Street Photography: Black & White or In Living Color!

When I was a kid, my Dad gave me a Brownie camera when my little brother, George, was born.   The three of us ~~ George, the Brownie and me were joined together for the next several years.  Everything he did (laughing, crying, crazy hats perched on his head or face covered in food) became grist for my candid camera obsession.  Aside from him being the subject, there was one other constant ~~ it was all shot in black and white film.  It was simply the way I viewed life through a camera.  My father was a photographer who worked with a medium format camera and, of course, black and white film.  The newspapers and most magazine photos were in black and white.  Not to belabor the point, this was the standard.

Not that there wasn’t color film, but the film/developing cost was much higher.

Color photography has a history that dates back to the 1840s.  Early on, photographers Louis Daguerre and Henry Fox Talbot worked on developing a range of color instead of monochromatic images.  Others, including John Herschel, Becquerel and Niepce de St. Victor experimented with different processes but there was no way to permanently fix the images.  They all faded almost immediately. Photographers took to hand coloring images, a technique which lasted for 100 years.    However, during that time period, there were trials, failures and successes with refining both color film and a developing process.   And there certainly were photographers producing color images.

But it wasn’t until the 1930’s when Kodak employees, Leopold Mannes and Leopold Godowsky (nicknamed “Man” and “God”), developed a film that produced high-quality color.  Enter Kodachrome!  Basically it was a color transparency first sold as movie film and then as  35mm and 828 formats for still cameras.  One downside was that processing was complicated with few labs available to do it.  By 1939 Agfa released the first color negative film.  In 1942 Kodak claimed that Kodacolor was the world’s first true color negative film.

As the twentieth century progressed new technologies improved films, processing, archival permanence and cameras.  And allowed for mass marketing.  By the latter decades of the century color photography was part of everyday life. Enter the age of digital photography!

Ok, so today I don’t have to carry two cameras, one loaded with color and the other with black and white film.  Now I can shoot with one camera but the question remains:  what kind of image do I want to produce? Some classists felt black and white was the only way to go.  The icons, Brassaï, Kertész, Cartier-Bresson and Adams, are all known for their black and white images and their disparagement of color.  Most of my books and all of the photography classes I have taken only referenced their images in that medium.  So I dug deeper.  Shock of shocks ~~ there are color photos from all these idols.

First of all, the master of monochrome, Cartier-Bresson shot color photos of China in 1958.  André Kertész began working with color Polaroid later in life.  Ansel Adams began shooting Kodachromes between 1946 and 1948.  But for me, the biggest discovery was Brassai’s color work in 1957 in New York and Louisiana for Holiday Magazine.  I won’t say that the color photos were their most iconic work but I will say that they certainly used color and if they were living today they would probably be using color, digital cameras and iPhones.

Our current choices in the age of digital capture are numerous.  You can both shoot and view in black & white, if you are shooting in RAW the color info will be saved, or you can shoot in color and post-process in black and white. What are you trying to capture, impart to the viewer?  Black and white has that clarity of subject, contrast and a classic feel.  Color has that wow factor, that emotional impact and is part of our everyday vision.  It is yet another element of the language of photography.

Several years ago, I took a Digital Workshop class with a really great teacher, Jean Miele.  His advice was to shoot in color but to be aware of the colors and capture a full range of tonal contrast, defined shapes and strong textures.  This would ensure the necessary base for translation into monochrome.  This class gave me a whole new view of color and digital processing. Now when I am out doing my serious street shooting, I always shoot in color because I want total control if the picture is going to be translated into black and white.  When I am just playing and experimenting, I shoot with an old Power Shot or with my iPhone App in B&W.  I often do a quick image check in Photoshop by turning it into black and white.   It’s a truth check for me because if the composition is strong and the tonalities are right, the color will add yet another element.  This is also another way of constantly training my eyes so that whatever story I am seeing, it will have the impact I want.

Choice and communication is what is it all about!

P.S.  I still love black & white film . . . What about you?

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Street Photography: . . . The Twentieth Century

The 20^th Century was kaleidoscopic for photography  ~~ there were massive changes.  But I’m going to start just prior to the end of the 19^th Century.  I begin here because a man by the name of Alfred Stieglitz influenced how photography was going to be perceived.

Stieglitz was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, into a well-to-do family who provided his education in the best private school in New York.  He went on to study photography in Berlin and lived in Europe for almost a decade until 1890, when he was forced to return to New York.

Sometime in 1892 Stieglitz bought his first hand-held camera, an Auto Graflex 4×5 plate film camera, which in no way is as light as the cameras we use today.  Prior to this, Stieglitz used a heavy 8×10 plate film camera, which always required a tripod and was difficult to carry around.  Invigorated by the freedom of the new Graflex, later that year he made two of his best-known images, “Winter, Fifth Avenue” and “The Terminal.”

