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Author Topic: Street Photography...again.  (Read 5721 times)

stamper

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Street Photography...again.
« on: June 29, 2016, 10:05:22 am »

I have a few books on the subject and not all of them I have finished reading. However I bought yet another one hoping for further inspiration.

http://www.rockynook.com/shop/photography/street-photography/

I have read all of this one and I would describe it as a very good primer for someone starting out in street photography. Well written and no padding of content. For the experienced street photographer then they might find that the lack of examples slightly disappointing and an in depth analysis of the images could have been expanded a little more. However thumbs up for a well produced book from a well respected publisher. I have a lot of their books and I don't have any connection with them. It was worth adding to my large photographic book collection. :)

RSL

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2016, 11:04:43 am »

I ordered it on your recommendation Robert. I'll do a partial review after I read it. I've found that very few authors of books on street photography understand street photography. This one talks about "The art of capturing the candid moment." That's part of it. Let's see if the authors understand the rest of it.
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Rob C

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2016, 03:37:20 pm »

I'm pushed to thinking about what I'd written about Seamus's image in colour. Of course, I can't see the contents (of the book), but on the dodgy principle of judging a book by its cover:

"I think that colour takes it out of street and into almost pure graphics, which is not street as per classical understanding of it.

It's part of the attraction - for me - of Saul Leiter, whose b/white I consider pure street, yet his colour not and, instead, delightful abstraction. He started non-religious life as a painter, which he kept up all his many days, and perhaps the sense of abstract graphics was always going to run through, whatever else he did.

I think both disciplines are perfectly possible within the same person, as he proved, but I don't think they are the same thing. I do not see the image in this thread as street at all. To me, it's graphics."

Rob


stamper

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #3 on: June 30, 2016, 04:49:31 am »

I ordered it on your recommendation Robert. I'll do a partial review after I read it. I've found that very few authors of books on street photography understand street photography. This one talks about "The art of capturing the candid moment." That's part of it. Let's see if the authors understand the rest of it.

Russ I am not sure that that someone with your experience and ability will learn something new? What it might do is re boot your thinking and possibly inspire you? A nice refresher for your thoughts. As stated it is a good primer for some. There was a member a few weeks back - I forget his name - that was venturing out on to street. For him definitely worthwhile. One thing I did like about the book was that he mentioned the use of prime lenses but didn't insist that was the only type worth using.

Rob C

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #4 on: June 30, 2016, 09:14:35 am »

I ordered it on your recommendation Robert. I'll do a partial review after I read it. I've found that very few authors of books on street photography understand street photography. This one talks about "The art of capturing the candid moment." That's part of it. Let's see if the authors understand the rest of it.

Surprising move, Russ.
 
I can understand collecting monographs, which had I but space and deeper pockets would be a prime hobby for me, but how-to books... for you?

Have you made your will yet?

;-)

Rob

Paulo Bizarro

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2016, 09:15:09 am »

Thanks for the link, seems interesting. I like the cover photo, with the "colour matches" between the different elements: the yellow shirt and yellow pavement lines; the red from the stop sign and the fire hose (plus the colour patch on the facade). I wonder if the author waited until someone with a yellow shirt showed up?

RSL

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2016, 11:29:02 am »

Surprising move, Russ.
 
I can understand collecting monographs, which had I but space and deeper pockets would be a prime hobby for me, but how-to books... for you?

Have you made your will yet?

;-)

Rob

Hi Rob, Yeah, my lawyer son has my will in his office safe back in Colorado Springs. He also has decades of my pictures in large frames on the walls of his practice. It's one of the few places where I get raves.

But I'm always interested to see what people write in books about street photography. Some aren't bad. Others, like The World Atlas of Street Photography, in which editor Jackie Higgins seems to believe a picture of a street is street photography, are terrible.

