[Leica] Speaking of Street Photography

[bdcolen at earthlink.net (B. D. Colen)]

Okay, Peter - You asked. And I have to say - I don't think they are. I
do like the one of the sleeping guys - well the sleeping guy and the
sleeping feet. :-) I am drawn to the tonality, to the textures, to the
guy. It's an interesting photo and almost has an FSA quality to it. But
I see it more as a document of a situation, than as "street
photography." Street photography is, I think, almost a form of
performance art - look what I can pull from the passing crowd! 

As to the other. Okay, it's a framer framed. But I find myself asking -
so what? Yes, it's a nice shot of a carpenter working - if one wants a
shot of a carpenter working. I also finding myself unsure whether the
church adds or detracts from the shot, and whether it might have been
better had it been framed from a different angle - still using the
framing to frame the guy.



-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Peter Klein
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005 2:05 PM
To: lug@leica-users.org
Subject: [Leica] Speaking of Street Photography


I'm going to go out on a limb here and present a couple of pieces of my 
early work apropos the "Street Photography" subject.  I've never
considered 
myself a "street photographer," but I have taken photos on the 
street.  Below are a couple of photos that I took in 1972, when I was a 
mere college freshman in Boston.

The first photo was taken on a foggy weekend morning in early 
spring.  Before breakfast, I went prowling about Beacon Hill looking for

atmospheric fog shots, and ended up in Government Center.  I spied three

guys "sleeping it off" in a gray granite window nook.  Now, I have seen
and 
*not* photographed many down-and-out people before and since, but for
some 
reason, this one needed to be taken.  I wasn't in analysis mode then, it

was one of those Ted Grant "Gee, look at that" moments.  So I took
several 
angles quickly.  Fortunately, the subjects didn't wake up, and I figured
I 
could outrun them if they did.

http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/oldpics/homeless72.htm

It was only later, after I developed the film, that I realized why this 
picture was different from similar pictures I'd passed up.  It was
texture 
and composition.  The stone and the man's beard.  The torn elbow and the

dark spot on the stair.  The arrangement of his "bunkmates'"  shoes. I 
passed over the negs that showed the other two guys for the one that
showed 
only their feet.  And I deliberately cropped part of the subject's
leading 
shoe off.

Here's another one, this time on Boylston Street right across from
Copley 
Square and Trinity Church.  The worker was building the reviewing stand
for 
April 19th (Patriot's Day) parade.  This time I knew it was all about 
composition, the idea of a "framer" framed by his own handiwork.

http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/oldpics/framer.htm

So, are these pictures "street photography?"  Are they reasonably good 
photography? I know that some people regard pictures of the down-and-out

"exploitive," but I always have felt that the one above is one of my
better 
pictures, and it does "say" something.

Both pictures: Leica M2, Dual-Range 50 Summicron, Tri-X in D:76 1:1.
The 
first shot was probably 1/60 or 1/30 at f/4.  The second was "cloudy 
semi-bright" exposure.

--Peter

B. D. wrote:
 > For whatever its worth, street photography must contain either irony,
> humor, or some degree of pathos. It has to say, or really show  >
something about the human condition. It can't just say 'some people  >
are fat;' 'a girl talks on a cell phone.'

Alastair wrote:
>To explain why some street photographers are better
>than others using terms like "irony, humour and pathos" is fine, but 
>not every image, or even great image taken as "street photography" need

>contain one of these 3 elements. How about pure horror? Having said 
>that -- I just hate blanket statements --, I have to agree in general 
>with the sentiments expressed. No form of art/craft is easy when it is 
>performed at the highest level.


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