Aside from being considered the father of modern American photography, Stieglitz was a visionary.

He established a gallery, “291,” where he broke down all boundaries between traditional art (paintings, sculptures and drawings) and photography.  From 1905 – 1917 Stieglitz deliberately interspersed exhibitions of controversial art along with more understandable art and with photographs.  European artists such as Cezanne, Picasso, and Brâncuşi were introduced to the American public.  This artistic dialogue enabled visitors to see, discuss and ponder the differences and similarities between artists of all ranks and types.

During this same period the National Arts Club mounted a “Special Exhibition of Contemporary Art” that included photographs by Stieglitz, Steichen, et al., along with paintings by Mary Cassatt, Whistler, and many others. This is thought to have been the first major show in the U.S. in which photographers were given equal ranking with painters.

At the end of 1924 the Boston Museum of Fine Arts acquired a collection of twenty-seven of Stieglitz’s photographs. This was the first time a major museum included photographs in its permanent collection.

1900 brought about a technological and social transformation in photography — the Brownie.  Introduced by Eastman Kodak, it was an easy-to-use and inexpensive camera.   Even more importantly, anyone could use it!  The marketing slogan was, “You push the button, we do the rest.”

Different versions of the Brownie were manufactured right up to 1962.  Millions of these cameras were sold in every part of the world.  Everything became a Kodak moment.

Then there was the Leica!  ~~ a small 35-mm camera created by Oskar Barnack  and introduced 1925.   It was revolutionary because it was extremely compact, lightweight and fitted with a very high quality lens that produced sharp negatives.  Photographers could easily work in ordinary outdoor settings with available light.   Life and action could be effortlessly caught from any angle and the photographer would not be highly visible.  Unlike earlier bellows and Graflex cameras the Leica did not get in the way.

Man Ray, André Kertész, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Walker Evans, Margaret Bourke-White, David Seymour, Robert Doisneau , Robert Capa, Helen Levitt, Helmut Newton, Diane Arbus, and Garry Winogrand all worked with a Leica.

Just a word about the photojournalistic magazines that came into being during the 1930s – 1940s:  Life (USA), Look (USA), Picture Post  (London),Paris Match (Paris), Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung (Berlin).  The work of many fine photographers of the era appeared in the weekly issues.  Millions of people saw the world through the eyes of these men and women who covered wars, revolutions and the lives of everyday people. We all learned to see photographically.

There were numerous camera and film innovations during this time, but I am going to jump ahead to the Polaroid because it added a whole new dimension to photography –- instant gratification!

Scientist Edwin Land invented both the instant film and the camera.  It hit the market in 1948.   The earliest Polaroids used instant roll film, but after 1963 it was pack film and it was in color.  By this time, the camera was entirely automatic, all you had to do was push the button, pull the paper tabs (containing negative and positive papers) and out came the picture.  A quick count and you peeled off the top paper.  Bam, there was your photo.

Again, this was a camera for Mr. and Mrs. Everyday photographer.  But it was also the way professional photographers did test shots.  Then they shot with regular film.

Then along came the digital camera!

Kodak engineer Steve Sasson produced the first digital camera prototype in 1975.  By 1991, Kodak released the first professional digital camera system (DCS), aimed at photojournalists. It was a Nikon F-3 camera equipped by Kodak with a 1.3 megapixel sensor.   Shortly after the introduction of the DCS series, Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Olympus, Minolta and other manufacturers began mass production of their own models.

Apple QuickTake 100 cameras hit the market in 1994. They were the first digital cameras for the consumer-level market that worked with a home computer.  Market demand and competition between camera makers skyrocketed, prices decreased while image quality increased.  And the rest is history.

The 20^th Century was an absolutely amazing time for photography.  It became an accepted art form, a way to see the world-at-large, a snapshot preserving family memories, and a digital imaging revolution.   And all of it leading up to the 21^st century where anyone can communicate images globally within minutes!

What are your thoughts on where we are now?

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Street Photography: Did you know?

I have been doing research for a presentation.  As it has progressed I began to realize just how much history we street photographers have to look back upon.  Not only are the photographers and photography fascinating, but so are the inventions and the technical evolutions of this wonderful art/craft/obsession.

So, did you know?

Street photography dates back over 170 years.

In 1834 William Henry Fox Talbot invented a developing process called Calotype that was used right into the 20^th century.  He also invented a small camera that was approximately the size of a Brownie camera.   His street photography included scenes in both England and France.

Charles Nègre was a forerunner of urban photography in the 1850’s when he shot a series on open-air markets along the Seine.  He also experimented with motion photography by shooting with a stereographic camera.

