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!
