AN UNNECESSARY COMMERCIAL CIRCUS

To anyone who knows me, I’m guessing the fact that I am inspired by, nay, obsessed with, the work of the late, master fashion photographer, Peter Lindbergh, will come as no great surprise.

I was just watching a film of a 1986 shoot of models Tatiana Patitz and Linda Spierings on Le Touquet beach in France (FIG 1). Sublime. Just Peter, the models and some hair and makeup people.

Today, you’d probably need to spend £50,000-£60,000 for a print from this shoot.

FIG 1

Today a shoot is comprised of fifty-plus stylists, fashion editors, set dressers, tethered Macs/editors, lighting technicians, etc (FIG 2). The beauty of Peter’s photos were in the concept and simplicity. Watching his 80s/90s shoots is a joy. Watching 21st century fashion stories is painful. Seeing a genius surrounded (reluctantly) by a wholly unnecessary commercial machine and circus.

I’m guessing the photos from these shoots don’t sell well.

FIG 2

And after seeing many of his interviews he eschews the very ‘machine’ that fuels (pays for) his creativity and shoots. Whilst seemingly being critical of (and at the same time respecting) the fashion and clothes that are really the raison d’être of all fashion photography.

Amazingly, Peter seems to effortlessly balance this rejection of hair, makeup and fashion mores, with an artistic and an aesthetic style that at once creates compelling photos, but also creates amazingly commercial fashion images.

This artistic dichotomy never seems to adversely affect the desire for his work as photographic art, or as purely commercial fashion images.

PHOTOGRAPHY: LOOKING, SEEING AND IMAGINING.

Photography is therapy for me.

It provides me with an ability to see beyond the immediately obvious. For sure, heavily editing images in the computer is, indeed, a creative/artistic process….. but strictly photography it is NOT.

Now I know there will be cries of ‘but it’s all subjective’. No, no no. It is NOT photography and it is NOT subjective. Graphic art, illustration, digital art it may well be, but PHOTOGRAPHY it most definitely IS NOT. This is not a subjective issue…. it’s an objective fact.

Fig. 1

The advert for Adobe Photoshop^® above (Fig. 1) makes me annoyed. If it was an advert for a graphics program it’d be fine….. but it’s for a photo editing package.

“Isn’t it enough that to see that a garden is beautiful without having to imagine that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?” – Douglas Adams

This sort of sums up my philosophy of photography, and the constant clamour for ever more editing and an almost insatiable appetite for more and more heavily edited photos!

There is beauty everywhere……. and my ability to use a camera, with knowledge and experience, allows me to see it and capture it. For sure, you can take a boring photo and ‘spice it up’ in the computer (add in an alternative/better sky, boost the colours etc) but this is not photography. However, seeing what is there, in front of you, and using light, exposure, filters and simple camera settings is photography.

I want to provide readers with an example of what I mean.

During the lockdown here in Cardiff, I’ve taken to taking photos out of the window before which I write. This is a westerly facing aperture, and the skies of late have been astounding. This absolutely (generally) requires colour photos, forcing me to abandon my ‘penchant’ for monochrome images.

Sadly, occasionally, there are times when the view is intensely boring; on the face of it. Grey, flat and bland. (Fig. 2)

This is when the ability to take an interesting photo (not a universally popular sort of image I’ll admit) becomes possible. Not take a boring shot, editing the crap out of it, and ending up with something acceptable. But to make it in the camera.

Fig. 2

This ability to see what is ‘there’ (even though not visible to the naked/untrained eye) provides pleasure immediately to every scene: and a level of ‘mindfulness’ and ‘presence’ that is important for mental well-being.

Reviewing a load of uninspiring photos and then editing the fu….. hell out of them, or adding digital filters, is really not my thing.

Fig. 2a

Fig. 2a is the photo I knew was there. Straight out camera.

Taken at EXACTLY the same time (well a few moments apart) but with modified technique and optical filters.

BE A PHOTOGRAPHER. NOT A GRAPHIC ARTIST.*

*there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a graphic artist….. just don’t call yourself a photographer

A PHOTOGRAPHIC DIRECTION CHANGE (THEN AN IMMEDIATE CHANGE BACK)

I’m 54. And since the age of 13 (1978) I have been passionately into photography.

More specifically, I have been obsessed with photographing the face. I’ve been obsessed with fashion photography too, but in almost every picture I’m drawn to, or attracted by, the face.

