring. In one segment of the video, he talked to the challenge of walking the fine line between documenting and appropriating. His perspective on this was so on point that it ended up feeling obvious – perhaps we simply share similar views on this as well as a first name.
A final point is how niether photographer were talking about kit. Nor were they shooting with an Leica… Most of my street photography is done with an Olympus, and so I was pleased to see Matt with something very similar around his neck. I’ve wondered for years why micro four-thirds cameras are not more popular with street photographers. They are compact, light and generally very ergonomic. They are discreet. They focus quickly and accurately. The small sensor means greater depth of field at larger apertures – great for increasing hit rate with zone focusing. And on the subject of zone focusing, Olympus lenses like the 17mm f1.8 have a clutch mechanism which make it so easy to set and maintain a focus distance at a glance. Matt Weber knows…
Back in 2014, a few months before the arrival of my first child, I took a business trip to New York. Along with the usual laptop and suits, I took my trusty Olympus OM10 and a few rolls of Ilford HP5. The weekends bookending the trip were spent walking the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn, soaking up the raw energy of the city and snapping a few photos. I remember I was going through a period of anxiety at the time, and found the usual calm and solace in the practice of making photographs – creative meditation for the mind.
For the second weekend, my wife joined me – 5 months pregnant – and we had one of the most spontaneously wonderful weekends of my life, taking in live music, city sights, sports and culture back to back over the course of just three days. A highlight was catching Tinariwen live at Brooklyn Bowl, an experience I must rely on my mind to remember as I had neither film nor flash for my OM10.
A short series of snapshots from Spring 2020.
When walking around with my camera I’m often drawn to people. Particularly on bright winter days, documenting the day to day errands of city folk – the clothing they choose to keep themselves warm, the bags and trolleys they carry, their facial expressions – are all fascinating subjects.
Most of these taken with my Olympus OMD EM5 mkII and the 17mm f1.8 prime. This set up is super compact and discreet – perfect for this sort of daytime street work. More of my thoughts on the camera in an upcoming post.
One reason I love the Olympus m43 cameras, specifically the EM5, is the size. I can carry this camera in my bag every day, and should I feel inspired by the light, my surroundings, or simply have some excess creative energy, I can pour that energy into photography without the pressure one feels when specifically dedicating time to the pursuit.
These photographs were made on a 20 minute commute on Copenhagen’s new M3 metro line on a recent rainy November evening. The colour grading is my own Lightroom CC preset, available soon in the store.
The skate park at Bexhill leisure centre, now earmarked for demolition, has an incredibly passionate and vibrant community of riders and skaters.
The skate park is in desperate need of renovation – several accidents and near misses due to the state of the ramps and concrete occurred during the shooting of these photos. And with demolition on the horizon, the community here deserve a firm commitment from local government to the development of a new location.
Skate parks are positive and sociable community hubs which deserve serious investment to ensure they are safe spaces for up and coming athletes to practice and share their passion with others.
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