Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => Street Showcase => Topic started by: Ivo_B on June 21, 2018, 04:44:06 pm

Title: Timeliness of photo's
Post by: Ivo_B on June 21, 2018, 04:44:06 pm
In a reply on my Paris pictures FredJeang2 replied with this interesting (and very kind) comment

Quote
One of the things I enjoy most about these photos is a certain spacial wisdom, where spots/framing were discerningly choosen (no matter if willfully or not).

I find that in our times, it is crucial that we be very carefull of the surrowdings in the sense that cities are packed with unalluring elements whose monstrousness are killing the décor's magic.

Plastic scooters parked everywhere. Modern cars and buses horribly unaesthetic and boring; signs and advertising invading backgrounds, cold deshumanised banks glass facades with cheap logos replacing historical districts storefronts, building repairs hidden with horrible stockades with phone companies canvas, wooden windows replaced by aluminium/Climalit, pavements removed for asphalt, beautifull vintage cafés chairs and tables substituted by plastic, parks invaded by colourfull infant schools, plastic rubbish bins military green painted and recycling tanks every hundred meters, without talking about unapealing fashion (unispiring clothing with Nike logos), the list is long.
The urban ugliness with which we have to deal is shocking compared to our elders.

I did past experiment with friends to replace many great street masters photos with today's surroundings (in photoshop) and it drastically deteriorated the all atmosphere, very very clearly.
The golden age for street aesthetism took place till the end of the 70's because it helped photography instead of going against.
In the politicaly corrected nowdays, finding the right spots is a real challenge.

In those photos, at least, the photographer took care of what was going to appear in the frame.
#2 would have been much better without the recycling tank, but it's very hard no to get those
Horrors somewhere in the frames.

I would say that the first task of a comtemporary street photographer is scouting.




For me this comment relates to one of the most game changing photographic insights I got over the last years.
I usually give a lot of attention how a photo is framed. It became a second nature to scan the boundaries of the frame in a split second before pushing the button. Just to make sure the whole picture seems to be right. (If it only would turn out good in every shot, :not :-))
And I was very keen to exclude elements that destroys the timeless character of a shot.


(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5490/10965133886_147ecb1bc8_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/hGXbhw)P1000297-bewerktP_P (https://flic.kr/p/hGXbhw) by Ivo Bogaerts (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ivophoto/), on Flickr

When my father died ten years ago, I found his boxes of 6x6 diapositives. I spent hours putting the frames one by one on the light table and suddenly, I realized I skipped the 'timeless' images one by one and only took a closer look to the clearly dated pictures. My father in his Ford Consul, My mother with here 50's sunshades, A scene of Antwerp with the publicity of a long forgotten brand of cigarets and on the background an obsolete model of a tram passing by.

I looked at  my pictures, and I realized I was not documenting today, but I tried to mimic a past era. Or at least avoiding to document todays life and environment.
That was a kind of shock. Would that mean that when we all do so, we skip to document a generation?

I took the decision to stop the attempt to seek timeless scenery and to include the 'today' in my images. And that was the start to appreciate the work of Eggleston, Gruyaert, and others.

 The start of a period of falling and rising trying to document the today in color and trying to catch the time slot in the hope, in 30 years, those documents from a past generation will gain in interest.
 
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5780/21207850641_d8a3bb54af_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/yj4M8g)Parkspooroost (https://flic.kr/p/yj4M8g) by Ivo Bogaerts (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ivophoto/), on Flickr

(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8591/15895240597_3f745415ae_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/qdBgfn)Kerst Antwerpen (https://flic.kr/p/qdBgfn) by Ivo Bogaerts (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ivophoto/), on Flickr

I'm far from how I would like to grasp the today in my actual work, but at this moment, it is more satisfying than photographing a mimic of the past.


Title: Re: Timeliness of photo's
Post by: OmerV on June 21, 2018, 05:12:57 pm


I'm far from how I would like to grasp the today in my actual work, but at this moment, it is more satisfying than photographing a mimic of the past.

You are absolutely correct, Ivo. Thankfully there are indeed many photographers(including you,) curators, and artists who are working at making relevant and meaningful photography for the times we live in now.

The recent announcement of the winners of the LensCulture Street photography contest is an eye opener. And I must admit to a bit of envy not of the winners, but of the imagination that is on display. Ah well. 

 
Title: Re: Timeliness of photo's
Post by: Martin Kristiansen on June 22, 2018, 02:52:07 am
Very good point Ivo. Give the images a sense of time. Combine that with a sense of place and your own point of view and I think you will have something special.

You have provoked another thing in me now. My father shot weddings occasionally and was akeen amateur photographer. My mother gave me an old Minolta SRT101 that we both used. I use the 50mm 1,4 on my Sony. Recently I bought an old Minolta slide copier. I am going to start copying some of his Kodachrome. Odd to think that I will use the same lens to copy them that he shot them with. I’m going to start an Instagram feed with them.
Title: Re: Timeliness of photo's
Post by: Ivophoto on June 22, 2018, 04:27:35 am
Very good point Ivo. Give the images a sense of time. Combine that with a sense of place and your own point of view and I think you will have something special.

You have provoked another thing in me now. My father shot weddings occasionally and was akeen amateur photographer. My mother gave me an old Minolta SRT101 that we both used. I use the 50mm 1,4 on my Sony. Recently I bought an old Minolta slide copier. I am going to start copying some of his Kodachrome. Odd to think that I will use the same lens to copy them that he shot them with. I’m going to start an Instagram feed with them.

Martin, keep me posted, we are linked on Insta isn’t it?
Title: Re: Timeliness of photo's
Post by: Martin Kristiansen on June 22, 2018, 05:04:29 am
Yes we are Ivo. I will keep you posted