Fig. 1

Recently I’ve been diagnosed with a rare genetic condition affecting my balance, coordination and my speech. So the type of photography I am able to now do needs to be significantly altered.

For years I took photographs without restriction…. or so I thought.

Because of my recent mobility issues, I have spent weeks having an internal dialogue debating the practicalities of continuing with portraiture and my personal love of taking street portraits

I decided that the difficulties in continuing with this type of photography is simply not feasible with Ataxia and Dysarthia (limb coordination issues and a bad speech issue).

https://markorchardphotography.wordpress.com/2020/05/23/speaking-and-street-portraits/

So I made a conscious decision to focus almost exclusively on abstract, fine-art photography of inanimate objects (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2

but no sooner had I resolved my internal conflict, I stepped into the street and immediately met a bloke that I needed to photograph. We ended up having very good conversation and I got my photo (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3

Now this may not be a great image exactly, but it was extremely significant to me. The emotional effect of a just taking a simple street portrait showed me that the resolution of my internal conflict was completely, and utterly wrong.

In no way could I abandon taking photographs of people in favour of some abstract aesthetic.

For sure my personal, physical restrictions are a reality. However, I simply need a new strategy for continuing my first love. (Fig. 4)

Fig. 4

Disclaimer: There has been almost a week since I last added to this essay.

During that time I did a 90 minute, outdoor portrait shoot of Pinar…. an actress/friend. (Fig. 5)

Fig. 5

I did the shoot with my usual modicum of stumbling, but it was generally trouble-free.

However, the one thing that became apparent is that I carry-out my photograph shoots fuelled almost entirely on adrenaline, as directly after a 90 minute shoot I am totally knackered; my legs are screwed and my balance/coordination are completely gone.

But it was glorious, and an activity I can’t (and will not ever) give up or abandon.

Pinar, I thank you sincerely.

So maybe I can’t do shoots like a few years ago. But I can still do them…. I just need to accept my limitations. One of my biggest struggles.

However, this ‘acceptance’ is the also biggest step to mindfulness and present moment awareness….. a massive defence and anxiety and mental disquiet. Recognising, accepting and actioning the things that motivate, restrict and empower you is an amazingly simple, yet effective, tool.

HSP – Finally A Diagnosis (after 54 years)

MY YOUNGER YEARS

When my mother sadly passed away in mid-July 2015 I had to clear her house.

During this emotionally draining process I discovered an old school report card from 1970…….. when I was 5 years old.

Even back then my PE Teacher commented on my lack of ‘physical prowess’ and a “…. distinct lack of coordination during all types of sports…” and further remarked that “…… Mark is better suited to more academic pursuits…… “.

I can’t remember this report card at all.

However, I don’t recall anything of further import until my mid to late teens…… other than a reputation for possessing an overt clumsiness. There were many incidences (I remember) of stumbles etc.

MY TEENAGE YEARS

In my teens I began doing a lot of hill-walking with my best friend. I can clearly recall hating narrow, rocky paths, or uneven ground. If I had to walk uphill, on a good path, it was never a problem, but as soon as the ground was uneven I was less than useless. I also did a lot cycling and mountain biking. I recognised (even 30 years ago) that my legs got stiff and tired. So lots of stretching was great…. little did I know that the very act of doing this benefitted an as yet unknown/undiagnosed condition.

During walking, following a heavy fall of snow, I distinctly recall my best friend (who was a fit as the proverbial ‘butcher’s dog’) always taking the lead and creating a track of foot-steps in any fresh snow that I could more easily walk in. A great theory. However I was totally unable to direct my feet to hit the holes made by his boots.

Then in my late teens, me and a few mates were jumping off a waterfall in the Brecon Beacons. During one series of ‘jumps’ I ‘slipped’ and just dropped vertically, smashing my lower back on rocks in the process, requiring a 6 week hospital stay until a fractured pelvic girdle healed. However what I once described as a slip, I now recall (with hindsight) as ‘placing my foot in the wrong f**king place’ and causing my plummet.

I also did a fair bit of hill-running….. but my route of choice was not based on distance or steepness, but avoided totally rough or uneven terrain. It was always assumed this type of route was selected for reasons of ‘yellowness’, but it was a simple reality for me.

One significant symptom of my condition (I now know to be Ataxia) is a lack of muscle coordination. Placing my feet where I wanted them was a total pot-luck exercise. So when I began using clip-in pedal/shoes cycling became a doddle. Having my feet ‘clamped’ in a fixed, and known position removed all uncertainty from my mobility with a total, and complete reliance on my leg strength. Deep joy.

