Tag Archives: street photography

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Identity and Community – Photo Walks

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With this series of images I attempt to tell a story about an area of St Helier with historical or contemporary links with migrant communities.

My work will focus on three main elements to capture the historical context of the theme of identity and community in St Helier:

A sense of place – for example; location, site, environment, residential area, communal park, architecture and details, Interior of church, community centre, house or home.

Character of community – for example; street scene, decisive moment, staging or performing for the camera.

People and portraiture – For example, a resident outside his/her house/apartment block, shop/ business owner, street portrait/ passer-by.

I focused on three contrasting areas of St Helier:

Route 1: Merchant quarter – This area of town was once where the core community of merchants were located. It was once located right on the waters edge in the 1800s but now boarders the marina – this gives merchants easy access to their ships and therefore gives insight into why this area is dubbed the merchant quarter. I enjoyed photographing the character of community in this area as people fused with their environment and seemed to interact with it well.

Route 2: French/ Portuguese quarters – This area of town is where most of the European migrant such as the large number of French and Portuguese people that began settling. This area features a diverse range of neighbourly people who form a lively community. This is why I found this area was most interesting to shoot in terms of people and portraiture.

Route 3: British expats/ wealthy residents (Rouge Boullion) – The United Kingdom is Jersey’s closest international partner. Deep social, cultural, economic and constitutional links between us have been built up and maintained over hundreds of years. This area is where most of the wealthy residents and British expats began to settle. The rich architecture in this area is what I found most interesting to shoot. The wealthy British would bring their builders over from the UK to build the magnificent houses. Shooting a sense of place in this area was what I focused on.

Mood Boards

Sense of Place

Character of Community

People and Portraiture

Contact Sheets

Shoot 1 – a sense of place

During this shoot I focused on capturing St Helier’s buildings and homes in a manner that encapsulated the social and historical contexts of Jersey. I did this by shooting different styles of buildings – Portuguese, British, houses, shops, offices. I also shot structures which had different ages; I shot newer office blocks and also old houses that had been around since St Helier’s birth.

During my editing I focused on aesthetic composition; I therefore made sure to frame everything in a symmetrical or artistic manner.

I also focused on dramatizing the buildings using deep colour schemes and contrast.

Final Images:

The image above presents a pleasing visual aesthetic as the images share a consistency. They are consistent with framing and composition with the two doors and stairs framed identically. This image tells a story of community and their connection through identical housing, but also shining focus on unique identity shown by the different colour choices of the doors. These images are also effective at referencing a sense of place A few other images that achieve this message in one composition are shown below.

The below images share warm tones and a ‘lens flare’ in the top of the composition that give the images a sense of prosperity that suggests the buildings have been stood happily looking down on the community for a long time.

Shoot 2 – Sense of Character

For this shoot I shot people of St Helier interacting with their environment and each other. This produced a wide range of emphatic images expressing emotion and telling a story about the area they are in and about what type of people they are.

I also shot images where there was a lack of people in the shot in a physical sense. I instead shot urban landscapes where there was a setting created by people and shaped by the community but lacked the physical presence of people. For example this image of a food stall tells a story about the community and their everyday lives without anyone actually being present in the image.

The following images are of scenes composing of characters of the community. I like the way they are composed in a way were they blend in with their environment, and all look to be living the hustle and bustle of St Helier, just like their migrant fisherman, merchant ancestors.

Shoot 3 – People and Portraiture

For this shoot I focused on capturing the emotion of the people I shot. I also focused on shooting people who were busy going about their day in a variety of different ways, weather that be playing guitar on the pavement or taking a smoke break; the images tell a story of identity.

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The Decisive Moment – Henri Cartier-Bresson

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Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French Humanist photographer, he was born in 1908 and was considered a master of candid photography. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and saw it as capturing a decisive moment. Cartier-Bresson’s street photography shows a range of different cultures and environments, he uses his camera to catch glimpses of stranger’s lives at random moments. In 1947, following the aftermath of World War Two, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, George Rodger and David Seymour founded The Magnum Photos agency- which represents some of the world’s most renowned photographers.

Mood Board – Key Cartier-Bresson Images

Image Analysis

Henri Cartier-Bresson | Children in Seville, Spain | 1933.