If I were closer to a serious library I'd probably just check out a book like the one I just ordered, but I'm too far away to do that, so I order from Amazon. So far I've been able to do that without breaking the bank, but the time may come when that happens. We finally sold our Colorado house, so bank break time has been pushed back. In the meantime we outfitted our new Florida house with plenty of bookshelves. Here's one set. There are several others.
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Rob C

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #7 on: June 30, 2016, 01:15:18 pm »

Hi Rob, Yeah, my lawyer son has my will in his office safe back in Colorado Springs. He also has decades of my pictures in large frames on the walls of his practice. It's one of the few places where I get raves.

But I'm always interested to see what people write in books about street photography. Some aren't bad. Others, like The World Atlas of Street Photography, in which editor Jackie Higgins seems to believe a picture of a street is street photography, are terrible.

If I were closer to a serious library I'd probably just check out a book like the one I just ordered, but I'm too far away to do that, so I order from Amazon. So far I've been able to do that without breaking the bank, but the time may come when that happens. We finally sold our Colorado house, so bank break time has been pushed back. In the meantime we outfitted our new Florida house with plenty of bookshelves. Here's one set. There are several others.


Russ, I do hope you understood that the 'will' remark was a joke? I'd never presume to ask things like that seriously.

Your shelf space makes me ill. Not only its size but its scope. On balance, though, perhaps just as well I don't have the wallspace...

Congratulations on the Colorado sale: it's always nice to be able to draw lines under things that you want done but end up taking more time than you expect. This is my second year of trying to achieve the same thing... my daughter and the medical student granddaughter are coming to stay on the 6th, so once they are back home again I will start to get the place into more agencies than the two on the case right now. Trouble is, the difference in value between pound and euro make for difficulties in pricing. I know what I want, clean, in pounds, but should a euro national want to buy, then the ballgame is different due to conversions, estate agency rips etc. etc. So much paperwork, so many percentages stolen away here and there.

Rob

RSL

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #8 on: June 30, 2016, 02:29:41 pm »

Not to worry, Rob. I took it as a joke. But having an attorney son I thought I'd give you a straight answer. He has all the family documents both registered and under lock and key, which makes for relaxation on our part.

I'm incredibly fortunate (and I thank God for it). I have two sons who made it big in business and engineering and have retired very comfortably; a third who's a software engineer able to work for whomever he wants to work for and ready to retire comfortably in another three years, and a fourth who's an attorney who could retire any day he wants to but who won't because he loves what he's doing. I once watched him argue a case in court and I can see why.

It's the first time I've had this much shelf space and I'm enjoying it immensely. I can walk over to that wall and run my fingers down the rows and find what I'm looking for.

Having had a house on the market for two years I can understand your frustration with the sale of the condo. As far as the break between pound and euro is concerned I suspect we'll see the euro fall and the pound rise. In the long run, from an economic point of view, the EU needs the UK a lot more than the UK needs the EU. Because of all the left-wing bullshit flying around the pundits and politicians haven't figured that out yet. They will once the shift starts to happen, but they'll never admit it until it's too obvious to ignore.
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RSL

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2016, 06:01:49 pm »

I have a few books on the subject and not all of them I have finished reading. However I bought yet another one hoping for further inspiration.

http://www.rockynook.com/shop/photography/street-photography/

I have read all of this one and I would describe it as a very good primer for someone starting out in street photography. Well written and no padding of content. For the experienced street photographer then they might find that the lack of examples slightly disappointing and an in depth analysis of the images could have been expanded a little more. However thumbs up for a well produced book from a well respected publisher. I have a lot of their books and I don't have any connection with them. It was worth adding to my large photographic book collection. :)

Hi Robert, I finished the book. I'd agree with you that it's well written and I'd also agree that his advice is right on the money. Unfortunately his street photography -- at least the stuff he's put in the book -- sucks.
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Zorki5

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2016, 06:28:22 pm »

Unfortunately his street photography -- at least the stuff he's put in the book -- sucks.

Judging by the book cover and the two spreads available for preview, I'd definitely agree.