Quite a few times I fell over on my bike in the most stupid ways. However looking back now I realise EVERY time I was static and with my feet out of the pedals (of course I had some epic ‘offs’ but they were just normal ‘skill limitation’ events).

Sadly, I got shot of my bike. I assumed (wrongly) that I had some sort of balance issue. My bike was custom built and very prized.

LATER LIFE

During my 30s and 40s (and in the midst of my career) my mobility got steadily worse until in 2009 I had to give my career up entirely, coincidentally aligning with the death of my father, and then my mother subsequently falling victim to the ravages of Alzheimer’s…… requiring me to become a full-time carer. I was travelling constantly, living abroad, and always carting luggage about. Simple steps/uneven paths became a huge mental effort, not to mention a massive physical risk. I kept it as hidden as possible, for as long as possible. But there was a point where it just wasn’t feasible to hide it any longer.

GRUMPINESS

I’ve always been grumpy. I’m sure a lot of this is to do with just who I am.

However, years of coping with a weird, and challenging mobility issue made me grumpier than normal. Fatigue and anxiety created feelings of anger and frustration that have morphed into who I am as a 54 year old man.

This is, in no way, meant as some sort of excuse, but it is simply a statement of fact.

RECENT YEARS

Since my mother passed away in 2015 I moved to Cardiff from Bristol.

I inherited some money from her. I used a goodly sum from this to see a private doctor in London. This doctor thought I had Multiple Sclerosis. However, rather than a formal private diagnosis he recommended trying to obtain a diagnosis through the NHS to avoid possible problems obtaining expensive meds.

My mobility continued to deteriorate and the mental effort required to simply maintain some sense of normalcy in my everyday life was a challenge to say the least.

I was trying to start a photography business but making the most simple strategic decisions became virtually impossible. I was falling over several times a month and after a few A&E visits I was referred to a neurologist once again in November 2017.

Having seen a neurologist already numerous times (with no diagnosis, or even basic observations) I had no preconceptions that anything would come of it.

There was a big difference now however. Now I had a photographic business and had had to procure ‘professional indemnity insurance’ in case I dropped some equipment on someone, or they fell over my paraphernalia.

This premium was £500pa. Not a problem for a going concern. However, I disclosed my mobility issues and the fact that an MRI was scheduled to take place. Suddenly my premium rose to £5000pa! (or in other words, ‘we don’t want to insure you’).

Clearly this was not a option.

To cut a long story short running a business was not possible. I lost my home with the possibility I had MS.

In December 2018 I saw my GP and expressed a desire to ‘end my life’. Absolutely nothing was done! In early January 2019 I wrote to the Samaritans expressing the same desire.

The very next morning I was found on the floor of a B&B bedroom with no memory of my fall, why I was there, or indeed why I was in Cardiff.

The previous four years were a blank.

I was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Wales. After 14 days of very basic tests, I was unceremoniously discharged and taken by taxi to a homeless shelter, with no money, possessions, friends or diagnosis.

After 6 months of sofa-surfing and sleeping rough on the street, the Salvation Army took me in, referred me to a kindly doctor and fed me.

After several weeks in an SA hostel, they found me a nice flat in a nice area of the city. Not only that the new Doctor referred me to the Institute of Genetics in Cardiff.

At this time my speech had become slurry to the point of being unintelligible.

At the Genetics Institute I met a great lady doctor. After a 2 hour consultation she ran a test that would take 4-5 months to process. Well after 54 years, I was prepared to wait a few months.

Eventually the test results came through. I had HSP…… Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. A condition I’d had all my life and is the result of the unfortunate luck of inheriting a mutated gene from my Dad AND my Mum.

Well now I knew. It explained so much in earlier years.

Whilst it is progressive and incurable, like MS, it doesn’t have a significant cognitive impairment issue, unlike MS.

Its key symptoms are walking problems/coordination, bad balance, speech degradation, muscle/tendon stiffness and extreme fatigue.

Future potential issues are bladder issues and sight/hearing loss and heart function issues. I say potential as the condition is so rare that the prognosis and progression between sufferers is unknown generally.

There are reports of cognitive decline, but right now I actually feel more mentally sharp than in the last 20 years. And no bladder/sight/hearing issues are apparent….yet…. thankfully. Fingers crossed!

CURRENT SITUATION

One of the key medications for HSP is Baclofen. This is a muscle relaxant used to ease stiffness in the lower limbs. However it’s not a targeted drug….. it affects ALL muscles equally.

