Unit 2
Street PhotographyI decided that I would focus on Street Photography. I like the works of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson, however I am particularly excited to take images similar to those of my favourite photographer Steve McCurry. This Saturday I will be going up to West London. My inspiration for the photos I will take are Steve McCurry's New York City photos.
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Henri Cartier-Bresson
"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." - Henri Cartier-Bresson
Steve McCurry
One thing which is very prominent in McCurry's work is the colour. Steve McCurry is an American photographer who travels around the world photographing it. He was one of the first men into Afghanistan after the Russians left, many of his Afghanistan images involve children playing on old tanks. Many of the places he visits are less economically developed, Burma, Sri Lanka and The Middle East.
Robert Capa
Robert Capa was born Friedmann Endre to Hungarian parents. He covered 5 wars, most notably the Spanish Civil War and World War II. He is one of the co-founders from Magnum Photos. He was part of the second wave. During the fire fight, Capa took 106 photos however all but 11 were destroyed in an accident in London, these surviving ones became known as the magnificent eleven.
Since a lot of his photos take place in streets (such as Below) I believe I can take some aspects from his work to include in mine.
Since a lot of his photos take place in streets (such as Below) I believe I can take some aspects from his work to include in mine.
Joel Meyerowitz
Ernst Haas
This is the image I took. It is my favourite image from my set so I will write about it later.
Robert Frank
My own work
Last saturday, I went with my dad to London's west end. Influenced by Robert Capa. Steve McCurry and Joel Meyorowitz, I took over 100 photos, one thing that I have a hard time doing is taking a lot
My favourite image. I like it because the neon works well as a reflection. You can not read the writing or understand what it really is. It was taken in the soho area of London.
The image is successful in telling the audience in which part of London the image was taken. The presence of the cigarette butts in the water create almost a metaphor for the area, it's dirty. In a literal sense we see the discarded cigarette butts and chewing gum, while in a metaphoric sense the reflection of the neon shows the seedy nature of the area. The image offers an indirect glance at the promiscuous culture of the district, arguably forcing the viewer to feel uncomfortable maybe even guilty. |
This image was taken opposite Gaby's Deli on Charing Cross road. Gaby the owner of the deli claims to have introduced falafel to Britain. The contrast between the group standing in the light and the man crossing the road are to me the best part of the image. Whereas the image above is shrouded in anonymity, this image portrays the other side of London. It is much brighter, the theatre district is much more socially acceptable, as such this 'high' culture and thespian society is promoted by bright lights and open social participation, compared to the dark alleyways of the red light district just a few blocks away. I feel this juxtaposition of the two images highlight the schizophrenic personality of London.
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These are my other favourite images from my first photo shoot of this unit.
Photo Shoot 2
Refining
I've narrowed down this set of images into 28 of the best.
Refining - Continued / Final Image
I then began to narrow down all of my photos. These are the final 8 images I will use in my final piece.
Final Piece
These are my final pieces. I feel they are the ones which best show my work from this unit. I decided that this was the best size for them because it means the detail can be seen better.
Unit 2 Evaluation
I chose to study Street Photography as I felt it would give me a wide range of images to take and places to go. The idea of street photography is to capture the daily life of individuals, a glimpse into their life and I felt that this is a very interesting concept.
Throughout this I have tried to focus on colours and contrast. I originally thought that to get the most contrast I could shoot at night in Soho, London where there are bright areas of neon and dark alley ways. I later decided to take another photo shoot in the area of Hoxton, London where I looked at colour combinations. The image I selected from this set is my favourite because of the blues, there are four tones of blue in the image; the dark blue of the scaffold on the left; the denim jacket of the woman; the sky; and the light blue behind the barbed wire. In contrast the image of the neon in the puddle is more of a red tone. The purple of the streets and the red brown of the water create a murky dark tone which I think is very different from the clean, sharp image of the day.
Throughout this I have tried to focus on colours and contrast. I originally thought that to get the most contrast I could shoot at night in Soho, London where there are bright areas of neon and dark alley ways. I later decided to take another photo shoot in the area of Hoxton, London where I looked at colour combinations. The image I selected from this set is my favourite because of the blues, there are four tones of blue in the image; the dark blue of the scaffold on the left; the denim jacket of the woman; the sky; and the light blue behind the barbed wire. In contrast the image of the neon in the puddle is more of a red tone. The purple of the streets and the red brown of the water create a murky dark tone which I think is very different from the clean, sharp image of the day.