Street Photography

I've found a really cool book called Street Photography Now (Thames & Hudson 2010 — so I guess it should be called Street Photography Then...but it feels very contemporary).

The book contains images by '46 contemporary imagemakers noted for their candid depictions of everyday life'. Here are some of the highlights:

Melanie Einzig, New York. She says 'My best photographs were taken going to or from work, or some other destination. It's about tuning in to intuitive clues, to turn this way and that.'

I like the natural light and the way the picture hasn't been fiddled around with. I like to find interesting people in my pictures – but I have never seen anyone quite like the guy in yellow! I'll keep hunting. Here is a picture of mine that I feel achieves a similar effect.

Christophe Agou is French, but also lives in New York. He works mainly on the subway. His black-and-white close-ups of faces are very strong. For example:

I would like to hope some of my pictures can get close to the strength of his pictures. This one isn't so well framed, but captures a similar emotion:

I'm not sure I agree with Christophe Agou when he says 'there is a certain honesty underground, a certain truth'. In my experience, people on the underground are closed off, wary, untrusting, and no-one speaks to anyone else.

Maciej Dakowicz, born in Poland, lives in Cardiff. His street pictures are brutally honest, challenging — and they make me feel I should just get out there and do it! The woman in this picture doesn't seem at all bothered about being pictured in such an unflattering environment. (The quality of my picture of the picture in the book is not great!)

This style of photography reminds me of Nick Waplington. Sometimes I feel that the photographer is judging people, it feels almost like a class thing. And I'm uncomfortable with that.

Another photographer in the book, Carolyn Drake, says: 'I am weary of stereotypes and aware that photos often perpetuate them. I'd like to take pictures that somehow counteract this'. Hear hear!

The eye contact in George Georgiou's pictures (he lives in London but has spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe) is often quite shocking. For example, this picture of a man on a train in the Ukraine:

Sometimes I have experienced a level of discomfort, taking pictures. Here, for example, the man at the edge of the picture is very aware of what I am doing.

Nils Jorgensen is Danish but lives in London. He says he likes 'small random moments which have no obvious news or commercial significance'. I appreciate that. For example, this picture makes a strong image out of an advertisement:

It reminds me slightly of a similar picture I took:

Now, look, I'm not comparing my work with the work of these photographers. Clearly, they are all highly skilled and have produced some great work.

All the same, it is very encouraging to realise that other people are doing the same thing as me. I'm not entirely alone. I'm not the only freak out there!

Commuting syndrome

What I want to do is pull together images that represent the qualities of commuting in my mind.

Here is the first picture I stuck together from several pictures I had taken:

I imagine this would be easier if I had PhotoShop!

The face of the fat man in foreground in this picture is pretty poor quality and not very tonal but the creases in the shirt are very distinct and I can imagine painting this image. The old man looking out of the window has better contrast. The old man the lighting has a better contrast, with more visible tones. I need to balance all the tones. It's one of the problems of working from photographs. And especially, from my secret snaps!

I don't want to make the whole background surrounding the two men in the foreground completely blurred out, but want more detail to add to the overall idea.

Here is another, more worked version of the same thing. The wonders of the Pritt stick!

Returning to the subject of honesty. Let's put together some key words that come to mind in connection with commuting: repetition, distraction, tension, purpose, purposelessness, boredom, fatigue, career, motivation, preoccupation, self-sacrifice, family.

Gazing out of the window and dozing off are escapes for some people, forms of meditation that help to get away from the tedium and uncomfortable routine. Or looking at phones, or listening to music. They also help to get away from the terrible closeness of strangers! The enforced intimacy and unwelcome nearness to other people.

The man immediately behind the two main figures has a phone, repeating the action of the man in the foreground. Almost everyone seems to be looking at some or other electronic device.

Commuter trains are commonly crowded. In one sense it's a blur. In another sense, everything is black and white and tense. Everyone sees everyone else. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing, but no-one is looking at anyone. I hope to represent this tension through sharpness, tactical blurring and detailed line direction.

At first I thought I would blur the entire background. As per the example below (made with PhotoShop on a borrowed machine):

This was, in a way, pushing back on earlier thoughts - that life is the blur beyond the window. I do regret losing the background. And so I have rejected this in favour of a more considered image (the second one, above).

What I hope to achieve, by dealing with photographs in this rough way, is a basis for a painting that will give a more personal and a fuller version of the subject.

True or False

I need to find out why I have these recurring thoughts of blurred images. Check myself for falsity. Here's the thing: truth and honesty in art. Some art is dishonest as art and maybe that's one distinction – at least in my mind – between art and craft. What do I mean? Oh, boy. Here goes. Art is about the need to do the right thing in the right way for the right reason; craft means the ability to do a thing that looks right for any of a number of reasons.

I need to be clear as to my motivations as I progress in my practice and keep checking my work for honesty of thought and feeling. Prohibit myself from doing something simply because it looks impressive or clever, but make sure my work is always good enough for me.

I need to scrutinize everything I do, track my thoughts, so I can communicate my experience properly. Otherwise I may have the experience but miss the meaning, as TS Eliot put it!

To what extent can I realise my – what shall I call it? – my communication? Who knows? Because if I can't identify what's going on in myself, how can I put clear focus in my art? I'd like to clear out all the garbage! See things for what they are, through my eyes. I must see the scene as it is to me.

This is what it's about, surely, bringing me to the table, to what I'm doing. I mean, in the most honest and direct way possible. I can't get to something that feels like art by trying to be clever, because that means being something I'm not. I can't get there by trying to do what other people have done, because that isn't me, either – and the people who have done it already will have done it better.

So. It's all about me! It seems pretty straightforward. I know there is lots to learn, but if I forget this, how can I ever hope to achieve something original? Like a personal vision, a personal statement. Like, perhaps, art?

Thinking about it

I have to get used to thinking of my photos as a form of quick sketch - and I need to find photos I really want to work from.

The medium must relate to what I see. I don't want just to take pictures and make  paintings of them. I want to follow through why I took the pictures in the first place. Try and find a meaning in the images. Try to find the perfect expressions and gestures to convey the experience of this form of travel.

The communication is what brings out the human relationships.