Last Time Out.
Waterloo, London. Feb 2020.
Fuji X-T3 25mm f2.8 1/500 sec
Whilst it also removes many freedoms, life in lockdown gives us plenty of opportunities. When have we ever had the luxury of Time that Covid19 has afforded us? Time to consider things in a far less hurried way.
“...every image seems to have become tainted by the virus...”
Without new photos to edit, many street photographers have gone back through their older images to find that precious nugget that was possibly missed last time round. Or the B List photos that never quite saw the light of the Instagram day. I haven’t quite reached there yet – but it’s on the horizon.
I postponed looking at the images from my last street photography walk for longer than usual because I knew that once I did, then that was it. No new street photos to edit for the foreseeable future.
Ride Or Stride. City of London. Feb 2020.
Fuji X-T3 26mm f2.8 1/500 sec
Week 3 of lockdown saw me take the plunge. I usually wait a week or longer if I can before editing anyway. It’s good practise, enabling me to see the images as they really are. Not subjectively.
Images that I work hard to take become invested in so much unnecessary weight because of the time spent trying to make them work or just to catch them in the first place. A week or two usually alleviates this nagging tug and I can look at them with less emotional attachment. This was now six weeks later, nearly seven. I’d done well.
“Times have changed and photos taken less than fifty days ago have already become historic images.”
What has happened this time is that every image seems to have become tainted by the virus, or at least by the lockdown situation. It’s hard to view a crowded street in the same way as it was when it was shot; or a tube train, crammed like sardines, without an element of judgement; or even a lone figure, without assuming they’re part of the isolation scenario, when actually it was just a quiet underpass.
Of course we read too much into those images with the short sighted lens of history which we are already wearing. Times have changed and photos taken less than fifty days ago have already become historic images. They speak of the past. It’s not a distant past and hopefully we will return to many of those freedoms that we took for granted sooner rather then later. But what will have changed?
One Last Time. Paternoster Square, London. Feb 2020.
Fuji X-T3 55mm f2.8 1/500 sec
For those of you who are interested in kit, gear and where and when, these images were all shot on the Fuji X-T3 with the red badged 16-55mm lens. This is not my usual lens choice. My “go to” lens is the 23mm f1.4 which I love for its clarity and the focal length (equivalent to 35mm full frame) seems to fit about the right amount of street into the image. It allows me to get close and it forces me to get close, if that’s not a contradiction. This time, however, I chose the 16-55mm zoom.
“It’s always good to mix things up.”
One reason for this choice was that I had wanted to try some images in the city where I could experiment with contracting the scene which I knew the longer focal length would allow. Secondly, I was not specifically on a photowalk. I wasn’t out for the whole day but was going to meet up with some other photographers and see the exhibition My London hosted by 3 Street Gallery featuring the work of Brandon Wong, Craig Whitehead, Joshua K Jackson, Josh Edgoose, Mavis CW, Mark Fearnley, Mo Barzegar, Sean Tucker and Shane Taylor. The longer lens, if it proved too heavy or somehow inappropriate, would be only for a relatively short time on my walk to and from the exhibition. It’s always good to mix things up.
The Last Coffee. City of London. Feb 2020
Fuji X-T3 55mm f7 1/500 sec
For those of you who know these streets, my route took me from Waterloo along the Southbank to the National Theatre and over Blackfriars Bridge, up to St Pauls and Paternoster Square, then up through the backsides of The City to Broadgate, and back to Waterloo via Bank.
Orange. The South Bank, London. Feb 2020.
Fuji X-T3 55mm f7 1/500 sec
So good they named it twice - invited back on the Kris Karl podcast
At this strange time of lockdown, it was doubly good to be invited back on to Kris Karl’s photography podcast. We talk about photography during the lockdown, my street photography code, those who influence me and the challenges of running a junior school at this time.
This was a socially distanced recording and we sat 36 miles apart.
You can find it at any of these places:
Apple: Kris Karl Podcast - Hugh Rawson 2
Interview for the Kris Karl Photography Podcast
Kris Karl interviews street photographer Hugh Rawson.
This week I had the genuine pleasure of being interviewed by professional photographer Kris Karl for his podcast series. Kris is a wedding, portrait and headshot photographer who is developing a keen interest in street photography.
You can check out our conversation in all good podcast shops. Try the links below:
Apple: The Kris Karl Photography Podcast #21 | Hugh Rawson
Spotify: The Kris Karl Photography Podcast #21 | Hugh Rawson
YouTube: (sound only) The Kris Karl Photography Podcast #21 | Hugh Rawson
Photobooks - what you told me....2019
The end of another year is always a good time to reflect. Amidst all the pre-Christmas talk of gear and new products, I would always put in a big shout for the importance of photobooks. Anytime is always a good time to stop and pick up a photobook. Other people’s images feed us. They will probably improve our photography far more than new equipment – they’ll certainly give you more bang for your buck. If you think about it, every time we click that shutter, we are bringing to bear the total of our experience and learning up to that point. Everything that has gone before helps us frame that image so if we can educate our eyes with the best quality images then we are in a better position to take that amazing shot.
Some of your recommendations
I am always on the lookout for new photobook suggestions so I turned to social media (Instagram and Twitter) to find out what my followers have been enjoying this year. Importantly, I did not specify that the book needed to have been released in 2019, or even that it had to be available (sadly some of them are hard to find) – just a book that had been enjoyed this year. Consequently, most books are of some age and reputation; after all, we have a photographic history stretching back over 150 years. What has gone before carries significant weight, whereas the shock of the new takes time to kick in, for the word to spread and for true worth to be recognised. Finally, on the suggestions, although my following is mainly street photographers, I did not specify any particular genre of photography. We should have open minds and learn from every genre, recognising quality when we see it.
Some photobooks are very difficult to track down. Long sought after books by Fan Ho, W.Eugene Smith, and Tony Ray-Jones, to mention a few, are still very much on my “hope to find” list. I know from bitter experience that photobooks are usually on a limited print run and if you aren’t quick with your shopping basket they will disappear forever – or at least move to the super-expensive used books pile. I can only comment on books I have physically had contact with.
If I had to choose one book that stands out for me this year, I’d pick two! Firstly, The Street Philosophy of Garry Winogrand by Geoff Dyer – I’ve long admired Winogrand’s work and this is a sumptuous, large (heavyweight) retrospective. Coupled with Geoff Dyer’s always insightful words (if you haven’t come across him try The Ongoing Moment about photography or But Beautiful about jazz) it’s a magnificent book.
