A Short Introduction to Invisibility

Having tried my hands at street photography in the past time, I am soaking in any kind of information that I can find about this topic. Catching people candidly on the streets is not an easy task, especially since street photography is the territory of wide angle lenses, because it's all about “being right in the middle” of where action takes place (telephoto lenses in that respect are tools of the devil paparazzi). And poking a camera right in the face of unsuspecting people is not the most inconspicuous thing to do. Yet, there are people shooting absolutely breathtaking intimate portraits of people in the streets.

Some days ago I stumbled across a video on the web, which shows New York based photgrapher Joel Meyerowitz* scouting the streets of Manhattan to capture exactly this kind of photos. And even though I refuse to accept the theory that one can completely disappear in the crowds and shoot photos without anyone noticing, it's still awesome to see how a professional photographer goes about to achieve this kind of photos. From everything that I've seen/read/heard from street photographers so far, the key element is to be self confident about what you're doing. Going about your work frankly goes a long way to get people accommodated to a photographer around them. Especially considering the alternative: Shooting from cover or sneaking up, grabbing a shot and running like hell.

Part of the experience is the fact that you will get caught shooting candid portraits sooner or later. My first confrontation like this (apart from photos where people happen to stare directly into the camera) just happened this weekend, and perchance it was simply a mistake. I saw a tourist bus painted in bright colours, which I realized would make a nice composition with the blue sky and stuff. Since I had my super-wideangle-lens on my camera, I had to get really close to the front of the bus, about 2m from the bus. Now inside the bus happened to stand a woman who thought I would take her photo. I didn't notice her until she called out to me. I replied something and walked along. Yeah, and that's it. No big bang or anything, but it made me think a lot. I probably should have cleared the situation up by simply showing her the photo I had taken. Unfortunately, I am not good at discussions, so I preferred to retreat.

I realize I still have to learn a lot, especially since this means overcoming my shyness and approaching people, always under the risk of getting into discussions. But if the results are astounding pictures for the portfolio and more self-confidence for me, it'll be worth the effort.

* On a side note, Joel Meyerowitz was the only photographer who was granted access to Ground Zero after September 11th, 2001, and he documented the clean-up over the following nine months, creating an archive of memories that would otherwise not have been preserved, because Ground Zero was declare a “crime scene” and was shut off from photographers and media. I found his monumental book “Aftermath - World Trade Center Archive” at a book store a while ago and skipped through the pages rather quickly, but now that I've found more material on the guy, I will surely give it a second and closer look.

Comments

Cathy – 2007-03-22 04:44:55

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Photography