A Short Introduction to Invisibility
Having tried my hands
at
street
photography
in the past time, I am soaking in any kind of information that I can find about
this topic. Catching people candidly on the streets is not an easy task, especially
since street photography is the territory of wide angle lenses, because it's all
about “being right in the middle” of where action takes place (telephoto
lenses in that respect are tools of the
devil paparazzi). And poking a camera right in the face of unsuspecting
people is not the most inconspicuous thing to do. Yet, there are people shooting
absolutely breathtaking
intimate
portraits
of people in the streets.
Some days ago I stumbled across a video
on the web, which shows New York based photgrapher Joel
Meyerowitz* scouting the streets of Manhattan to capture exactly this kind
of photos. And even though I refuse to accept the theory that one can completely
disappear in the crowds and shoot photos without anyone noticing, it's still awesome
to see how a professional photographer goes about to achieve this kind of photos.
From everything that I've seen/read/heard from street photographers so far, the
key element is to be self confident about what you're doing. Going about your
work frankly goes a long way to get people accommodated to a photographer around
them. Especially considering the alternative: Shooting from cover or sneaking
up, grabbing a shot and running like hell.
Part of the experience is the fact that you will get caught shooting candid portraits
sooner or later. My first confrontation like this (apart from photos where people
happen to stare directly into the camera) just happened this weekend, and perchance
it was simply a mistake. I saw a tourist bus painted in bright colours, which
I realized would make a nice composition with the blue sky and stuff. Since I
had my super-wideangle-lens on my camera, I had to get really close to the front
of the bus, about 2m from the bus. Now inside the bus happened to stand a woman
who thought I would take her photo. I didn't notice her until she called out to
me. I replied something and walked along. Yeah, and that's it. No big bang or
anything, but it made me think a lot. I probably should have cleared the situation
up by simply showing her the photo I had taken. Unfortunately, I am not good at
discussions, so I preferred to retreat.
I realize I still have to learn a lot, especially since this means overcoming
my shyness and approaching people, always under the risk of getting into discussions. But if the
results are astounding pictures for the portfolio and more self-confidence for
me, it'll be worth the effort.
* On a side note, Joel Meyerowitz was the only photographer who was granted access
to Ground Zero after September 11th, 2001, and he documented the clean-up over
the following nine months, creating an archive of memories that would otherwise
not have been preserved, because Ground Zero was declare a “crime scene” and was shut off from photographers and media. I found his monumental book “Aftermath - World
Trade Center Archive” at a book store a while ago and skipped through the
pages rather quickly, but now that I've found more material on the guy, I will
surely give it a second and closer look.
Comments
Hello...You're a brave man. I shake and I get a bad taste when I see people around and they are giving you dirty looks. I like telephotos, I think they work well with nature and Jessie. Good post! Also, I agree with Karthik, your "photo-portfolio" has a great design. I never saw that before (how come? I dunno), so my apologies for my ignorance.
Peace :-)
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