My second choice is a compilation album – the ideal quick pick up by the bedside, bath or loo! David Gibson’s Street Photography: A History in 100 Iconic Images. As you would imagine, it takes 100 images by 100 different photographers, in chronological order from 1904 (Edward Steichen’s remarkable image of The Flatiron – complete with evening lights and top-hatted carriage drivers) to 2017 (Alessandra Sanguinetti’s image of five girls taking a group selfie). Each image is accompanied by a page of David’s excellent analysis and background to each image.
The list that follows contains the recommendations I received. It’s a great list; many I know, many I will hopefully get to know – and some I can only hope to get my grubby hands on.
There is no logic to the order in which they are listed; it is simply the order in which I received them, over two days on Instagram and Twitter. A huge thank you to everyone that made a recommendation or two; you are credited at the bottom of the page. Please do check out their online galleries as well as the books listed.
All of the books that I could find available on Amazon are listed here on "Books You Recommended" on my Amazon street photography page.
The list:
Alex Webb - Brooklyn
London Underground 1970 -1980
Humans of New York - Brandon Stanton
Gregory Heisler - 50 Portraits
Masahisa Fukase - Ravens
David Lurie - Images of Table Mountain
Stephen Leslie - Sparks
Tom Wood - Bus Odyssey
Siegfried Hansen - Hold the Line
Jeff Mermelstein - Sidewalk
Gus Powell - Company of Strangers
Fred Herzog - Modern Colour
Jonathan Higbee - Coincidences
Bruce Davidson - Subway
Raymond Depardon - Glasgow
Dawoud Bey on Photographing People and Communities: The Photography Workshop Series
Jane Bown - A Lifetime of Looking
Vivian Maier - Street Photographer
Peter Lavery - Circus Work
Shomei Tomatsu - Chewing Gum and Chocolate
Saul Leiter - Early Colour
Saul Leiter - Early Black and White
Richard Sandler - The Eyes of The City
Don McCullin - Tate retrospective
Sebastião Salgado - Genesis
David Solomons - Up West
Nan Goldin - The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
Jill Freedman - Jill’s Dogs
August Sander - People of the 20th Century
Anton Corbijn - The Living and the Dead
Friedlander by Peter Galassi
Robert Frank - The Americans
Stanley Kubrick Through a Different Lens
Susan Sontag - On Photography
Trent Parke - Minutes to Midnight
Anders Petersen - Soho
Jim Mortram - Small Town Inertia
Sohrab Hura - The Coast
Erwin Olaf - I am
Todd Hido - Intimate Distance
As always, I’d love to know what you think and if you have any suggestions of your own please just add them in the comments below.
Thanks all.
Credits:
Thank you to the following on Instagram:
@kyun.pic
@jenslookingglass
@fabiennehanotaux
@nicofroe
@alwayschasingdaylight
@neilwaybright
@laserkola
@mark_lev_photo
@chris_eley
@abitpedestrian
@stevereevesdirector
@huwjohn_uk
@zenostr33t
@streetlyspeaking
@williamhpearce
@ashsmithone
@venus_lumieux
@tripsonstreet
@bastianromanpeter
@samantha_french_
@streets.and.stories
@j2.bee
@timwadham
@simonking_v
And on Twitter:
Kim Aldis @ThatPhotoBloke
Dave Webb @PhotoWebb
Sarah Marston @Sarah13Marston
Ed Robertson @eddrobertson
Instagram: Doing it for the love - not for the likes
Doing it for the love - not for the likes
In my last post I wrote about Instagram being a huge social melting pot with representatives of just about every person you could possibly imagine - the best bar in the world.
I want to you to grab a pint in that bar now and settle back while I talk about my views on what makes it work for me. This is purely personal so please take it with a pinch of salt (and vinegar crisps) but bear in mind that my thoughts and experiences are likely to be similar and even familiar to you.
As I mentioned before “for photo sharing, it’s the best place we have to display our media to a wide audience.” Okay so the image is going to be relatively tiny but think of the coverage compared to what you may have had EVER before. Use that small phone sized image as a taster for your website – an aperitif, if you will – for those higher resolution images if you want.
Of course, if you can show your images then so can anyone. Hence the vast amount of traffic all day every day. Because of the two-way nature of Instagram I am going to write about what I think should be posted in a photographer’s feed – which images to post, which to leave out and how to manage it. Then I will write about what I want to see from others when I open Instagram each time.
A Photographer’s Feed:
Shoot for yourself - firstly, post the pictures that you would want to see. One of the reasons I wanted to take photos was that no one was quite expressing what I wanted to see in a photograph. If you are shooting the images you want to see then you should be posting them too.
That’s much easier said than done; especially when likes and followers begin to be taken into account. It’s very easy to get drawn into posting images that you think will garner most likes and new followers. You should resist this as much as possible. Shoot and post for you – there are enough people out there who over time will find and appreciate what you are doing if it is of quality. That way you post images you believe in and, most importantly, you develop your own distinctive style. I love reflections, night scenes, harsh light, umbrellas, shadows, silhouettes, smokers, hats, close ups and details, wide scenes, layers, reds, blues, high contrast black and whites, juxtapositions - and that means I shoot all of those. Not just hats; or silhouettes; or steamy Soho night scenes… as much as I love them, or whatever else is currently getting the love.
Feedback – better to give and receive
I relish meaningful feedback - especially when it comes from other photographers who I admire and respect. Criticism is so important if we are to grow and develop our craft. We all know how an image that we have spent ages framing up, processing and posting can easily just be seen through our own optimistic glasses. We wonder why others can’t see the amazing image that we waited for hours in the rain to catch. But the viewpoint of others means so much if we are to progress. Instagram gives us a ready-made audience for our work; ready made to offer tips, advice and, if you’re lucky, plaudits, for what we post.
The downside, and the one danger of Instagram, is that it can massage your ego rather than keeping it in check. Like for a like does not necessarily engender criticism. However, if someone gives up their time to comment on something I have posted then that should not be discounted. It’s a big deal. And I will try to repay that with a comment in return. As I said in my previous post, this is the social part of Instagram. It’s where relationships are forged. So, welcome comments – and be positive in return. Be nice – “if you can’t say something nice then say nothing at all” is a good maxim. Criticism helps us grow but nurturing feeds us.