This black and white candid portrait photograph was taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson at the beginning of his career as a photographer. By first looking at this image one might guess it was captured during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) due to the broken structures and rubble surrounding the children. However, this image was taken in 1933 before the war, creating a sense of foreboding as children are playing in the destruction caused by a war that hasn’t yet occurred. In addition, the image has an abstract composition as the large geometric hole in the wall acts like a frame on the photo. This connotes the idea that we are only observers looking in on a situation, ripping a hole into other people’s lives without seeing the full picture. Furthermore, the image holds a wide depth of field with the window-like hole creating a tunnel to the background of the photo. It is clear the image was taken during daytime as the natural lighting creates an overexposed skyline in the top centre, forming natural shadows. The darkest points of this image fall on the children’s clothing, faces and bodies which contrast immensely with the bright white walls on the wrecked buildings. Additionally, the harsh black shadow on the crack of the wall creates a clear focal point for the observer, persuading them to look through the void to the centre if the image. Moreover, we can see that Cartier-Bresson has used a fast shutter-speed to capture this photo as some of the children appear to be moving however, they aren’t particularly blurred.

Image Comparison

  • Henri Cartier-Bresson 1933
  • Raghubir Singh 1985

This image was taken by Raghubir Singh (1942-1999), an Indian photographer who was most known for his documentary-style images he captured of people in India. Visually, there are many key differences between Singh’s image compared to Cartier-Bresson’s. For example, Singh has captured a colour image, with the dominant colour red repeated in the subject’s clothing and surroundings, whereas Cartier-Bresson’s image is monochrome black and white. This contrast in colouration creates different atmospheres in the images. The warmer tones in Singh’s alludes to feelings of comfort and happiness, supported by the visual closeness of the people being photographed. However, the dark dreary black and white tones in Cartier-Bresson’s image creates a more sombre atmosphere and connotes ideas of sadness and regret. Additionally, Singh’s image has a rougher texture due to the scratches and marks on the surrounding walls, Cartier-Bresson has captured a less busy image with plain white walls enclosing the subjects in. This contrast in texture could symbolise the busy lives of the subjects in Singh’s image, as all of them appear to be moving quickly with purpose, however the subjects in the other image seem to just be playing. Lastly, while both images have natural lighting, it is clear Singh’s image has been taken earlier in the day to Cartier-Bresson’s as the shadows are more prominent and fall to the left of the image.

Nevertheless, there are also many similarities within these images, for example it is clear both images have been captured with a fast shutter-speed as the subjects are clearly moving yet are not blurry. Furthermore, both images have a similar composition as the abstract shape created by the hole in Cartier-Bresson’s image resembles the positions the subjects in Singh’s image are standing in. If you were to trace the cracked shape onto the second image, it would look like the people have created it with their bodies- like a dot-to-dot. In addition, there are similarities within the lines in these images, with Cartier-Bresson capturing the rigid lines of the destroyed wall and Singh capturing the jagged lines of the stairs. These irregular patterns allude to the idea that these people’s lives can take an unexpected turn due to the environments they live it. The messages portrayed in the photographs are very much alike, with both connoting the idea that we are only spectators observing someone else’s life. In my opinion, these images epitomise ‘Street Photography’ as they capture people naturally in their daily lives, letting us imagine their backstories without really seeing the full picture.

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Street Photography Photoshoot inspired by Elliott Erwitt

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Photoshoot plan

Street Photography/Candid inspired photoshoot

I think the images highlighted in red are my least successful images for this photoshoot as they don’t focus on one person and are rather vague in terms of capturing identity. The last image highlighted in red also isn’t in focus, and Erwitt’s work focuses on a sharp, focused portrait or candid.

The images highlighted in green are my most successful images as they capture the identity of the person much better, as they are the main focal point for the image. I feel like these photographs also capture more interesting individuals because of their clothing or facial expression.

Photoshop Development

Original Image
Edited Image
Original Image
Edited Image
Original Image
Edited Image

To edit my images, I used a simple black and white filter and adjusted the brightness and contrast of the images. The use of the monochromatic theme makes the images more similar to the work of Elliott Erwitt, as the lack of colour is the motif of his work.

Comparison between mine and Elliott Erwitt’s work

‘Crowd at Armistice Day Parade, Pittsburgh’ – Elliot Erwitt (1950)
My Work

I feel there is both similarities and differences between my work and the work of Elliott Erwitt. In terms of differences, Erwitt’s work was produced many years ago, therefore there is a vintage feel to his work. On the other hand, my image has a clear modern look to it as it was taken in the present day, however I feel like the through editing, the use of the monochromatic filter helps to produce the illusion of the image being taken at an earlier date. Additionally, I feel like both mine and Erwitt’s work capture the theme of identity well through the clothing the people wear, as the older models both provide an older fashion

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candid and street portraits

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The phrase ‘candid portrait’ is often used to refer to the type of portrait taken when the subject is unaware of the photographer. This is usually seen in the genre of street photography. Typically, street photography is about candidly capturing life in public areas. And contrary to its name, street photography does not have to be done on the streets. You can do street photography anywhere. Street photography can focus on people and their behavior in public, therefore also recording people’s history. This involves having to also navigate or negotiate the changing expectations and laws of privacy, security and property. In this sense the street photographer is somewhat similar to a social documentary photographer or a photojournalist. 

