Shameless
I now have my first follower. Welcome to my biggest fan - my wife.
This week's assignment - approach someone on the street, take their picture without their permission, say thank you and waive. Again - I think I cheated a bit. The more interesting characters I'm drawn to are probably the ones a little more edgier and I'm fairly safe in this little town of Princeton. I am thinking more about this genre in general and have become somewhat introspective regarding the emotional connection to the action of taking a street photograph.
My two photos were taken with the comfort of a wingman. I was walking through town with my friend James and told him what I wanted to do in terms of this assignment. Having him there was a bit of an icebreaker and long term, I will need to do this on my own.
On one hand, shooting in NYC can be edgy at times but also fairly easy given the massive amount of movement, people, and just general energy. Sure, I might get yelled at for taking a photo, but more than likely people will just shrug me off. Because of this, I really enjoyed the required readings and videos this week. The two video clips this week were stylistically different in terms of approach.
Bruce Gilden is an in your face street photographer with a flash. Ballsy.
Joe Wigfall shoots without the view finder. From his hip.
I'm going to shoot both styles but feel like something up close with a viewfinder is ultimately where I will land.
Here are the three photos I took this week to complete the assignment
Cool color juxtaposition
Cheated - guy wanted me to take his photo.
Thinking more about my upcoming photo essay and the idea came from my wife. The purest form of street photography, I'm learning, is to have a child like mind in terms of curiosity. To just shoot something because it looks interesting. To shoot something without fear of reprisal, of criticisms, or rejection.
My daughter is really into photography. My essay will be a joint one with her. I want to see the streets through a child's eye. Where she shoots, I will shoot. And that will be my photo essay. Will be awesome.