Networking – we are social animals, even if it doesn’t always seem like it. And if you have signed up for an Instagram account then you can bet you are among the more sociable of those social animals. Feedback in both directions creates relationships - you’ll be surprised how well you get to know other photographers. The next step is often for some of these online relationships to become “meet-ups” and photowalks where you can share and explore great places to shoot, gear ideas and thoughts, and inspire one another. There is nothing like shooting in an area with other creative photographers to raise your game. But even without a physical meet-up, the benefit of interacting online can be much like the benefits of a shared photowalk.
Hashtags – something of a dirty word, or at least fraught with opinion and division. Basically, if you don’t use hashtags you may as well pop a photo in a glass bottle and fling it in the North Sea. The chances of anyone finding your work will be remote. A few (up to 30) well-chosen hashtags relevant to your image (don’t use #blackandwhite if the image is colour) will ensure that it gets noticed. I’m no expert but it seems like a Goldilocks problem – the popular hashtags are so huge that your work won’t appear for long enough to be seen, whereas the tiny hashtags will have little reach. They need to be just right to get picked up. Oh, and they change over time. And don’t start me on the algorithm. I’m not wasting time trying to guess what it’s doing or how it works.
And finally, on your own feed, don’t worry about the number of likes - hard to do and I wish I could say I didn’t always, but I am getting better and, yes, it is very liberating. I honestly feel that if I post what I want to see then I will find people who follow me because they see the world in the same way or are interested in how I see the world.
In short, post for you - and be nice.
What I see:
I want to be inspired. I want you to post images that stop me and make me think.
Surprise me - develop your own style but I don't simply post variations of the same thing all the time.
Keep your feed clean – by that I mean stick to one genre (for want of a better word). I don’t want photos of meals, mountains, mates… I am a street photographer and you can tell this by looking at my feed. The feeds I want to follow are street photography feeds too. If you want to photograph your kids, pets, holidays that’s great, but have a feed for them. You can have as many feeds as you can manage. However, if you want me to follow your street work then that will be all I want to see.
And curate your feed - don’t follow a travel photographer unless you want shots of pyramids and elephants in your feed. Follow for a follow soon clutters up your feed with people who are not genuinely interested in you or what you are posting – but are genuinely interested in having you on their follower list. If I don’t follow you, it’s not personal. I’ve found some amazing images on Instagram but if they aren’t street photography I won’t follow them on my street feed.
Hashtags – the double-click on an image is a really great way of liking a picture – far simpler than navigating to the heart to click. However, there’s nothing more irritating to me to find the image is filled with hashtags. Use hashtags in the caption or the comments - not on the image; no one wants to suddenly find they’re whisked away to somewhere else just because they tried to like your image.
Don’t tag me in an image just to get me to look at it. If I’m in it, or if it’s truly relevant then fine. But if you just want me to see you then it’s just noise and its irritating. It’s like knocking on my door and legging it.
So…
Accept it for what it is – probably the best image sharing tool we currently have it. Enjoy it. Do it for the love – not for the likes.
This was going to be a few thoughts – I hope it’s not too much of a rant (oh dear) – most of all I hope you find it useful. Let me know in the comments below.
Have a good one.
Instagram - probably the best bar in the world
@hueyraw
Imagine a bar, a pub or a cafe that everybody wanted to go to. Somewhere for everyone. A tropical beachside venue with a roasting log fire and views of the alps and distant desert islands. The most comprehensive jukebox in the world playing the tracks that you want to hear, just when you want to hear them. Over in the corner, a group of older people huddle convivially - playing darts, cribbage, or just bemoaning the younger generation. While over on the other side beneath the flashing lights, those only just old enough (if that) to be allowed entry compare tattoos, biceps, and lengths of mini-skirts. Then there’s you. And your mates - lots of them - swapping stories and riffing off each other’s energy and world view. Every night, it’s much the same. You can choose to spend your time with your mates, or sometimes show off your tattoos with the nippers and play cribbage with the oldies. No one minds. Hey, sometimes you don’t even show up.
It’s the best bar in the world. And the more people come, the bigger it seems to get. There’s room for everyone.
This is Instagram. It’s easy to knock it - not everyone wants the beach bar or the ski-shoes at the door alps experience from a pub - but for photo sharing, its the best place we have to display our media to a wide audience. It caters for just about everyone and the keyword is “social.”
To continue the bar analogy - if you choose to spend each evening simply enjoying yourself with your friends and were happy with that then that is fine. Good luck to you. If you want to grow your friends’ network and push the boundaries of your social circle by introducing yourself to some of the cribbage players or call above the noise to the youngsters by the door, you can. Perhaps you'll wander over, pay a compliment, offer to buy a drink, heck - you may even hold eye-contact (you old romantic, you). Some evenings someone may even come across to you - compliment you on your fine new threads, pet ferret, or ask about that friend you came in with. They might ask advice or even suggest something that would help you. This is the social carousel.
It’s not that different on Instagram. If you choose to keep yourself to yourself that’s fine. You may prefer a small following of just family and friends - and there’s nothing wrong with that. Or you may be happy to share your images more broadly, make your profile public and use hashtags so that others can find you. "Hey! I’m over here at the bar. Come and look at this!” That’s fine too. There’s room for us all.
Just remember, that when you venture across that crowded/empty barroom, dodging the table of pigeon-fanciers, the Star Wars crew, the vintage tea-bag collectors… that everyone in the bar is a person just like you. Be nice. Think before you speak. Pointing out that those brand new tan shoes would look better on your uncle than on them with that skirt - and he’s got better legs - is not the best way of developing that new friendship. If we are all going to get along in this shiny new retro antique bar, we need to support one another. Be nice.
Just like a bar, Instagram is a business. It wants more people to come in each night - and throughout the day. It’s obvious but it's not something that we seem to remember. I get as frustrated as anyone by changes to the algorithm or whatever it is that seems to keep the things we seek to control beyond arm’s reach. But if I could control or understand the algorithm, just imagine how much more control someone with even more ability and time could exercise. I wouldn’t want an Instagram that was ruled by a handful of huge accounts that had learned to play the system. I want my jukebox to play the tracks I want to hear with the occasional unexpected and interesting gem thrown in for good measure - not the ones that the big biker in the dark corner picked out or paid for.
Right now, Instagram is the best we have. Not perfect - but better than a lonely pint on your own at home. Unless that’s what you want!
So next time you feel like complaining about Instagram (or any other social photo-sharing platform) and the frustrations it brings (and I don’t deny frustrations exist), just imagine a time when the only people who got to see your images were your mum and great aunt, leafing through a dog-eared scrapbook that you had excitedly thrust under their noses while they tried to watch the wrestling.