  • William Klein
  • William Klein
  • Gordon Parks
  • Robert Doisneau
  • Robert Doisneau
  • Brassai
  • Tony Ray – Jones
  • William Klein
  • Weegee

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Street Photography Introduction

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What is Street Photography?

Street photography is a genre of photography in which the photographer captures candid images of strangers around them, usually without their knowledge. Street photography depicts the everyday life of strangers as it captures them in a natural, not-posed environment, allowing the photographer to produce images that hold a, sometimes ambiguous, story. This style of photography provides opportunities for photographers to subtly capture the lives of strangers, images range from political riots to people just walking to the shops, each hold their own backstory.

Famous Street Photography Examples

  • Vivian Maier
  • Vivian Maier
  • Robert Frank
  • Henri Cartier Bresson
  • Nicholas Goodden
  • Ronya Galka
  • Burt Glinn
  • Helen Levitt
  • Jeff Mermelstein

Street Photography – Bruce Gilden

Below is a video of Bruce Gilden, an American street photographer best known for his candid close-up photographs of people on the streets of New York City, using a flashgun. The video shows Gilden capturing confrontational close-up images, taking photos of strangers in real time without any prior discussion or plan.

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STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

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Street photography is an essence of photojournalism that by definition consists of photography of random encounters and chance incidents. Despite the name, street photography does not nessiseraly have to take place on the street or urban setting but is rather defined by the presence of public presence weather that be naturally occurring populations of people in the public eye or public settings, street photography is the public world seen through an artistic eye.

Mood Board

  • Siegfried Hansen
  • Alex Webb
  • Alexander J.E.Bradley
  • Boogie
  • Bruce Gilden
  • Paul Russel
  • Shin Noguchi
  • Shin Noguchi

The best street photography always tends to contain an underlying social/political context that makes a statement and ignites thought.

Street photography has been a form of photographical expression and journalism for over a century. This is why this form of photography can also portray certain historical events or periods in history without words which is the exact reason these images can be so powerful. They can be used as a form of rebellion: Below is an image taken by Susan Meiselas in July 16, 1979 that gives a good example of this historical context; it is taken during the Nicaraguan rebellion; the image is extremely powerful portrays the emotion and essence that was felt of the time.

Susan Meiselas

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer born in Chanteloup-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne. He developed an early fascination with painting particularly with Surrealism.

After spending a year in the Ivory Coast in 1932, he discovered his true life long passion – photography. Taken prisoner of war in 1940, he escaped on his third attempt in 1943 and subsequently joined an underground organization to assist prisoners and escapees. 

In 1945, he photographed the liberation of Paris.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

After three years he had spent travelling in the East, in 1952, he returned to Europe, where he published his first book, The decisive moment. From 1968, he began to curtail his photographic activities, preferring to concentrate on drawing and painting.

In 2003, with his wife and daughter, he created the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris for the preservation of his work. Cartier-Bresson received an extraordinary number of prizes, awards, and honorary doctorates.

He was referred to as a humanist photographer and the master of candid.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Seen above is an image from Henri’s book “The Decisive Moment” published in 1952. The composition is of a curved cobble street/ alley way surrounded by old buildings. There is a cyclist cycling expeditiously wearing black clothing on the street toward the left side of the composition. The photo is taken from the top of a spiralling staircase contained by a strong metal railing with evenly spread, parallel spokes, which meanders down towards the street in an uneven fashion. This gives the image a unique view point where the alleyway setting can be seen from above.

The photograph has low saturation and high contrast and it is also slightly underexposed and shot with natural lighting which gives the alleyway a low-key, darker, grungy look. The image is also taken with a slower shutter-speed which portrays the movement and briskness of the cyclist as he delays blurringly through the composition. Henri also framed the cyclist in the gap between where the railing stops and the strong line of the corner of a building. The image can give context to the rush and hustle that people can become enveloped in on these streets.