So I preferred not to have it and concentrate on yoga/physio to maintain my limb function. Like most drugs, the side/unwanted effects seem worse than the symptom they’re trying to treat.

I’ve realised just today (after apparently suffering from a massive fluctuation in symptoms) that the fluctuation of symptoms is an illusion. The fluctuation is energy levels/fatigue. This means somedays I can mobilise quite well, then other days (sometimes hours) I can hardly move or stand.

Time to sit down and watch a movie.

*AWARENESS

I am just beginning to realise how rare HSP is. Even if you tell people you have MS you’re often met with a blank ‘I have no idea what that is’ type look.

The physical symptoms are almost identical to Cerebral Palsy, but without the negative mental attributes.

Much as there is a large enthusiasm to promote ‘mental health awareness’ (and rightly so!) there is a need to make it more generally known of ‘movement disorders’/’speech disorders’.

A speech disorder is impossible to disguise. Having suffered with clinical depression/anxiety I know you can hide this from family/friends (a blessing AND a curse), ‘talking strangely’ is always apparent….. as is the usual ‘he’s pissed’ or he has some ‘mental problem’ reaction.

‘Analog vs Digital’ – The Eternal Debate

The ‘Analog vs Digital’ in this instance refers to photography, but could equally refer to cinematography or music composition/playback.

It seems to be widely assumed that analog/film photography is somehow superior to its digital brethren. I actually believe this to be true; but not for the usual reason. The same assumption is often made with regard to vinyl LPs vs CDs/MP3s, and my belief/reasoning extends to this debate also.

It’s about technique and preparation. As in playing LPs, so it is in analog photography.

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There seem to be a plethora of pages/sites (more specifically on Instagram) dedicated to the users of film and the practitioners of analog photography.

In most cases, it has the appearance that a lot of film users assume a photograph has aesthetic merit purely as it carries a #filmisnotdead or #analogphotography. Disabuse yourself of this notion immediately.

An analog Facebook group immediately springs into my mind, where almost any boring photo (Fig. 1) is posted, with the eager expectation that ‘likes’ will follow, simply for the fact it was taken on film, and in this group’s case, with a specific camera.

Fig. 1

I am 54 and have taken film photographs for way more than half of my ‘photographic career’. It is not a novelty, it’s not retro, or trendy, or cool, or indeed anything that the current vernacular attributes to the practice of the analog medium.

What it is, is a discipline and fundamentally a basic photographic skill.

The discipline comes from a few elements totally alien to the digital photographer.

Cost.

Compared to the 100s/1000s of shots freely available on a digital memory card, if you have only 36 shots possible on a roll of film that cost you, anywhere, from a few pounds/euros/dollars, to several pounds/euros/dollars, you want to make every shot count.

Permanence.

Once a photo is taken on film, it is a ‘done deal’. There is no option to delete. 10-30p/cents have been spent with no chance of recovery.

No image review

The total inability to ‘review’ any photo taken is a discipline that is pretty fundamental to practising analog photography. There is no chance to see the image you have just taken, or (in the case of social, portrait or people photography) show others the resultant photo.

It requires the photographer to be 99% certain of his technique.

This totally increases the importance of a good portfolio; so it is possible for a third party to see the quality/style of your photography before any shoot. Otherwise they must rely solely on you word.

Colour or monochrome?

Today, there seems to be a fashion for uploading images in colour and monochrome, and asking ‘which one do people prefer?’. The photographer must decide. Photography is not a democratic process.

Also, there seems to be some, often, mistaken belief that converting an ‘average’ colour image to monochrome suddenly gives it some hitherto hidden aesthetic, or artistic, quality. This is a fallacy mostly. Not always of course. But the times an image works better in monochrome is usually a case of it should have been pre-visualised in monochrome originally.

https://markorchardphotography.wordpress.com/2019/10/03/the-orchard-printciple-pre-visualisation/

In analog photography, and with a roll of Black & White film, there simply isn’t this option. Once you choose a roll of BW film the colour/monochrome consideration just isn’t available to a photographer.

Exposure

There is a really, really fundamental difference between exposing a negative and a digital image.

Film: expose for the shadows

Digital: expose for the highlights

The theory of this is not the purpose of this piece. But it’s essential to understand this difference before embarking on the adventure of analog image-making.

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These disciplines are the building blocks of why film photography has a quality all of its own.