Where I Find Myself
Perhaps it is only when we are deprived of something that we realise it’s importance or value.
For the past couple of months I have been absolutely exhausted. Not just tired, but a deep seated exhaustion which has left me feeling dizzy, with blurred vision and arms and legs like jelly for large parts of the time. The doctors say I shouldn’t work.
This isn’t new. I’ve suffered from a post viral fatigue for fifteen years compounded by my own personality which is always wanting to get up and do things - the very reason for the problem in the first place - and the the cause of the greatest frustration when I can’t.
Most episodes are manageable - a few days every six months or so. However, this one is a biggy and has flattened me for the best part of eight weeks already and now no work until the end of July. That will be the summer holidays. That will be four months from my last full day of work until I next clock on. Pretty sobering.
I am sure many people would love to have this amount of time off. But that assumes full fitness. Not being able to do anything and feeling rough is not a good combination. When I was first told to rest I thought of all the photography books I would enjoy poring over and revisiting. Then, when I thought about building myself back up to fitness, I imagined the miles I would walk (gently) with my camera as I regained strength. The hundreds of images I’d capture as I convalesced. It was easy to put a positive spin on it.
That hasn’t been the case. For the last two months, I have simply not had the energy to go out and shoot more than once or twice (and then only for the briefest of times and only on the way to somewhere else). I really miss it. For all I wrote in my last two posts about the value of a creative outlet, the importance of this has been drilled home the hard way, through being deprived of just that. I simply haven’t been able to. And that means an important part of what makes me “me" is missing.
Instead of wiling away the hours educating my eyes by revisiting those photobooks, I have found that the appetite to do so has almost gone - I suspect due to the frustration at not being able to go out and do the very things that each of them have done on the street. The books simply rub salt into my wounds.
I’m learning to be slow. To do a fraction of what I feel I should. Anymore and I quickly overdo it. That sets me back for another four or five days. I’m not good at being patient.
I have gone back through the last two years of photos. Somehow, I felt that as my photographic eye had developed, there may be some forgotten or unrealised gems somewhere deep in the archive - there weren’t really. But I have learned a lot about how my eye has become more knowing, )and just how over processed everything was in those early images). I read recently a photographer - I forget who - who said that we learn more from our bad photos than our good ones. That is so true. It is the mistakes that teach us - think of falling off a bike. You don’t want to do that too often. I’ve marked the old RAW files up and saved them in a special folder to revisit in the next few weeks as I recover.
Perhaps cruelly, I have had a marked increase in the number of people reaching out and proposing photowalks. I will get there. There is nothing I want more. Bear with me.
Art On A Postcard
I am hugely honoured to behave been invited to contribute three photographs to the latest art On A Postcard exhibition which is showing upstairs in Old Spitalfields Market in London this week.
Art on a Postcard raises money for The Hepatitis C Trust as it aims to eliminate hepatitis C by 2025. Urban artist Ben Eine and street photographer Dougie Wallace have curated this latest exhibition. Every one of the urban artists and street photographers has donated their work for free.
Each image is made into a postcard which is then auctioned via the website. Bids start at £50. Each artist remains anonymous until the auction closes on 12th July. If you know an artist and their work you will probably be able to identify their images within the selection of postcards. Or you may get a nice surprise. I like the idea that you bid for an image you like - not just for the artist you perhaps follow on social media.
It’s featured on London Live :
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The exhibition closes on 7th July but the auction continues until 12th July and is online at https://www.artonapostcard.com/spitalfields-2019
Why do you take photographs?
I know what you’re up to…
In a recent post (What are you trying to achieve?), I wrote about some of the reasons I take photographs. In my Instagram (@hueyraw) stories I had also asked why you take photographs and this post captures your responses and builds on my thoughts.
As I expected, the therapeutic nature of taking photographs for pleasure registered highly. For most people, in this age of photographic democratisation, with almost everyone having a camera via their phone, photography is not a means of making money and is secondary to the day job. Many of you, like @sleepingastronaut, see it as away to relax; something that takes your mind off work (@mybeardandmypenguin, @chris_silk_street). It’s an escape – something which should not be underestimated in this busy world. As @zenostr33t, puts it “…ultimately it comes down to escaping work day pace.”
““It’s therapy for me; when I go out to take photos all of the other things in my life vanish for a short time.” ”
That therapeutic effect is reason enough to get out and make photos. For some of you, it is clearly more than that. Fabienne (@fabiennehanotaux) recognised “…a deep need to create, to express myself, to escape.”
I think this need to create is deeply human. Furthermore, the artistic element of creation which enables us to express ourselves, our emotions and our feelings in response to the world around us, is enjoyable, communicative and, therefore, sociable. This is underlined by the huge success of social media, such as Instagram, where photographers can now share their work, and enjoy the work of others instantly, and like never before.
This creative process changes us. I know that since I have been taking photos I have become far more alert to my surroundings, spotting things I would never have noticed previously. This is enriching. As @atelier_dope puts it, the “… process of creation is enjoyable and every now and then I’m rewarded with an image I enjoy.”
Many of you commented on how this enables you to see things in a new way and to seek to make the mundane beautiful (@sixframestreet; @piyush_mishtra_18; @theweijian). That is certainly at the heart of street photography and involves self-expression. No one photographer sees a photographic opportunity in exactly the same way as the photographer standing beside them. The slight difference in viewpoint is one thing, but the personal experiences that each of us as individuals bring to bear, our likes, dislikes and individual taste, all impact upon the final image created.
Perhaps the more scientific among us only seek to record daily life, something more like an objective view of a crime scene or scientific evidence. The camera has a unique ability to take a slice of life, a fraction of a second, and freeze it forever to be scrutinised and analysed for as long as the image exists. @frances_pegg wrote about catching a personal moment in order to “taste it when I get old.”
Recording daily life for oneself is the personal version of storytelling, which is usually more about the lives of others. For some of you, it was this that was your motivation. @mrtimothypeter put it simply when he explained “I love telling interesting stories.” As humans, most of us find other people fascinating to a greater or lesser extent. I have always enjoyed looking back at photographs of places I know and seeing how they have changed but this experience is far better when there are people in the shot. If we recognise them it is heightened because we can see how time has changed them. If we don’t, then we can also pick up on the visual clues in the changes of fashion, of the street furniture, shops, styles of cars (or lack of) and so on. @sixframestreet speaks of documenting the human experience and this is an important element of street photography which is not necessarily about aesthetics and creating something of beauty but is about building a record which will inform the future. Many pictures improve with age – an ordinary scene today will take on many other qualities in years to come. If you don’t believe me, think about a typical High Street today with a huge number of people lost in mobile phone land. Will those phones still exist in half a century? If they do, will they really look like they look today? What about the clothes? And for the acid test, find a photo of an everyday, ordinary street scene from 1969 and see how nostalgic it feels.
