Hello everyone!
It’s time for another edition of Adam’s Street. Just to recap, unlike my weekly posts about Fujifilm X-Pro cameras, this series is an ad-hoc set of posts about street photography
As you’ll no doubt realise, street photography is a very wide genre! There are many ways to make a photograph that fits into the woolly container marked street, and as I wrote here I don’t personally make many judgements about what is / what is not street, and I personally get a bit weary of those that proclaim this is/is not street whenever the opportunity to stand on an internet soap box arises.
If you want to make your street work all about (say) silhouettes, or use a longer lens to catch snippets of humanity (or whatever) then you should do so… frankly I like a good silhouette as much as the next ‘tog and I really wish I was better at catching snippets of the world
I’d like to think that even the most fleeting glance at my street work identifies me as someone who likes to work in a 50 and 35mm field of view and that my way of seeing the world certainly doesn’t involve reinventing the wheel!
As a simile, I would say I’m like a classic chef! I’m not going to deconstruct a popular classic dish and give it a unique spin, nope – I’m just going to try and make a good job of cooking it as it’s always been cooked!
So for this post I’m going to share some images where I’ve tried to capture street life the way it’s been done for decades. Real people looking towards but not at the camera
This way of working presents certain challenges of course…. Firstly it’s not 1952 any more – these days people are wise to this whole street gig (yet less so if you use your phone), so there’s a bit of thought and anticipation required to steal a real life moment. Also of course, it’s not just about getting a person in the frame, the usual rules apply RE composition and visual interest.
Enough ado; for a post about street photographs, this sure is getting verbose!
I’ve selected five black and white images (for no greater reason than post continuity – I regularly shoot in colour). For those interested in the camera data etc, then clicking each image will take you to a larger version hosted on Flickr
The Empty Platform
I looked at you / You looked at me / And we’re on our way
Impatience
He Had Coffee She Had Wine
Strangers in Thought
Looking to the Future
Hopefully you enjoyed this series of pictures and to some extent share my enthusiasm for working in a traditional way within a modern world.
As ever, if you have any questions, queries or discussion points – please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Until next time.
Cheers
======================================
See more of my work on Instagram and Flickr
======================================
A lot of time and effort goes into this site.. Hopefully it’s helped you? Perhaps you’d consider helping me?
One way you could help me is if you want to buy from Amazon, if you do so using the links below, then I will receive a small percentage of your expenditure, and you will pay NO MORE than you would have paid anyway.
Shop at Amazon USA
Fujifilm X-Pro2
Shop at Amazon UK
Fujifilm X-Pro2
If there’s a different product you’re considering, then perhaps you’d drop me a line and I can send you an associate link for it?
Another way you could help, is by making a donation. The donate button can be found on the link below
Thank You Very Much!
======================================
Adam Bonn Fotografia 
Adam,
Great examples of what I (but then again…I…) would call “classic street”. The last one is for me the strongest; probably because of the title you provided.
In general, do you provide titles to your images to ‘guide’ the viewer to your viewpoint/thoughts?
LikeLike
Thank you very much Eric,
Yes I’m fond of that last one! I did a show last year and someone asked me (nicely) if I had anything else to sell as the exhibited work wasn’t quite to her taste, so I directed her to my Flickr and she chose that one!
That’s a great question!
I’m a big believer in titles (I know not all togs are) – I figure that movies, songs and paintings have them, so photos probably should too!
I don’t think I have any fast and hard rules with titles, I guess more often than not, (as you say) I’m stating what I saw, but sometimes they can be song lyrics or a little play on words. Sometimes I retitle them when I get a better idea later!
LikeLike
Adam,
That is a great story. And good that you could direct her to your portfolio!
I also title my images (in some rare instances not, but those are the exceptions), and like how you compare it to titling (is that a word?) movies, songs, and paintings! Most of the time I actually go one step further and provide a whole narrative to the images: stories, Haiku, sometimes essays.
Never thought about retitling!
LikeLike
I like that idea Eric, I’ve often thought about trying to weave a picture into a bigger story, but I’ve never really had enough clarity of purpose to realise it.
Someone I know once wrote a story around one of my pictures and I liked the story, but I think if I was doing it they’d have to a little more parity (sic) between the two.
Thank you.
LikeLike