It is absolutely NOT just a case of analog being inherently ‘better’ than digital, or simply the retro-nature of using an old film camera….. or worse….. having some antique camera slung around your neck purely as some misguided fashion statement.

Film photographs have an atmosphere, and a ‘look’, all of their own. Often the unique attributes that can’t be defined.

There is a requirement to know your film’s characteristics. (The ‘putting a roll of Kodacolor Gold in your dad’s/uncle’s old Praktica’ is not a precursor to great images).

Most of these disciplines, ironically, are often quoted as the very things that are the benefits of digital photography. Whilst true, it should be remembered that photography, at its core, is an art-form. And as an art form it requires discipline and application. The very disciplines that I outlined above are the elements that give analog images their uniqueness.

A PHOTOGRAPH DOES NOT SIMPLY BECOME SPECIAL BECAUSE IT IS TAKEN WITH SOME ANTIQUE CAMERA AND HAS A HASHTAG ‘FILM IS NOT DEAD’. IT BECOMES SPECIAL DUE IT BEING A GOOD IMAGE……. HOW IT IS TAKEN SHOULD BE IMPORTANT AND IRRELEVANT AT THE SAME TIME.

‘Trees From A Bus’ – An Artistic Genesis.

My bus was due at 10:48.

It was 10:30. What should only have been a five minute stroll, would easily take me ten or fifteen minutes, what with my limited mobility, stumbling gait, and a continual (and obsessive) propensity to photograph anything and everything…… no matter how apparently ordinary, and meaningless, to others.

I knew I was only travelling a short distance into the city-centre in order to collect a prescription. I was tempted not to even take my camera with me. However I always, always, carry my camera (everywhere; and even on the shortest and most inconsequential of journeys).

As I now had the joy, nay honour, of requiring the use of a walking cane everywhere (not necessarily to aid my perambulation, but to provide support/balance when the need arose), the thought of carrying something that could actively impair my balance and act as some kind of malicious pendulum that could inadvertently cause a fall did not enthuse me. On the other hand, if I didn’t take my camera, the law of ‘sod’ would intervene….. aliens would land in the street for example and I wouldn’t be prepared. And besides, not having it around my neck deprived me of part of my identity. In fact, I actually feel partially naked if I don’t have my camera with me.

And so I took it.

Off I went for the bus. I knew already, in my deepest subconscious, that there were things to be photographed on my short walk to the bus-stop. A phone box, a park bench, roadside shrubs and random people out for a stroll.

a                                                         b                                                    c

Fig 1

When I moved to my current home I was just exiting a really traumatic period of my life. But I knew a strong creative focus on my photography was a mental ‘stabiliser’….. and the telephone box (fig 1. (c)) across the road really did look starkly different every time I viewed it. Just a simple metal and glass box in the day, then like some sinister portal for a ‘Terminator’ in the yellow, crepuscular glow of street-lighting, and then a piece of modern, industrial sculpture in the slanting spring-light of early morning.

And then there was the bench (Fig 1 (b)). An ordinary park-type bench-seat in a stand of trees. A bench with weathered and cracked wooden lats of some long-since faded rustic colour. A bench with an unknowable history of occupants…. dog-walkers, lovers, and people just taking a bit of respite during a stroll perhaps.

None of this made the bench special to me as a photographer.

What made this sight special, and intriguing, photographically was the random positioning of the bench under the trees; or, indeed, the position of the trees around the bench. I cared not a jot for the countless patrons of this bench….. they were neither present, nor visible. I am only interested (as a photographer) in what is visible at that exact moment. And that comes down to the light falling on a person or object.

Light is everything to me. It creates mood, atmosphere and a feeling that would otherwise never exist….. this applies to everything….. from still lives, to portraits and landscapes to street photography….. and everything in between. Light quality/direction transforms the ordinary, into the extraordinary.

The ability to see this transformation makes a person a photographer.

The image of the bench above was taken at midday, with the sun directly overhead. However, due to the chance positional relationship between the trees and that bench, it ended up being lit directly from above like some specimen to be examined, or someone lit by a spacecraft in Spielberg’s ‘Close Encounters’ movie. It appears like a shot taken at night. But like I said, it was midday.

I then completed my regular stroll to the bus-stop without further arty-farty introspection.

The bus arrived on time and I considered putting my lens cap on as any opportunity for photographs on the bus seemed a remote possibility. For sure, there were usually interesting characters to photograph. But this was Britain in 2020. A person taking photos on a bus was ripe for some ‘verbal’. In 1985 nobody would have given a toss.