Stereographs/stereoscopes became extremely popular in the 1850’s.  And, in fact, lasted right into the 1950’s.  “A ‘stereograph’ is a picture that depicts its subject so that it appears solid. Stereographs feature two photographs or printed images positioned side by side about two and half inches apart, one for the left eye and one for the right. When a viewer uses a stereoscope, a device for viewing stereographs, these two flat images are combined into a single image that gives the illusion of depth.”

John Thompson, a Scottish photographer, published  “Street Life in London”, in 1877.  It was the first book ever based entirely on urban photographs.

Eugene Atget, who many regard at the father of street photography, documented every nook and cranny of Paris from the 1890’s through 1927.  He left at least 10,000 photographs and thousands of negatives.  By the end of his life, he had become reclusive but still he journeyed along, photographing the streets of Paris.  He still worked with a heavy box camera and a tripod, which were old when he bought them and outdated by the time of his death. His real acclaim did not occur until 40 years after his death.

George Eastman in the 1880’s invented both roll film and the Kodak camera.  This was revolutionary since it was now possible for everyone, not just professional photographers, to take pictures . . .

. . . and the 20^th century of photography drew closer.

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Street Photography: A Gift

A few years ago when I got off the subway at 42^nd Street and 6^th Avenue I was stopped dead in my tracks.  Huge backlit photos, awe-inspiring photos, of New York City from the 1950’s dominated the passageway.  Photographer – Saul Leiter.  I had never heard of him.  But every day for months, there was this time of magic when I passed his pictures.

No matter how tired or grumpy or rushed I was, I stopped to look.  Juxtapositions of colors, light, and angles riffed in every panel.  A visual jazz of the life of the city.  Thank you, Mr. Leiter, for the gift you have given the world.  For making me see in a different way.  For inspiration.

Chance once again brought me upon images, which changed my life.  Le Cercle Rouge is a photographer whose work is a meditation on the night.  He immerses himself in the night of the city, in the streets along which we all walk.  His subtle vision gives form to the feeling and shape of nighttime, the quiet lights, the shadows and the corners.  He explores the mystery and transformation.

Thank you, M. Rouge, for your gift to the world.  For courage to experiment.  For helping me to see more in the silences and to hear more in the light.

Recently, I found a photographer who blew me away.  Jason Langer is most definitely a conspirator and connoisseur of urban darkness and the denizens of night.  Shadowy glimpses, rich saturated blacks, unexpected points of view startle and draw you in.  The density of night, both fearful and narcotic, permeates.

Thank you, Mr. Langer, for your gift to the world.  And thank you for making visual what I have wished for in my own work.

I am indebted and inspired by these photographers and so many others.  Painters, musicians, dancers, poets and the people I meet on the streets and byways of my life are the gifts I receive everyday.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ONE AND ALL!

Some of Saul Leiter’s photos with music by Miles Davis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3wSjuImGu0

Le Cercle Rouge on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/people/gambetta/

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Street Photography: Humanity

Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc in the tri-State area, not unlike when Katrina hit New Orleans and many southern states, or the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  Aside from the physical destruction there was another level to the devastation — the emotional.  People were walking around shell-shocked.

Being a street photographer, I am a witness with a camera.  My concern is that I do not mechanically take photographs without humanity, sensitivity and compassion.

A new acquaintance of mine, who is a photojournalist, told me a story of people who went to Red Hook and were snapping (I use that word intentionally) pictures of residents directly after the storm.  One man was sitting slumped in front of his apartment house.  He had just discovered everything he possessed was destroyed.  Someone came along, snapped his picture, and kept on going.  The man was hurt, aghast.  I don’t blame him!  No one wants to be exploited by an uncaring stranger stumbling through their neighborhood and their life during a tragic time.

On the other hand, there was a photographer in Staten Island who was asked by many community residents if she would take photos of their homes so they would have a voice.  So the world would see what had happened.  She did and they were thankful.

David Hurn, On Being a Photographer, gives the following advice to photographers:

Eliminate those subjects about which you are ignorant, at least until you have conducted a good deal of research into the topic.  For example, you are not contributing anything to the issue of urban poverty by wandering back streets and snatching pictures of derelicts in doorways.  That’s exploitation, not exploration.

Or, as Cartier-Bresson is quoted as saying, “putting one’s head, one’s heart and one’s eye on the same axis,” is for me what street photography is all about.

Street Photography: To Wander or Not to Wander, That is The Question

I just saw a short video interview with Daido Moriyama whose work I admire. During his childhood, his family moved many times due to his father’s job. Moriyama explains that he was excited each time and could not wait to wander through the new town. This wandering became his method of street photography.

When Moriyama has a project, he leaves home in the morning, shoots, then returns home for a bit. Come the evening he is out again, wandering, shooting, taking a quick drink at a bar, and then shooting again.

