It was a cloudy day in Philadelphia……deemed perfect for outside BW photography; well….at least the way I shoot. But really, no color needed although contrast would be nice. But I would sooner take a cloudy day over a sunny one and today, June 14th in Philadelphia proved to suit my needs. Misty….cloudy…..no wind.
The streets were not in that glistening mood though. A touch of mist doesn’t get you the reflective quality of a true ‘all and out’ rain. But I’ll take it as out the door I went with my Olympus OM2sp and 400 Fomapan. I had 8 rolls with me, plus the one in the camera. I also went in with one lens; my 55mm Zuiko. If you come in with ‘one only’ option, your eyes are trained for one focal perspective. I never get the people who use zooms as mentally, they are all over the place and in my thinking, taken as a complete body of work, their photographs miss a unity….a smoothness. One can’t always place their finger on this artistic flair, but something just misses with multiple focal points.
My selective approach for taking shots means ‘less shots’…..more keepers. I also knew I didn’t want the kind of shots that almost everyone else is looking for. While I did take shots of the crowd; for I feel they are needed to capture the ‘complete unfolding of events’…..I strived for more. I wanted a personal touch. I wanted the feeling of humanity as opposed to masses of humanity.
Take a look at this shot for instance. You can feel his tiredness by looking at his face….his aching feet, as he spent an entire day holding and walking with his sign.
Or this image below…..again capture with 400 film. I love the emotion of the lady holding up the flag in the middle. Feel it…..sense it. Look over the older lady beside here and see how she is just trudging along….her voice taking a momentarily reprieve.
This shot below also is emotional but in another sense. An older chap….eyes looking over the flag as it drapes in front of him. Lost democracy…lost hope. Lost America. Then the photograph below that shows a blur but a ‘nice blue’ as the overall read of the crowd is one of passion.
And at times…you just need no face…no emotion…but the image still oozes it.
I’ll end this blog with a couple…One is just of the front of the protest with 80,000—100,000 strong following behind. While the other, might just state what many of us are thinking privately to ourselves. The first, and last of a photo series.