Still, I left my lens cap off. (just in case).

I sat down, made myself comfortable and felt my camera hanging around my neck. Knowing it’s there is almost like Linus’s ‘security blanket’ in the ‘Peanuts’ cartoon. Not only does knowing it’s there make me feel safe, it (sadly) provides me with a sense of self. There, I’ve admitted it.

The feeling of being unlikely to find a photo should have been prevalent. However I couldn’t help but feel that there was some potentially interesting image to be had…. I simply had no idea what.

It was a bright morning with shafts of sunlight piercing the trees that lined my bus’s route. I leant against the window and stared out. Suddenly I felt tired and half-closed my eyes. This made the passing trees look blurry. Much like the semi-abstract images I took during my memory-loss.

I decided to try and capture the shapes of the trees, and the light penetrating their foliage.

I set a slow shutterspeed to get some motion blur then started snapping away…… much to the curiosity of my fellow passengers.

(If others can see what you’re taking it’s likely to be ordinary, if others can’t see what you’re taking it’s probably [not always!] more interesting, and thought out.)

Fig. 2

I checked the back of the camera after a several shots. Interesting but nothing special. They were too distinct (Fig. 2). They simply looked like I’d used an inappropriate shutter speed. I envisaged something altogether more indistinct and almost abstract in nature. I knew then what I wanted.

I wanted images with an unsettling feeling. A feeling of being in another world. I didn’t want images that looked ‘everyday’, or ‘familiar’.

So I tried again… and again… and again. Until I was getting images that I wanted.

Fig. 3

I think Fig. 3 was the first time I’d begun to see an image that I’d imagined. I could see the features of the image that were important to me. I’m not going to say what they are, as they are what makes it special.

Since that moment, I knew I had to keep taking more photographs. I’m a strong advocate of ‘pre-visualisation’, and so it is with these images. However it is really not possible to exactly imagine how one’s image will finally look A City In Motion (blurry photos) as they are truly a function of random chance/light/shapes/bus speed. But you can pre-plan your camera settings (ISO, contrast, aperture, shutter speed, focus mode etc.) to have a greater probability of success (in the words of my old boss “fail to plan, plan to fail”).

In the initial few weeks I must have taken hundreds of images. I’m not a fan of a ‘scatter gun’ approach, and hopefully getting one decent image….. but there is an element of luck here. Well, perhaps not luck per se, more a chance combination of many factors that can create an aesthetically pleasing image.

Fig. 4

After a few weeks of taking these type of images (Fig. 4) it became clear that a collection of images ….. a ‘body of work’ if you like…. was infinitely more powerful/appealing than a single photograph.

So I went about editing my favourite images of the ‘Trees From A Bus’ series into a short video presentation. However, finding a suitable piece of music was a new challenge that I had to face.

After dubbing on many, many royalty-free stock music pieces, I tried (purely out of curiosity) pairing the images of my trees with Shostakovitch’s 2nd Cello Concerto. I’d seen a Russian photographer, Alexei Titarenko, be inspired to do similar photos by the very same piece of music.

I can now see why. It created a feeling to the images that absolutely no other music could engender. However, Titarenko’s photos were inspired by the piece of music and in my case the music gave the images life. He had the original idea, and I sort of copied it.

TREES FROM A BUS VIDEO. MUSIC © DMITRI SHOSTAKOVITCH

The idea of ‘Trees From A Bus’ was simply an evolution of ‘carrying a camera’.

The Orchard PRINTciple – Street Photography (the ‘observer effect’)

Many professional, and hobbyist, photographers practice the art of ‘street photography’.

Typically it’s a practice more suited to being a personal activity; it generally isn’t too commercially viable. When it is more viable it tends to be a part of some larger, more documentary-style, body of work as opposed to a single image per se……. ‘the plight of the homeless/drug-addicts/destitute’ for example, rather than a candid depiction of a single individual.

But in this piece I wish to concentrate more on the physical depiction of a person/situation rather than the motive for the photograph/s.

I am going to cite my favourite quote (in fact I’ve used this quote more times than I care to recall). It’s an oft used quote, and an oft mis-used one too. It’s by Magnum co-founder and master photojournalist, Robert Capa. He famously said ‘there’s nothing that can’t be improved in a photograph than by getting closer to your subject’ (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1

…. it is usually used to imply getting ‘physically’ closer…… but I’m pretty certain he meant mentally/emotionally closer to the subject….. but in this case I’m going to focus more on the proximity meaning of this quote.