Henri co-founded Magnum Photo Agency in 1947. This was a cooperative agency where the founders where assigned different regions to photograph across the globe. Henri was assigned India and China. This is where he gained recognition for documenting Gandhi’s funeral in India in 1948 and the last stage of the Chinese Civil War in 1949

INDIA. 1948. Delhi. GANDHI’s funeral. Crowds gathered between Birla House and the cremation ground – Henri Cartier-Bresson

Joel Meyerowitz

Joel Meyerowitz is a street photographer from the Bronx, New York

Joel Meyerowitz

Joe’s pieces portray humanity in its hustle, boisterous and everyday movement similarly to the works of Cartier-Bresson.

Joes works are more concentrated to the place he grew up and he goes about his work in a manner of capturing the essence of New York and documenting the city. This is different in Henri’s work; his is more diverse – he documents the essence of different cultures and political viewpoints from all over the world.

  • Joe Meyerowitz
  • Henri Cartier-Bresson
Image comparison

Both of the above images picture a man in smart attire mid stride in a city environment.

Both images give a background to what the life of the subject looks like and their everyday hustle. The images both capture the subjects movement and direction while including the environment around them which adds to the incite into the subjects background.

Both images have low saturation and high contrast which make the black suited subjects almost appear like silhouettes. They are both shot with slower shutter speed to capture some of the movement of the subjects. Henri’s composition is more three-dimensional as the reflection on the street below the subject adds another layer to the image and creates a horizontal symmetry. Joes image is exposed slightly more which gives it more clarity.

Photo Shoot Plan

What

People on the streets

Who

Random interesting looking people

When

During day – good natural lighting. Overcast conditions – low key images – not too harsh lighting.

Where

Town, urban area

Why

To explore the techniques, methods of shooting street, photography, to capture the essence of people going about their day.

How

Talk to people, use lens with higher focal length, position myself in way that captures a unique viewpoint.

Contact Sheets

Final Edits

All final edits

Final selections

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Candid PORTRAITS And Street PHotography

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What are candid portraits?

It is when you take a portrait photo of some one without them knowing to get a more realistic and a not staged image.

This is an image I took as the subject isn’t engaging with the camera, and also isn’t setup or staged in any way.

What is street photography?

It captures unmediated chance encounters and random incidents that happen in day to day life. It is also called candid photography.

Examples of street photography

(First photo was taken by Teeman Jarvinen), (second photo was taken by Keenan Hastings), (Third photo was taken by Mats Alfredsson), (Fourth photo was taken by Martin U Waltz), (Fifth photo was taken by Dave Bottoms), (Sixth photo was taken by Marcin Baran), (Seventh photo was taken by @francesco_portelli)

Some other great examples : http://neocha.com/magazine/asia-by-night/

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered a master of street photography. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment.

Famous Images

He was alive during August 22, 1908 – August 3, 2004, which is why his work is all in black and white.

My Favoutite Henri Cartier Image

A Closer Look at the Iconic Cyclist Photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson

I like this image because he has used the railings to create leading lines, which draws the viewers eye instantly to the subject. The rule of thirds is applied in this image, the subject on the bike sits in the top left of the image.

The black and white effect creates a drama in the image, the emptiness makes the image stronger as it singles out the subject

Henri Cartier-Bresson X Magnum

In 1947, following the aftermath of the Second World War, four pioneering photographers founded a now legendary alliance. The Magnum Photos agency.

Cartier-Bresson helped deliver the highest quality photographic content and has extensive experience in creating significant visual records, which became note-worthy editorial, books, events, exhibitions, and digital campaigns.

Compare And Contrast

  • Henri Cartier-Bresson
  • Teemu Jarvinen

The image by Bresson was taken in black and white and has a high contrast, to make it have more definition. Jarvinen’s image is taken in Tokyo, where they have lots of neon and vibrant lights, that illuminate the subject. The lights have a soft infused glow to them, with gives the image a more positive aspect to it.

Both photographers uses reflections in the image. Bresson reflects the subject through a puddle in the horizontal axis, where as Jarvinen reflects the light on the right side of the image to create a blur effect through a window. This effect adds more detail to the image without over crowding it, and making it busy.

My Street Photography Pictures

I took all these images on the same day except for the postman one. It was cloudy so I went for more dramatic shots, so that I could edit them with a more moody style.

My Final Images

To edit them I increased the contrast and saturation to make them pop out more.

For the images that have a more of a rainy day atmosphere I decreased the saturation and individually masked over bright and colourful objects and toned the colours down, so that they blended with the image, for example the blue car in the background of the lady crossing the road, and the bright yellow cove sign in the image where the man is sitting down on the bench.

