Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/10/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thanks for all the encouraging response to last week's shot. Praise from so many photographers whose work I truly respect, even if it seems slightly over the top (I'm no HCB!) is certainly inspiring. Chris Hayden's formal critique, sent off-list, showed me things in my work that I hadn't seen - I knew it was a good shot when I saw the negative on the light box, but I hadn't thought much about why. The hard part is of course following up with the next image. This is street photography, I can't go asking people to pose for me. The week after the WTC disaster I saw two girls arm and arm with a firefighter and ruined a wonderful shot by asking their permission (firefighters get lots of respect in NY nowadays). So, on Monday, I just went looking for the next image. I didn't feel that anything I got came close. I went back for more on Tuesday with the same result. In an ordinary week I'm on the street two or three days (it's a 165-mile drive round-trip). This week I was out shooting every day through Saturday and I put 1,000 miles on my car! On Friday I ran into Bruce Gilden in Times Square and had a great conversation with him. He remembered me, "You're the guy from New Paltz with the shot of the guy jumping off the building!" [See Week 7: http://homepage.mac.com/~gilplant/picaweek/wk7.html] I shot lots of unflattering pictures of old ladies (though I do think there is an underlying empathy for the subjects in Bruce's work). I photographed the homeless and one midget. Nada! Zilch! Nothing I'm really proud of. But the wonderful thing about becoming a street photographer is that there is no real definition of street photography. And therefore, there's always a picture to be taken, and if I can't see what I'm looking for in the people on the street, there's always the street itself. The weather was beautiful. I put on a yellow filter and a "longer" lens (the 35) and took shots of the buildings, exposed for the sky. The woman in the foreground "cooperated." http://homepage.mac.com/~gilplant/picaweek/wk43.html Again, thanks for all the inspiring feedback. Comments on or off-list appreciated as always. Gilbert - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html