Some of you recognised something powerful about the actual process of making photographs. Specifically thinking about street photography, @ashsmithone cited “…the thrill of the chase.” And I totally get that. The adrenalin rush of going out to shoot and not knowing what you will get, what lies around the next corner and what may happen next is exhilarating – if not for everyone. It is a thrill and there is a fear to it; fear of being caught, fear of not getting the shot even. That brings adrenalin.
The thrill, the adrenalin and even the fear very quickly lead to what @gianpy_s described when he said “It’s a passion.” That is certainly something many of us would agree with. Why else would we spend hours walking our shoes down to nothing, only to come back with a small handful of decent shots - if we’re lucky?
A passion can become a necessity and for @mark_lev-photo it seems to be a compulsion: “I don’t know why! I just feel compelled to do it.” Whereas @ke_vin_joseph says “The voice in my head tells me to.” For @mandym.photos it is “Just something I can never switch off from – which is mostly a joyful thing.”
Whether it is something you have to do to balance up your life with the part of you that is work; whether it’s something you just need to feel complete creatively; whether it’s a voice in your head making you do it; photography clearly plays an important part in making each of you “you”. That has to be a good thing. I certainly feel that it completes me. And there are far worse things you could be doing in your spare time.
I leave the final comments to @oohbaaanana who says: “It’s the only thing I think about all day and it’s the only thing in life in which I’m really free.”
Amen.
A huge thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts with me but especially to these good people who you should check out on Instagram:
@zenostr33t
@sleepingastronaut
@mybeardandmypenguin
@chris_silk_street
@billtakesphotos
@fabiennehanotaux
@atelier_dope
@sixframestreet
@piyush_mishtra_18
@theweijian
@frances_pegg
@mrtimothypeter
@ashsmithone
@gianpy_s
@mark_lev_photo
@ke_vin_joseph
@mandym.photos
@oohbaaanana
Best of April 2019
Sixteen from the streets of London and Venice. Feel free to comment.
Click to go LARGE.
What are you trying to achieve?
Venetian Stretch.
Venice, Italy. Apr 2019.
This is the question that was asked of me some months ago and that keeps coming back to re-play in my head. It’s not so much that it bothers me - I don’t take photos for a living or even make money from my photography. It’s more that it surprised me. It forced me to look at what I do from the perspective of those who know me best.
I’ve always been a passionate person and my interests (obsessions) have led me down many alleys, nooks and crannies of exploration. For the past few years, photography has been my boulevard of choice (and, yes, sometimes dreams). When an interest takes me like this, I want to know as much as I can about it. I immerse myself in its history, its culture, its traditions - I want to know what it feels like, to taste it, to live it. Books, galleries, the internet … anything can support my habit. Taking photos and editing them is drinking from the source.
I suppose that is what I have been doing. So, while friends and peers are of an age where they are having a quiet morning with the cafetière, hot buttered toast and the Sunday papers, I will be catching the early train to the big city hoping to return a few hours later with a camera full of more images than you can shake a selfie-stick at before I get a chance to go and do the same thing again.
Too old for this kind of thing?
So, okay, fair enough. What am I trying to achieve?
It does have a slight ring of "Aren’t you a bit old for this kind of thing?” and it is true that most street photographers who I follow (and who follow me) on instagram are 20 years (gulp - two decades) younger than me. Not that that should bother me - there are no age restrictions to developing a good eye or understanding the exposure triangle, or indeed breaking any of the rules that aren’t actually rules and that need breaking anyway (ahem). I digress. Maybe it’s more that most of my peers don’t feel the passion that I feel or the excitement for learning new skills, seeing things in new ways and, most importantly, having a chance to be creative.
That is what is at the heart of it for me. Being creative. I have realised over the course of my life, that the creative urge is more of a creative need in me. I need to feel creative to feel complete - to be me.
Mindfulness
There’s a great deal of talk about mindfulness and mental health these days. For me, I know that the creative process is key to my mental health. It is where I go to be mindful. It just so happens that it is street photography that provides that creative process.
Passion is an important idea here. Shooting street does bring out a passion in me. That doesn’t mean it always is easy or always pleasurable. Remember passion, as a word, has its root in the Latin for “suffering.” So if we are passionate about something, we are putting more into it than is absolutely necessary. How many times have you spent a day shooting only to feel that what you’ve shot is rubbish and all you have to show for it is a thinner sole on your trainers?
What am I trying to achieve? I do it because I have to.
It feeds me.
It completes me.
How about you? Some weeks ago I asked my instagram followers this question and I will be sharing further thoughts soon. If you’d like to comment, please feel free. I look forward to hearing from you.
Book Review - "Street Photography Is Cool" by John Lewell
John Lewell is a name that may be familiar to some of you as the founder of the Streetphotoindex and of his own top ten UK listed blog at www.johnlewellphotography.com
John recently published his own eBook entitled Street Photography is Cool – and it is available on Amazon.
John is an extremely erudite writer, as you would expect from a Cambridge graduate, who is both well read and well travelled. He demonstrates great knowledge of many aspects of art and culture, and this informs both his own photography and his views on shooting on the street.
This is not a “how to” book but is more a walk through many of John’s thoughts on different aspects and challenges of shooting on the street, using his own images as examples. Each chapter begins with a reason - “street photography is cool because…” much in the style of the “Love is…” Schultz cartoons that so many of us will have grown up with.
From the outset John is keen that street photographers should develop their own style, putting down the manual and getting out and shooting as much as possible. He acknowledges that he is largely self-taught, eschewing the influence of the “greats” in order to develop his own style.
“Once other photographers have shown us how they see the world we start to see it in the same way. That's why I didn't start to look comprehensively at other people's work until I'd developed a style of my own.”
John acknowledges that street photography is not easy. “Without intense desire and motivation no one can succeed as an artist.” He picks his way through a lot of the challenges that will be familiar to anyone who has tried to shoot candid images on the street and illustrates these with analysis of images from his own back catalogue. These insights are reassuringly familiar and will resonate loudly. John has clearly considered these issues at length and over time. However, they are very personal views.