The image of the postman in the rain I edited a few more rain lines and used a motion blur, so that it would seem as if there were falling. I also increased the definition and made the colours more dark to give it the rainy day atmosphere.

The photo that’s includes bokeh isn’t edited that much all I did was boost the saturation and used an “s” curve to manipulate the contrast. The create the bokeh effect I positioned my camera close to some lights to shoot through them, then focused on the subject, so that the lights would become out of focus.

For the image where there are two people on a bike all increased the saturation, darken the background and brightened the subject, then finally added vignette.

My Best Images

I choose these 2 images as my final images as I thought they both were my strongest images that fitted into the candid photography niche. They both captured people acting natural, in an unstated environment.

The image on the left as strong detail and definition, which makes the image more dramatic, that combined with the rain, the deep reds and glowing shop windows creates a great image. the building is straight with the horizon, and there is a slope which the postman is pushing his cart up, this image show the struggle of every day life.

The image on right, the bright orange jacket contrast the entire background, the vignette helps lead you eye the to bike as well. I shot this with a focal length of f.5.4 so the people in the background are blurred.

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Street Photography Introduction

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Street photography, also known as candid photography, captures unstaged incidents often in public places. Street photography can focus on people and their behaviour in public, or used to record people’s history. However, people being featured in the image is not a necessity within street photography. For example some photographers often produce photos without people included in the frame, but their presence is suggested by the subject matter.

“Jeu de Paume” – Garry Winogrand (Circa 1980-1983)

Helen Levitt

“NYC” – Helen Levitt (1938)

Helen Levitt, born in Brooklyn, NYC, in 1913, was known as “the most celebrated and least known photographer of her time”. Whilst teaching art classes to children in the 1930’s, Levitt became fascinated by chalk drawings that were part of the New York children’s street culture at the time. This led her to buying her first camera to capture the drawings and the children who made them. This resulted in her publishing these images in 1987, naming them “In The Street: chalk drawings and messages, New York City” (1938-1947). Levitt continued to take photos throughout the 30’s and 40’s, with her work first being published in the Fortune magazine’s 1939 issue. Helen Levitt received her first grant in 1946 from the Museum of Modern Art in 1946, and received two grants in 1959 and 1960 from the Guggenheim Foundation fro her colour photography work. She then published her first major collection, “A Way of Seeing”, in 1965 and became a Photography Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Analysis of Helen Levitt’s work

“New York, 1940” – Helen Levitt (1940)

Helen Levitt started her career by taking photographs of the inhabitants of poorer neighbourhoods in New York, such as the Bronx and Harlem. Here she photographs children in the streets of their neighbourhood.

The lighting used in this image is very low and dull. This suggests natural lighting was used as there is little representation of shadows or highlights. The use of natural lighting adds a sense of rawness to the image, as she captures the scene in its pure form, almost without purpose but simply to capture the moment.

There is little example of line within the photograph, however it could be argued that the placement of the pavement can be seen as a leading line to direct the viewers eyes to the focal point of the children, and the frame.

There is no form of repetition in the photograph as the composition is not purposely set up. There is also no use of echo or reflection in the photograph for the same reason.

The only use of shape in this photograph is the geometric square shape in the centre of the frame that the children are holding in the centre third of the image. Otherwise, the shapes in the photo are all organic and don’t have any relation to each other.

There is a wide depth of field within this photograph as both the background and foreground are in focus, this provides a strong sense of depth as the environment further displays the culture and meaning behind the focal point of the children.

There is little sense of texture in this photograph, however some may say the leading line of the edge of the pavement has a more uneven and rough surface, giving the overall image a harsher texture. However this is contrasted with the smoother surface of the pavement, on which the children stand.

There is a limited range of tones in this photograph as the image has a monochrome filter. The lightest parts of the photograph are the lighter-tones clothing of the people, which is juxtaposed with the harsh, black frame in the centre of the image. The dark frame takes up the majority of the photo, causing the image to tend towards the darker tones.

There is a lack of colour in this photograph, which is a common factor for Helen Levitt’s earlier work. This is most likely because colour photography was only made accessible in the 1930’s, therefore the majority of Levitt’s work was black and white until her later work in the late 1960’s. The lack of colour accentuates the strong contrast between light and dark.

The composition of the image is unbalanced and unorganised. This is because Levitt’s main focus in this shoot was to capture the joy and interest of the children in the poorer neighbourhood’s of New York, therefore the image is not set up and captured in the spur of the moment. Although there is a lack of thirds in this photograph, the focal point (that being the black frame) is coincidentally placed in the centre of the image.