At the same time I saw this video, I was reading “On Being a Photographer,” David Hurn/Magnum in conversation with Bill Jay. Over and over the point is made that photography is a skill, which one develops. Hurn says, “But the practice must be directed. In other words, it is not a learning process to wander around banging off frames of film for the sheer fun of shooting pictures. You learn by concentrating on a subject, planning the actual shooting . . .”.

Two somewhat disparate views – but what about other great photographers’ methods:

Helen Levitt , an esteemed street photographer, returned time and again to the same neighborhoods of Spanish Harlem, Yorkville and the lower East Side using her right angle viewfinder. She knew those streets like the back of her hand. What changed was the daily drama. Ms. Levitt was there to be a witness, to create her visual poetry.

Garry Winogrand prowled the streets, all nervous energy, hunting and ready for the shot with his wide-angle lens. He was obsessive and intense about his photography. I have read he could shoot an entire roll of film as he stalked down a single city block. His total immersion in the street is obvious in his photos.

Saul Leiter’s photographs make it apparent he wandered. Obviously, he also loved to shoot in both rain and snow. I love bad weather too, but I am always finding that safe spot (for my camera) where I can get the shot I want! I believe Mr. Leiter probably did the same. His photographs captured both the reality and the evanescent quality of city life.

Daido Moriyama’s method definitely resonated with me. As a child I was constantly wandering, always looking to turn a new corner. I brought this psychology to my photography. Then I took a street photography class with Harvey Stein at the International Center for Photography.

One of his first assignments was to find a spot that was interesting. You had to stand there and could only move two feet in any direction while you shot a roll of film. I chose to stand on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral during the 5:00 rush hour. There were hordes of people, tourists and office workers, meandering and dashing by the church, Saks Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center and the statue of Atlas. I expected it to be an easy exercise. But zeroing in on that mad rush of humanity was a daunting task. I shot the roll of film and, frankly, the frames were all forgettable. What didn’t fade was the methodology of the lesson — concentration, visual decisions about what works and total connection to place.

Years later, I was working on a project of just shooting on the four corners of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue during lunch hour. This time I had a ball and photographed some of the best street candid shots ever.

By nature I like to wander, to be on the hunt for that perfect shot. Since I always have a project going I am constantly scouting neighborhoods at different times of day. Then I go back and shoot. Occasionally, I will go back to shoot in different weather, different light, until I get the shot I know is mine.

Be a wanderer, hunter, or simply stand still. Plan or don’t plan. Ultimately, you must be out on the street, fully immersed and connected, in order to catch that elusive, serendipitous magic moment.

What is your style? Do you plan where to go? Do you prefer to wander the city? How do you translate the life of the street into a single frame? I would love to hear from you.

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What is street photography, anyway?

Discuss street photography and immediately Henri Cartier-Bresson will be part of the conversation. The names of Brassaï, Kertész, and Doisneau will, no doubt, follow. But what exactly is street photography?

Street photography is everyday life. It doesn’t matter if it is an empty avenue, one filled with people, or a mangy dog struggling for a bone. What does matter is capturing a particular moment and place. It becomes a dance between the life of the street and the photographer’s skills, instincts and observations. The choreography is different for each situation and each photographer.

Cartier-Bresson was known to choose a location which spoke to him. Then he waited for a movement or an action that defined the place and time. However, he was also adroit as a ballerina if he was in a crowd trying to capture an image. He preferred diffused daylight as opposed to high-contrast sunlight. But he was masterful with both. Above all, he photographed to capture that special instant as he traveled the world.

Brassaï became known for his photos of the Parisian demi-monde and his book of night photography, “Paris de Nuit.” He was a magician of the nocturnal light, incorporating deep shadows and silhouettes, shooting in fog and rain with long exposures. Admittedly, because of the length of exposure and the need for a tripod, he did sometimes have people pose for him. He strove to take the ordinary and to create a unique vision.

André Kertész started photographing street life as a teenager in his beloved Hungary. His work was intimate, emotional. When he moved to Paris he brought this same aesthetic with him. Cartier-Bresson said of him, “Whatever we have done, Kertész did first.”

Robert Doisneau did not travel the world as did Cartier-Bresson. He never left Paris and the banlieues (suburbs). He photographed during the Depression, during the war, post-war and always the people who worked and who lived ordinary lives. He reached for the irony, the tenderness, the meaning. He said, “You’ve got to struggle against the pollution of intelligence in order to become an animal with very sharp instincts – a sort of intuitive medium – so that to photograph becomes a magical act, and slowly other more suggestive images begin to appear behind the visible image, for which the photographer cannot be held responsible.”

These “fathers” of street photography wandered down avenues, boulevards, country roads, toting their cameras, grappling with the changing light, looking for that moment which expressed a time, a place, a feeling. They stood on their toes, squatted down, hung from windows, rooftops, and connected themselves and us to the world.

In the blogs to follow, I will explore different aspects of street photography. I am eager to hear your comments, thoughts, questions and requests.

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