Street photography is like walking a tightrope….. if you’re too close you risk creating a fake situation, but if you’re too far away you risk letting your image look ‘detached’ and ‘voyeuristic’.

‘TOO CLOSE’ can suggest you are too physically close (using too wide an angle lens for example) and then you end up affecting the scene before you. You then get a photograph of a person/situation that would not have existed had you not been there. This, for me personally, is the complete antithesis of a good street photograph. I see no value at all in an image of a scenario that would never have existed had the photographer not been there

Famous Street Photographer, Bruce Gilden’s images are (for me) the epitome of this issue. (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2 © Bruce Gilden

The image above is a perfect example of my point.

He typically walks around with his camera, an extreme wide-angle lens and an off-camera flash and ‘gets in people’s faces’. (Fig. 2a)

Fig 2a Bruce Gilden in action

As an image, Fig. 2 is clearly interesting and technically good. However, again for me personally, it is not strictly a ‘street photograph’.

For instance, the lady with the cigarette is looking straight at the camera. An immediate indication of the ‘observer being observed’ and a situation that absolutely, undeniably,  would not have occurred without the photographer’s presence.

Then there’s the main subject…… the elderly lady in the headscarf. Is she reacting to something off-camera simply reacting to some random stranger intruding into her personal space, or witnessing a mugging? We just don’t know.

My personal interpretation of the term ‘street photography ‘ (and I’m guessing it’s the majority interpretation) is ‘a depiction of a person, or scene, that is happening exclusive of the photographer’s involvement’.

For sure, this isn’t a definitive, and unique, opinion. But as in the law, a court’s opinion is often based on ‘would the majority of people consider this a reasonable view’. A term is often defined by the majority view.

I feel photographs like those of Bruce Gilden (and Martin Parr [Fig. 3] et al.) and people of his ilk take photographs on the street, but not ‘Street Photographs’.

Fig 3 © Martin Parr

“I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.”
-Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus was a legend of Street Photography, but if you notice she did not say ‘I really believe there are things that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t photographed them’

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Then there is the other side of the coin. The side that involves taking street photos with a telephoto lens, and requiring the photographer to be many meters away. (Fig. 4)

Certainly, this completely eradicates the influence of the camera on the scene.

However this scenario opens up a much more esoteric and subjective (but important) issue; one of the photographer’s/artist’s emotional/empathic connection to their image.

Fig 4

The moment you take a photograph from 3m+ away you lose the connection with the scene/person/event. This is technically fine if you want to record a truly candid event. But a great photograph needs, requires and demands even, some modicum of emotional input from the person taking the photograph; or it is simply a ‘snap’.

I, personally, take a lot of ‘street portraits’ where I’ve approached the subject in advance (Fig. 5). This clearly affects the image. That much is a given, but then the onus is on me to create some kind of mental bond to the subject in order to make a good portrait.

In the words of David Bailey,

‘in a portrait there are always two people; the subject and the photographer’

Fig 5. © Mark Orchard

I’m digressing here. But my point is the necessity of an empathetic/mental involvement in the creation of an image. And I feel this can’t be achieved with distancing yourself, or using a telephoto lens.

Clearly, there will be times where getting close is simply not possible….. I’m not talking of those situation/times. I’m just talking of more generally.

So the skill of finding the ‘sweet-spot’ between being too close, and being too distant is the street photographer’s eternal dilemma.

This dilemma naturally evolves into the eternal debate about the perfect focal length street-photography lens.

For sure, this is a lot about personal taste.

However, the use of a lens over 100mm and less than 28mm suggest you’re generally too far away or you’re getting too close.

I personally prefer a 50-85mm as I can get in close, but also get street portraits when I need to.

In closing, I will let the great NYC street photographer Joel Meyerowitz have the last word….

“You fill up the frame with feelings, energy, discovery, and risk, and leave room enough for someone else to get in there.”

THE END

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Check out my photography at Mark Orchard Photography

Blind To Statistics

The unrest in the US is hardly a surprise. Anyone with half a brain  could see it coming. And anyone with half a brain can see it only going one way.

Whether it is due to race, social injustice or simply a general sense of frustration (with lockdown, unemployment etc)  is almost irrelevant. I really don’t mean to belittle the huge race issue right now but my annoyance is the blinkered view of the national media in the US.

