“In photography, creation is a quick business — an instant, a gush, a response — putting the camera up to the eye’s line of fire, snatching with that economical little box whatever it was that surprised you, catching it in midair, without tricks, without letting it get away.” Henri Cartier-Bresson
Street Photography is one of most challenging areas of photography, but practiced by such legendary photographers as Henri Cartier- Bresson, Garry Winogrand, and Elliott Erwitt, street photography is a form of candid photography that often defies the rules of composition. Street photography is about finding order in a chaotic world. It doesn’t rely on pre-visualization; quite the opposite: it’s skill is being able to anticipate action, interaction and humorous juxtapositions and capture those fleeting moments. It is about telling a story in one image.
The photographs in this gallery were taken mainly in London, and a few in Manchester. If you click on the (i) above the photo to the right it will tell you where the photo was taken. The images were shot using either a Leica M9 or Leica Monochrom with a 35mm Summicron lens. For me, this is the ideal kit for walking the streets taking photographs as it is small, and discreet, and it doesn’t SHOUT – “hay, I’m photographing you”, nor is it sneaky; you need to get close to your subject and not be a voyeur standing back like with a large zoom lens. These days, there are many small rangefinder cameras that are also good for being part of the action and getting close in. Robert Capa, a founder of Magnum said, “If your photographs aren’t good enough you weren’t close enough.”
If you would like to read about Street Photography and Personal Space, see my blog. And here’s a good tip to think about doing.