At some points in the book I felt urged to debate some of the points that John made. His writings are fairly black and white (pardon the pun) on certain issues – particularly concerning black and white photography, for example. In “It's a Colourful World” he writes:
“I'm still puzzled why so many people still cling to black & white, given today's versatile and sophisticated colour tools. I can only put it down to their reluctance to embrace change: a deep obstinacy rooted in habit and tradition.”
To me, this misses the point entirely. Black and white is a tool at the photographer’s disposal which, given that the two dimensional image (the photograph) is already an abstraction from the reality of 3d, allows a further level of abstraction and expression.
On developing a personal style John writes:
It's far better to allow your style to grow out of your interaction with reality. It will come naturally from your selection of subjects, from how sympathetic you are to them , from your distance or closeness to them , and from whether you can find a little bit of originality in the way you portray them . I think originality in art is vastly overrated and has led to all kinds of unnecessary and ultimately sterile disruptions. The " little bit of originality " of which I speak is to be glimpsed in your personal style. It's what comes from the photographer in response to reality, rather than from anywhere else.
This is very much a matter of opinion, as is any subjective evaluation of any work of art. However, I was surprised that John, with all of his cultural acumen, seeks to encourage photographers to seemingly seek to operate in a vacuum of their own work. To me, it is about learning from those who have gone before, from their successes and their mistakes, and seeking to take the elements that we, as individuals, most like from each of these giants upon whose shoulders we plant our tripods. Similarly, we should seek to be influenced by as wide a range of cultural and artistic experiences, not purely photographic, as possible in order to broaden our creative vision. John has such a cultural wealth at his fingertips that I was most surprised to read his thoughts on this.
I was particularly struck by John’s thoughts on the future of street photography at a time when private and public identities have never been so mixed. He warns:
“Eventually, a database of street photos may itself be tied in with tags on social media , enabling us to identify the majority of people we photograph on the street . Tomorrow, everyone will be in the public eye . When all is revealed by face recognition technology I wouldn't be surprised if street photography were not outlawed altogether in many countries. Either that, or people will take to wearing masks and camouflage.”
He recognises the responsibilities that we have as photographers on the street and shares views on shooting courteously and within the law. He gives tips on the importance of limbering up for a day on the street, ensuring that you are in:
“…the right frame of mind to take street photos . That's because you need to be able to see beyond the obvious, to find the extraordinary in the ordinary , and to anticipate the next few moments almost as though you can see into the future...”
This is so true.
In the main, John represents the world of the street photographer well.
“Every true street photograph represents a unique occurrence, captured in a moment of time that can never be repeated . You were its witness; and your photo , however ill composed or badly taken , will have intrinsic value of its own .
Self- publication is very much easier today than ever before. John explains
“I've used only my own photos to illustrate the various topics. Although restricting the book in this way probably gives it stylistic coherence, it doesn't acknowledge the rich variety of approaches taken by contemporary photographers.”
It would be interesting to sit down (with a bottle of wine or a couple of pints of ale) with a dozen images taken by the street photography greats or, indeed, those of contemporary photographers, and discuss our various opinions.
Like all good books, Street Photography Is Cool raises plenty of arguments and generates even more discussion. John has done well to publish a work that so clearly puts forward his views as he walks us through his images.
Best of March 2019
Sixteen from London’s streets from March. Let me know your thoughts below.
Click on the image to go LARGE.
Best of February 2019
Sixteen from February out and about on the streets of London and Cambridge.
I would love to hear your comments below.
Click on the image to go LARGE.
Give Love at The3NinesArts
Just a short note to say that I am very pleased to find one of my images written about on the3ninesarts website.
You can read the article here
Home Town Heroes?
As far as I know, Jesus was not known for his photography … but he obviously experienced some of the problems that many of us experience when he said "no prophet is accepted in his home town.” I say many of us because I have done the research. Okay - it wasn’t particularly scientific and didn’t involve mice but I did ask the question of my instagram followers. And you can see what they told me in the poll on the left.
Street photography in my local area is something I struggle with but I felt that it was personal or unique to me, and mostly due to the fact that, having been a primary school teacher in the area for many years, I seem to be one step removed from every child, parent, grandparent and shop assistant within a fifteen mile radius. While it’s always nice to see the kids, I don’t always want to explain why I’m wondering around with a camera taking photos of their Uncle Richard or cousin Angie as they slip on an unseen dog deposit. So, for me, it’s fear of recognition and feeling like a pillock. Actually, it’s worse than being a pillock because if I happen to turn my lens towards a small child I could open myself up to all kinds of hurtful abuse - see my last post.
For others it’s a similar fear of sticking out like a sore thumb in the small village they live in. When you know everyone within walking distance they are more than likely to wonder why you are out with a camera until ultimately you develop a slightly eccentric reputation and people are then surprised when you don’t have it bolted to the end of your arm. Both mindsets are totally understandable and have to be overcome if you are going to shoot at home without requiring therapy afterwards. However, one had a much more basic complaint. “I can’t shoot at my home town. I find everything boring.”
Several of you were more than happy to shoot local. One photographer lives in a small town but still shoots 95% of their work there. Their instagram feed has 12k followers yet family members and friends have no idea that they are posting photos, all of which are taken on the iPhone. Remarkable stuff.
Another confirmed local shooter said that they wanted to give their home town some love. They told me that they see it as an opportunity to show local residents an interesting side to their town that they don’t normally take the time to notice. Interestingly, one photographer revealed that having returned to their home town after living abroad, they were found it more photographable than before.
For me, though not a great globe-trotting traveller, it is the lure of somewhere else where I can be anonymous and just get on with taking photographs that appeals. As one photographer said “It’s so nice to have that fresh space without any baggage. No history. Nobody to run into.” That is definitely a freedom that comes with anonymity. It doesn’t have to be abroad, just another town or city where you could be “blending in with other camera wielding tourists.” In fact, looking like a tourist provides a great cover. Pretending to stare at something way down the street is a ploy I have often used when getting that familiar look from someone whose soul I just have stolen with my 23mm lens (other lenses are available). (By one of those strange twists of fate that only the internet seems to throw up, as I write this my Spotify playlist has thrown up At Home He’s A Tourist by Gang of Four.) Looking like a tourist at home is maybe the perfect solution....
