The Back End of Things

The past few days in Philadelphia can be described as hot, sultry, humid…sticky with minor drops of perspiration. But I don’t fight it, as I just go with the flow. Out of the depths of this sultriness comes an opportunity to stay inside and work on what I label as just the back-end-of-things. This includes …. film developing and ‘orchestrating’ one of my upcoming zines.

I usually always have a roll or two to develop. Yet today I didn’t have two of the same film type as I prefer to develop several at the same time. So that left creating the beginnings of my new Zine. Using Affinity I ‘started’ by determining the layout and size for my zine based upon half-frame negatives. I needed the right size to properly project how the half-frame negatives of my Pen F will fit onto each page. Now, this zine project won’t be completed until early 2025 I imagine. You see, I have a couple of dates I need to ‘shoot’ to be included in this documentary zine regarding an open art studio event gallery. I still have Oct, Nov and maybe December to document. But today, I began looking at some footage from June.

‘Above”….. An interesting shot…and one I ‘like’…I enjoy the film look….the grain/noise and especially the extra mood added by shooting half-frame + 400 Fomapan. I love the end result. A candid shot of a lady digging thru her purse. Some art in the background….and her just sitting crossed-leg on a bench. Totally un-aware of being captured on a negative. This is one of several I took of her as I formed a small visual narrative of this ‘slice of life’.

Another shot….this one being more associated with a regular diptych. Again, candid shots documenting this same event. Notice the water mark from the film processing I did on the left image. I left it there. Sure, I can clean it up but why? Why not add character unique to my process to my images? This is what I mean by why I love film. Collectively and thru-out the entire process of capturing an image to that of developing or even printing an image just adds a bit of ‘me’ to each shot.

Tomorrow….should be cooler and not sultry and sticky and me being shamefully relegated to the indoors. Tomorrow has hopes of being out there, about….walking….’legwork’ from the beginning stages.

And You Don't See Me? Right?

Being a street photographer I am always amazed by how the vast majority of people have no idea of their surroundings. They are clueless… Are they Zombies? Are they Avatars from the future? ….Either way, they just lack any awareness of their physical presence and those around. These' ‘space cadets’ just walk around or stand or sit or look off in some direction and are pretty much there for a street photographers picking. Totally oblivious to that which surrounds them. For instance…take this couple below….:

There they are….about a foot away. Just staring. I am next to them and I have no idea of their names, where they are from….do they speak English? Are they Vegetarians? ….do they read books? Are they lovers? Do they prefer chocolate ice cream over vanilla? No idea….. But there they are, big as day.

Dah…take my shot…capture me. I am not posing in any way so a candid shot will turn out just fine….just fine. And yes, I did. I took their shot. In fact this is one of 4 shots I grabbed from them but I prefer this one as they are both looking ‘out’…..I like the closeness of it all. Just ‘Us”…hanging out…..far from good buddies.

Then on the other hand……

Candid or Posed?

Recently on a forum of distinguished photographers …..I have been having this debate about why street photographers should clarify if a particular image was shot ‘candid’ or ‘posed’….. Most on the forum do not agree with me that we should distinguish the two, but wait….think about it.

I will go to a photo that someone took and ask; how did you get that shot….. their immediate reply is that they had someone (model or whatever) pose for the shot. Sure, the shot looks great but is that really street photography or is that just street portraits or posed street or street modeled …etc etc ? It makes a huge difference.

When I shoot candid photography and I ‘nail my shot’……it is because I have taken the time to analyze the scene and then wait for the shot, if it comes at all. Shooting ‘candid’ implies that I shoot without the subject being aware, although admittedly, like yesterday, awareness might come ‘after the shot’. …When shooting I need to determine based upon the scene, the light….patterns and colors etc…what or who might best fit in a photograph.. One can argue that the same applies to a posed shot but when shooting candid, all of this is done ‘now’…. not pre-planned. A quick decision is needed. If I shoot film, and I do so 100% manual or even digital shots I shoot manual focus… but camera settings change as I passively sit and wait. The sun moves, people or things come into the scene etc. Again, those changes require split thinking too accommodate.

The point is, that shooting candid and getting a good shot is more difficult in ‘it’s own way’ than a posed shot which also requires ‘it’s own way’. But those ways are different. While the end result might look the same (if both are great shots), the process of getting from A-L varies.

That ‘aspect of ‘what varies’, is what needs to be distinguished. There are certain things that simply can’t be captured in the same manner between the two and to pass them all off as ‘street photography’ is not right. Photographers should state their process.

A good example is where I recently saw a photographer take posed shots and represent them as candid shots, or ….implied by the subject matter and the end result. His work was published and everyone stated how great of a photographer he was as he captured the scene. Perhaps…..but if capturing a scene means you bring people into your studio and place them against a ‘green board’ and tel them how to stand and hold their arms and instructs them on their expressions; well…..that is not and should not be considered street work.

Just my two cents…..