A revelation..
Hello again and welcome to another musing
In my last post I discussed the monthly image task that I’ve set to do, little background here is that I’m choosing a word that is commonly associated with that month then making an image that fits in with that word, (idea is twofold as it backs up my editorial working practice and ideas that I carried into my teaching practice)
February’s word was ‘love’ and the image chosen was not what most would call a typical NathanPhoto image! Well, I would say it is as I made it with my NP cap on and thinking further about the image, I realised it was a return to my roots of photography.
This realisation of this led on to yet more reflection about what NathanPhoto is now
(Joy I hear you say!)
If I add in the earlier reflections which identified the main theme of this blog, is that it should center around discussions of image making and ideas surrounding photo.
I want to discuss ideas at play surrounding image making, ideas of theory and make critical engagement with (my) images (I realise that this may wander into academic terms but will aim to relate it back to practicalities)
And breathe….
Plainly put the upshot of this is I’m talking about areas of interest that crop up for me and for this blog I’m going to discuss how it looks like I’ve stopped photographing people…
You what? NathanPhoto has stopped photographing people???????
Well yes, it could look like that, as most of my recent images shared here haven’t any people in at all…
Yeah, but you’ve always photographed people
What you going to do now?
Yes, yes I know but what I’ve actually done here is consciously deciding to stop photographing people without their specific consent. Gaining proper consent in a chance encounter is really difficult to do, especially in a typical ‘street’ photography moment and environment. Think this exchange can turn out quite badly, especially when you’re not 100% sure why you made the image, what you are going to do with it and if it is guilty of exploitation.
So I’ve stopped doing it.
I KNOW THIS IS QUITE A BIG DEAL…
I’ll try and explain, it’s mainly because throughout my photo journey (some 40 years now!?!) street photography, candid photography, taking a moment, whatever you’d like to call it, has been a staple of my output and career.
The difference between then and now is that previously there was always a level of consent in the image making process, i.e. turning up at an event, looking cool in a club, looking amazing on the street, eye contact and reasoning behind the image. (Reasoning which consisted of things like ‘we’re doing a feature on the place’, ‘you look amazing, I’ll try and get your picture into a publication’, ‘it’s for my site’ ‘they’re putting pictures of the event online’, I’m paid to get pictures of partcipants, etc.)
As you can imagine this was a big feature of my work in the 90’s, 00’s and 10’s but it has become less so in the 20’s…
You could blame it on the pandemic and the cultural reset that involved for the world, as well as the many personal resets it inspired for me…
On practical terms changes have come from the unusually quiet streets which mean that you stand out with a camera, you can’t blend into a crowd so therefore gain more attention to your movements, which, if you are like me, when you know you’re being watched you start to look clumsy and suspicious without meaning too!
There is also not many reasons for me to make these types of images anymore, I’ve made them in the past and taken them as far as I think they can go. Couple that with a cultural reawakening about the ‘great white hunter’ style of photography and the aesthetics of making these images and it kinda leaves me a little cool on the subject matter.
I’ve also made a change in a technical point of view, adapting from the main making of photographs with my beautiful Canons to the ultimate image making machine… A Leica…
Why do I do this to myself?
Sharing this reflection did make me reminisce of my college days when one of the photographic projects I presented was on Car boot sales, my style at that moment was to shoot from a distance, photographing moments, caught up in ideas of decisive moments and not influencing situations, capturing what I could. I remember part of the feedback was that I should approach people and ask them to take their pictures!!
Wow when I think how that filled me with dread !! What, how, why etc…1
I feel a similar way now as I did then, as this departure is quite a big deal…
This is me all over though changing all in one go ! Changing equipment, shooting styles, directions, analysis, thoughts, etc…combine all those factors and therein lies the contrary, conundrum that makes up the DNA of NathanPhoto!!3
Thank you for reading and if you have any thoughts, feedback, discussions etc you can get me on the usual channels.
To the image, given the points made here I thought I would push myself to go out and shoot some more people-based images, so I made an attempt to return to photographing people on the street. Took a big deep breath, went out on a bright sunny day and positioned myself on a corner (which is a hark back to an idea that I had a while ago, inspired by Lee Friedlander’s photographs of entrances and exits2)
Here are the images:
set of three images taken on a sunny street corner in Manchester capturing people as they turn a corner (physically)
I must admit I do feel a little uncomfortable posting them for a whole host of reasons, but the discussion points listed above make their selection relevant and needed.
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks again.
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notes
1) I know that this may come as a shock to people but at that time I think I was quite shy… it was the kind of shyness that enabled me to work in (rough as) pubs, ride bikes in different continents and chat to some amazing people leading to some amazing life experiences, tho?
2) Can this be part of a wider project maybe?
3) Maybe this honesty wouldn’t get me any work and maybe someone will appreciate my honesty and give me some work, who knows? This is the style of honest blogging I’m hoping to make a success of.