London is perfect for me in that sense - just up the road but big enough to disappear in and full of wide eyed camera wielding tourists. I lived there for ten years so know it well and the advantage of local knowledge shouldn’t be underestimated. Shooting at home would allow even easier access and the possibility to work a scene over time - think of all the great projects shot by photographers embedded in their home environment for years (most recently I’ve been enjoying Shirley Baker’s Without A Trace about Manchester and Salford in the 1960s). But it could also invite repetition which can be dangerous to the creative mind - always seeking to re-create that favourite shot from five years ago doesn’t challenge us to move forward.
Getting out or getting away does bring a fresh perspective. “I need the adventure, not knowing what I’m going to find, being alert, makes me feel like a kid.” One problem with shooting locally is that the backdrop becomes wallpaper and it’s much harder to spot the beauty in it. Being somewhere new really does heighten the senses and sharpen those camera eyes.
Clearly, although more of us seem to prefer to shoot “away,” we all need to find the place where we can create the images that please us most. As one photographer said, in a twist of a well known street photography adage, “The best street is the one you are on.”
With thanks to the following instagrammers for their wise words:
@zahyrc @tatsu_is_tatsu @nico_street_ @packetsofradge @davidebgm @ashsmithone @theurbantake @hebertofernandez @eingnckt @menasambiasi @bvstreet @so.asa @lhanna_photography
They shoot children... don't they?
Twin.
The history of street photography is full of images of lively children - shoeless and happy playing in derelict city streets, smiling in an outsized pair of mothers shoes, carrying home the shopping or, as in Henri-Cartier Bresson’s famous shot, a bottle of red under each arm and a cheeky grin.
Look through the average street photography account on Instagram, or any other social media stream, you will be hard pushed to find the younger generation at all. Sadly, this is not surprising.
We all know why. Nobody wants to incur the wrath or worse, the stream of abuse, of an irate parent fearful that their child’s image has been stolen for all the wrong reasons. And, therefore, many of us don’t try. Those images of children not only never appear - they are never taken. A hidden generation is being created at a time when we take more photos than ever.
Yet, if you walk into any town centre, children from decades ago, now adults or well-beyond, stare out from the ranks of birthday cards in stationers and supermarkets. Pick up a book of street photography from the last century, there they are; captured for posterity like ancient insects in amber. It’s almost as though children and their beaming smiles belong to another age and the streets today are devoid of children. Anyone remember the child catcher in Chiity Chitty Bang Bang and the empty square around the castle?
Are we to become the generation that didn’t have children? Or, at least, that airbrushed or Photoshopped them out of history? We would be much poorer for it - but that’s the risk.
Of course it is about intent. Why is the photographer taking the photograph in the first place? What is it they want to show? It is this intent which raises photography beyond a simple and precise record of a scene or object - almost for classification purposes. It isn't simply a scientific practice concerned with obtaining a correct exposure through combinations of shutter speed, size of aperture and sensitivity of sensors or film. It is an art form in which the photographer expresses an emotion, idea or even just a viewpoint. Surely any photographer who takes a photograph of a child for the wrong reason or with ill intent, will produce work which sets alarm bells ringing or, at the very least, leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the viewer.
Children’s lives hugely enrich our own. They remind us of a distant past that we often hanker after. They point to a future full of potential. They provide moments of great humour - often through their attempts to be more like us, the grown ups. They possess a wide eyed sense of wonder that reminds us just how amazing our world is at times when we have grown weary of it ourselves. And photographs of children can do all of these things too. They often point to a truth that, as adults, we need reminding of.
Of course, the problem of the disgruntled and anxious parent doesn’t go away. However, we will only perpetuate the situation if we accept it. We can challenge it by taking good photos of children. If we are open and upfront about what we do then maybe the disgruntled mum or dad would recognise the same things in the image that we saw. We should be less inclined to be furtive, secretive and hidden but be prepared to share positive ‘good’ images of children on our feed. That way we can demonstrate our good intent next time we meet an anxious mum or dad. And, as with any street photograph, smile, share your Instagram or website details and offer to email them a copy. All parents think their children are the best thing since bread arrived sliced - hey; they might even ask you to take some more.
Resolutions 2019
At the start of this year, that is just about to disappear around the corner, I wrote down my resolutions for 2018. I’m not a big fan of resolutions although, believe me, there is plenty to improve about me! So when I wrote them down it wasn't in a “post them on the fridge to haunt me” kind of a way. I wrote them on my blog (http://www.hughrawson.com/blog/resolutions-2018) so the whole world could hold me to account.
Actually, these weren’t so much resolutions as much as areas to develop within my photography. In that sense, these were things that aren’t just for the beginning of a new year but are development points for all year - a bit like the pet dog that’s not just for Christmas. Oh and I had no other resolutions - shoot me!
So - how did I do? Well, my end of year report, like so many of these things, would probably say “Could do better.” If I’m honest, I had to look back to see what my five resolutions were (never a good sign - except it’s a sign that I haven’t really focused on them!). But, but, but… I have made some progress on each of them. A recap…
Enter more competitions - a slight improvement here. Last year I had just entered the Sony Photography Awards - always a highlight of the year for me to see the range of images displayed at Somerset House in April. I didn’t get anywhere in that. However, I was thrilled to be shortlisted in the Street Photography category of the British Photography Awards with an image that I shot at my local village fair (moral: always carry your camera!). As a bonus, the article that Digital Photographer printed about my street photography last winter, made a reappearance in their 2018 annual.
All The Fun Of The Fair.
2. Slow down - my default was always to shoot from the hip. Breeze through a crowd, shooting away like the final scene of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, and be gone before anyone fully realised what you were up to. I still like that instinctive approach and it suits my style to move fast and move on (I get bored easily). However, I was keen to become more considered in my approach - and I have been. My default lens for street is 23mm which works well for shooting from the hip. My favourite lens, however, is the Fujinon 56mm f1.2 - great for portraits, hopeless for shooting from the hip. The focal length is just too long - it’s all hit and miss and mostly the latter. So, I have taken the 56mm out with me, especially at night, and actually stood still to frame up and enjoy taking the time to compose. It works.
3. Get to know my camera better - probably the area I’ve done least well on. I know what I need and rarely venture beyond it. I can find my way around those limited areas pretty well by feel but pose me a more tricky question and I break into a cold sweat. One major achievement was to actually get round to setting up My Menu in the camera settings. I now have easy access to those things I use most often - that’s good. So I’ve got faster at doing the things I was already fast at! Erm?
