Above: "Walking Home"
Took my 35mm lens out with me after work. I've decided to get back in to some street photography!
Click the title for the full post!!
I've always loved street photography, through college I was inspired by Eugene Atget, Colin Jones and Berenice Abbott capturing the feel of the streets in their eras. I remember seeing Atget's hazy sidestreet shots of Paris and felt in awe of the way the eye was always drawn down the street making me always wonder what was round the corner. He was definitely the inspiration for me when learning composition to put emphasis on lines where possible, particularly in street shots, letting the eye be drawn in to and around the picture (if possible teasing the viewer to think what's round the corner).
The emptiness of the shots due to him shooting very early in the morning really gave the shots an eerie feel.
Above: 1924 Eugene Atget: Rue du Figuier - part of the Twilight Visions exhibition which ran at the International Center of Photography in 2010
As for the other inspirations I definitely got the love for contrast and texture from Colin Jones and the Experimental work of Abbott (who also captured the streets of NY when not doing experimental multiple exposure photography). Jones' work gave a real reflection of the time and a real gravelly miner's eye view of working class England.
Above: Colin Jones 1963: Liverpool docks - you can buy the print here
On to my own shots from the day's shoot anyway. I always aim in my own photography to get a real feel for the textures in the shot. I personally enjoy imperfections in walls/roads and the contrast that multiple surfaces can provide. In the past few years I've been mostly learning to use colour in shots but thought for this I'd go back to B+W (with some slight cream tinting just to add a little more tone). All these shots were with my d7000+35mm 1.8 lens.
Above:"To Let" - Deserted buildings, this particular back street is packed with them, no easy access and hindered with the recent recession I don't see anyone picking this up to let.
Below: "Fail lol" - One of the many doors to hopefully nowhere in Cork. I'd not really like to see what's behind most of these to be honest although the imagination runs wild.
Below: "Barred" - This is a ground floor window in a back alley. Perhaps the bars are to keep someone in not people out.
Below: "To the Lee" - The River Lee lies just beyond the view in the distance, this backstreet is one of the ways in to town from the North. Not the safest location in the evening even though there could be many witnesses.
I'll be doing some more shots hopefully in the next few weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed it again. I'm really thinking of getting an x100 currently just so I feel more comfortable going out and shooting again as well as having that discreet camera for taking candid shots around towns and cities (not to mention handy for travelling!)