Trump seems to be hovering around the 30%-35% mark in terms of general approval ratings, but, even after his insane assertion that people should somehow ingest disinfectant to combat the Coronavirus, his ratings for trustworthiness and honesty were still a staggering 45% to 49%. Unbelievable.

The US media (and especially cable news) seem to present this as a positive. Positive that between a third and a half of a 350m population approve of this buffoon? Really?

Fig 1

Fig. 1 is simply an example of the sort of chart which is shown regularly on daily TV in the US.

However, my issue is with how it is described/analysed/presented. Figures such as this are presented, almost without fail, as ‘more than half of all Americans disapprove of the President’ with nought else said.

The US problem (‘the elephant in the room’ if you like?) is that 49% (or thereabouts) of 350m people like him.

This figure means that, in theory, (ignoring demographics and regional variation) you could assume that almost every other person you meet on a US street is a Trump supporter.

A truly scary fact.

The trigger for this piece was an ‘overheard’ conversation expressing amazement that there are people in the US Police who would use violence, pepper spray, strong-arm tactics against other US citizens peacefully protesting. This is a function of not analysing the poll numbers, or having them spoon-fed misleadingly by the media.

If you have 100 police, 49 of them could be Trump-ists. OK, maybe 20-30…. but also, maybe 70-80!

If Trump’s popularity was only at say 5%-10%, then you could safely assume there could ‘simply’ be civil unrest.  But when his support numbers 100m-150m people who are ‘apparently’ unhinged, and in some cases, armed, I sense greater troubles ahead……

Speaking and Street Portraits

Speaking normally, and being understood easily is, all too often,  taken for granted. I was guilty of this too.

However, since a sudden collapse early in 2019 my speech clarity has been problematic, and is now seemingly deteriorating almost weekly. I never realised how much until I discovered an old recording of a radio conversation I had on BBC Radio 5 Live with Vanessa Feltz, back in 2009, where I spoke with total clarity.

Mentally I seem more lucid and cognitively competent than ever. However, I come over (at least on  initial contact) as having some sort of learning difficulty, or being intoxicated. This is really frustrating and annoying.

This is generally annoying in everyday life for sure: shopping, social interaction, visiting coffee shop etc., but becomes a real problem when practicing street photography.

When I say street photography, I actually mean more specifically taking ‘street portraits’.

Magnum photographer Robert Capa famously said something to the effect of ‘nothing improves a photo more, than by getting closer to your subject. This has always been taken to mean ‘physically closer’ (which is, purely by coincidence, a truism) and is oft quoted to students of photography. However, by ‘close’, he really meant closer emotionally/mentally.

While it is true to say that my unsteady gait and slurred speech prevent me, in theory and in practice, from approaching potential street-portrait subjects freely (and not scaring most people away, or provoking a ‘get away from me’ reaction) it has one, unforeseen, benefit.

Very occasionally, you encounter people who are really non-judgemental and fully engage in a normal conversation. It only takes a few moments to realise that I’m fully in possession of my mental faculties and I am not, in fact, drunk or high!

(caveat: this sort of suspicious reaction is almost exclusively a British thing. On international rugby days here in Cardiff, I can happily approach Italian and French nationals without any fear of an adverse reaction)

This engagement, whilst rare, ends up resulting in better portraits as the interaction creates a ‘closer’ bond between the subject and the photographer…… which is a pretty fundamental part of portrait photography anyway.

In addition, beyond my annoyance and frustration at any instant assumption I have some sort of cognitive impairment, my frustration is multiplied massively in longer conversations where I absolutely can not translate my thoughts into to clear/coherent speech for the purpose of normal social contact.

It is  a frustration, more than that, an infuriating annoyance, when people actually know of the speech impediment but continue to try and hold a regular conversation and it won’t happen. When my mother had early Alzheimer’s she used to get angry when people either ignored her (due to a lack of understanding) or continued the conversation when clearly they had not understood her last comment. This happens to me. People either totally ignore you, or continue with some sort of discussion based on what they think you said. I am unsure whether this is embarrassment, rudeness or some sort of misguided sense of politeness. If you don’t understand something,  then please ask. Don’t witter on like a buffoon.

Another annoyance is when people have not got the patience to let you get your words out and either show that lack of patience physically, or talk over you (this makes me  incensed!) as I’m sure stammerers/stutterers know all too well.

This happens regularly with street photography vict subjects, but more annoyingly in general conversation.

Once again, this seems (sadly) to be a trait solely among the British. Generally if I get a negative response the subject is almost always a brit.