4. More subtle colour processing - definitely improved here. I think, as much as anything, I’ve become a better self-critic and have developed a keener eye. I do enjoy the processing side probably as much as taking the photos, but have always been pretty heavy handed. I like my tastes strong - coffee, whisky, music, you name it - I’m just not a beige latte kind of gent. However, this meant that I was always overdoing the saturation, the contrast, and, particularly, the clarity (so, so tempting) until the shot was ruined. I just didn’t know it. A year ago, I was most pleased with my black and white images. This year there are fewer mono shots on my feed or my website. My colours have improved. They’re more subtle and are better for it. Less is more. Definitely.
Bus Heads.
5. Keep on keeping on - taking the shots I want to take. It’s very easy to be swayed by what brings in the most likes on Instagram or whatever social media you pay attention to. All of these things have fads and trends. And some of them are great - for a while. It’s never a bad thing to dabble in those waters. Get your feet wet and see what sticks as you continue to develop your own style. I know that when I do shoot the photos I want to take, that my style will resonate. Not someone else’s. And usually they are the photos that get the best comments and the most likes - and for all the right reasons. I’m pleased that I’ve shot for me this year and it has worked. I have a set of photos that I can be proud of and that say something about me. I still have so far to go...
So what about next year, you ask? And quite rightly.
Always, slow down - this should become my mantra. A re-enty from last year’s resolutions and straight in at number one. It’s that important to me. Fundamental. I am good at anticipating what is going to happen and I need to be quick to be in the right place. But sometimes, as I have learned, I also need to take my time. I did this a bit this year but going forward I am going to be more considered in my photography.
Strip back - carry less. I am a sucker for “take it just in case” syndrome. What if such and such a scene appears and I haven’t got the right lens? I nearly always end up carrying a spare lens and even another camera. Sometimes it gives me an extra flexibility but it also hampers me in moving about. To be honest, none of the kit is that heavy and the bag is only small - but it’s still a bag. It’s still stuff. I love the idea of moving swiftly through the city, camera in hand, and only a jacket pocket to keep it in. If that! It doesn’t happen often enough. Sticking to one focal length would put an end to dithering around with kit and potentially missing other shots. And, as a bonus, I’d get to really know that lens.
Travel more - I often read advice that says the best investment for your photography is travel - not kit. I am sure this is right. New places really open your eyes. For me, this doesn’t just mean travel abroad but I feel that I have become very parochial in my street photography. This year, I have found myself defaulting to London, and not just London but small areas around Mayfair and Soho in London. It would freshen things up to stay an extra few stops on the tube - or take a different line. Or even find out if there is anywhere outside London… answers on a postcard in orange crayon please.
More time on exhibitions and books - less time online. The recent iOS update for Apple allows me to see how long I spend online each day. Terrifying. I can resolve some of this as “working” on my website/social media presence/photo editing. I also know that vast swathes of my day can disappear when I have what I feel is an odd moment to "just check” - an odd moment that soon becomes half an hour. How much better it would be to spend that time looking at published photographers’ work in books or exhibitions. I’m not a social media hater who secretly uses it in my spare time. And I am aware of how valuable Instagram, for example, is as a tool for photographers today. However, there really is nothing like the look of an image in print in a book or framed large in an exhibition. We learn so much from the work of others. Yes, the internet gives us that easy access, but it’s also too easy to just browse through and flick by. Books and exhibitions force us to really look. I mean REALLY LOOK.
Get out more at night - yeah, I have a day job. And I get tired. Heck, it’s demanding, all right?You’d be tired too… And all that. But I have evenings that just get frittered away when, with a little effort and thought (thought and effort), they could be spent being creative on the streets, improving my skills, doing the thing I love. Do it Hugh.
Variety Pack - there isn’t much variety in my pack at the moment. It’s pretty much all street. Don’t get me wrong - that’s what I love. But photography is photography is photography… and any kind of photography is going to help with every other type of photography. How about some landscape, portrait, travel shots? How about really getting your head around flash photography this year? I’d be very satisfied to have that in my armoury in 2019.
Escalator Choir
I’d love to hear your thoughts, tips, advice and recommendations as well as any thoughts on your own resolutions for the year ahead.
Thanks for all of your support this year - it brings so much encouragement and inspiration.
Have a great 2019!
Hugh
2018 - Looking Back
2018 Gallery
The end of the year is always a time for reflection - and you know how much I love a reflection! I’ve been putting together a gallery of favourite images that I have taken over the year and it is encouraging to review the journey that I have been on. This is particularly evident when I look back further than a year.
For me, photography continues to be a huge learning experience. However, I do find that, as I develop my skills and hone my vision, the steps of progress becomes smaller and smaller. I suppose that when I first picked up a camera I learned a lot at every stage. This is where the perspective of a year (or more) is an advantage and so much more rewarding. My progress today seems to be more about attention to detail and fine tuning.
There’s an inevitability that some of the most recent shots will be favourites - not necessarily because they are better (despite my comment above) but simply because they carry the fresh excitement of a new piece. This will mellow over time.
It’s interesting for me to note that there is far more colour this year. I have never found colour easy - at various stages opting for too much and completely over-saturating. I really struggled with it. I would look enviously at the work of Ernst Haas, Fred Herzog, Saul Leiter and those they have inspired today. I still do and have much to learn but it’s encouraging to see a better quality in my colour work beginning to come through. Interacting with some of these photographers on social media, and even meeting a few in the flesh, has been invigorating and ensured that the challenge remains.
Finally, let me say something about light. Immersing myself in photography magazines and books, I would read about the importance of light, chasing light, seeking light, following light… This year I feel that I have begun to gain an understanding of light and that is what has made the greatest difference to my images. I have paid more attention to the quality, direction and strength of light and I believe it shows in what I have produced.
The exciting things is that I know none of this is about achievement but is more about progress. The images from this year represent where I am now. Another stepping stone in the river of development. I know enough to know that the other side remains intangible but still something to strive for. May we never stop learning.
Photobooks - what you told me....
So here are the books that you recommended to me on my instagram feed @hueyraw (Some were already highlighted in my previous post so don’t get namechecked again here.)
Click on the image for a link to buy the book online.
Some of them aren’t so easy to get hold of. Anyone willing to republish some Fan Ho?
Thanks to the instagram crowd and especially @setex @daniel75009 @nico_street_ @nadiagrayphoto @bassabas @mikael_grs @friedaknips @menasambiasi @fabiennehanotaux @is_it_on_the_trolley @ashsmithone @gav__robinson @lucas.savoie