Why bother then? What can he say about street photography that wasn't said a million times?..
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RSL

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2016, 07:53:50 pm »

It's been said a million times, but millions of wannabe street photographers haven't heard it.
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stamper

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #12 on: July 04, 2016, 04:29:21 am »

Judging by the book cover and the two spreads available for preview, I'd definitely agree.

Why bother then? What can he say about street photography that wasn't said a million times?..


An Irish comedian - Frank Carson - quipped that ....it is they way I tell them. Meaning that it isn't so much what you say but how you say it. The same information can be stated by someone in an interesting and informative way that others can't. The author of the book manages to do that in a concise way that others can't. I can't really agree with Russ's  statement that the images suck. It is of course subjective. In my original post I stated

For the experienced street photographer then they might find that the lack of examples slightly disappointing and an in depth analysis of the images could have been expanded a little more.

More explanation would have helped?

Zorki5

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #13 on: July 04, 2016, 05:32:45 am »

The same information can be stated by someone in an interesting and informative way that others can't. The author of the book manages to do that in a concise way that others can't.

I surely understand that; the history has even seen countless examples... Like, say, the clearest (or should I say "the first clear") explanation of Euclidean geometry was done by Euclid's followers, not by Euclid himself.

in depth analysis of the images could have been expanded a little more.

More explanation would have helped?

Not exactly more explanation... But, just out of curiosity: what does he find when he dissects the images from the book? How does he show what's good using the images in the book?

I can see how somebody could take the works of [insert you favorite street photog here] and teach others how to produce similar-quality images; but if examples are sub-par, how could he help?

(please take this question at face value)
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stamper

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #14 on: July 04, 2016, 05:45:11 am »

I surely understand that; the history has even seen countless examples... Like, say, the clearest (or should I say "the first clear") explanation of Euclidean geometry was done by Euclid's followers, not by Euclid himself.

Not exactly more explanation... But, just out of curiosity: what does he find when he dissects the images from the book? How does he show what's good using the images in the book?

I can see how somebody could take the works of [insert you favorite street photog here] and teach others how to produce similar-quality images; but if examples are sub-par, how could he help?

(please take this question at face value)


Russ didn't like them but that doesn't mean they are sub par. I will have to read that section of the book again.

GrahamBy

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #15 on: July 04, 2016, 06:13:20 am »

The text on the example spreads seems more about telling you how hard it is, rather than how to do it. I went to his web-site and there were more images available: I wouldn't be embarrassed to have taken them. There does seem to be some practical advice (don't use a neck-strap; find a setting and wait for someone to walk into it). Fair enough.

That said, I prefer books that inspire me... working out the practicalities of how to do it is something I'm willing to take responsibility for.
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stamper

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #16 on: July 04, 2016, 06:24:29 am »

The text on the example spreads seems more about telling you how hard it is, rather than how to do it. I went to his web-site and there were more images available: I wouldn't be embarrassed to have taken them. There does seem to be some practical advice (don't use a neck-strap; find a setting and wait for someone to walk into it). Fair enough.

That said, I prefer books that inspire me... working out the practicalities of how to do it is something I'm willing to take responsibility for.

Despite having read other books I got inspiration from it but I will have to read it again to sink in even further. We all get into a rut when we are used to doing things in a certain way and a refreshing of our thoughts are helpful. Because it is an up to date book then there might be new developments compared to the masters of old. Like new equipment and newer lenses or even a change in the law or members of the public's perceptions?

Volatile_Proximity

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Re: Street Photography...again.
« Reply #17 on: July 29, 2016, 04:38:08 pm »

That said, I prefer books that inspire me... working out the practicalities of how to do it is something I'm willing to take responsibility for.

Agree. For the price of that book, a person could buy one (or more) of a number of great street photography books by a number of photographers. I've learned more from studying photobooks (and getting out and shooting) than I could ever learn from a "how-to" book.

That said...everyone learns differently. There is no right or wrong way to do it.
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