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09/28/2014 03:30:31 AM · #1
Here is a fabulous clip of Joel Meyerowitz talking sense about photographs:

• Photographic Meaning: What's in the Frame v's What Isn't?
• Leica advantage over SLR.
• Transformation versus Collection as a photographic impulse.
• The power of Ambiguity.
• Potential Energy in a Photograph.

He is a great street photographer, but his observations are surely relevant to everyone who wants to make more interesting, original photographs.
09/28/2014 09:33:36 AM · #2
Not just a great "street photographer": his Cape Cod landscapes are legendary. great find, Paul.
09/28/2014 10:29:09 AM · #3
Great clip. Thank you.

In spite of what he says, I think he speaks for all magnum photographers and street photographers.
09/28/2014 10:44:24 AM · #4
Thanks for the link !

Nice description of the thinking process

I have to agree with his comment about the dslr not being so helpful for street shots,
my V1 (or I guess any mirrorless) works for me so much better when doing street shots, while I keep seeing more things,
it is also responsive and inconspicuous
also do not hesitate to go into areas where I may fear having the dslr stolen
09/28/2014 11:15:22 AM · #5
Nice find! I did have to scratch my head, however, over his assertion that Leica's incarnation of the rangefinder is inherently superior to the SLR. It's just a different tool. There is no reason that the SLR has to make you "one-eyed." I shoot with both eyes open the vast majority of the time; there are some situations where a one-eyed approach is demanded, e.g. when using a 90° angled viewfinder attachment, as I sometimes do for macro work.
09/28/2014 11:51:09 AM · #6
Excellent! Love his work too.

One thing I've noticed with my own photography is that I've moved away from isolating my subject. It's not always the case but I strive for some environmental context. I can't compare my photographs to his but my own are fair game. Comparing my current work to what I've shot in the past is how I measure success. A long road to travel and much to learn.

Message edited by author 2014-09-28 12:03:07.
09/28/2014 12:01:51 PM · #7
Thanks Paul for sharing this!

Regarding viewfinders - what about cameras without one? Cell phones, point and shoots... do you think they make you more aware of the environment?
09/28/2014 12:27:00 PM · #8
Originally posted by tanguera:

"the world continues outside the frame"

and

"putting unrelated things together"

and

"photographing the relationship between things" THIS. It's what my pet portraits are about.

Indeed.

Great clip, Paul. thanks
09/28/2014 12:44:04 PM · #9
Originally posted by tome:

Thanks Paul for sharing this!

Regarding viewfinders - what about cameras without one? Cell phones, point and shoots... do you think they make you more aware of the environment?

I can only speak for myself, but I found switching to the RX100 changed my candid people photography (not just street) immensely. That's both positive and negative, though. Positive, because with it away from my face, I can see what's going on around me. I can see people moving in and out of the frame, and also something more interesting happening outside the frame. His "one-eyed" comment is entirely accurate. Negative, though, because a lot of the time, especially in daylight, I can't really see exactly what I'm shooting. I frame the shot based on the high contrast parts of the scene, and hope for the best. Overall, it's a net positive.

The other thing is that the people I'm shooting don't give a second look to someone shooting with a tiny pocket camera. They do seem to notice my big DSLR (and EVERYONE notices when I shot with the bright pink Holga). I suspect the Leica fits more closely in the small category. Unless you're DigitalRev and have painted it pink.

Edit: Damn autocorrect.

Message edited by author 2014-09-28 12:45:08.
09/28/2014 12:54:07 PM · #10
Wonderful clip, thank you Paul. The interaction between everything from our own particular viewpoint, show don't tell, appeal to intuition and not intellect, a bold goal that i would love to accomplish.
09/28/2014 01:11:42 PM · #11
Originally posted by tome:

Thanks Paul for sharing this!

Regarding viewfinders - what about cameras without one? Cell phones, point and shoots... do you think they make you more aware of the environment?


My experience is much like Ann's. I did lots of street (when I lived somewhere that had streets) using a small fixed lens compact. This one:


Initially I used the LCD screen for framing, then added the clip-on EVF seen in the picture. I use that EVF with both eyes open, and the camera is so small that it doesn't block my wider vision of what's outside the frame. That EVF also pivots up 90° so you can look straight down into it, shooting from chest level (well, high chest) almost like using a MF film camera with a viewing screen on top:


I'd sure lika Leica; a Leica M Monochrom would be very nice I think. But maybe this new Lumix will fit my budget better. It has the EVF in the 'rangefinder' location, as well as many other attractions.

09/28/2014 01:14:30 PM · #12
Originally posted by kirbic:

Nice find! I did have to scratch my head, however, over his assertion that Leica's incarnation of the rangefinder is inherently superior to the SLR. It's just a different tool. There is no reason that the SLR has to make you "one-eyed." I shoot with both eyes open the vast majority of the time; there are some situations where a one-eyed approach is demanded, e.g. when using a 90° angled viewfinder attachment, as I sometimes do for macro work.


That part of the video irked me a little. I felt he was essentially equating those that don't use a Leica to chimps using a child's ViewMaster toy, unaware of their surroundings... and perhaps drooling. After that, I had a hard time not thinking, "Get over your smug self, buddy" for the rest of the video.

Message edited by author 2014-09-28 13:15:13.
09/28/2014 01:34:03 PM · #13
Thank you. More needs to be said & written on framing the shot. I had to smile, for I hate holding any camera up to my face for so many reasons. Like Ann I'm shooting based on the high-contrast parts of the composition because it's what I can see in bright sunlight. I aim & fire by intuition. But, watching the clip I began to wonder...why do we look at photographs? what are we looking for? I used youtube, while I was there, to do a search but found nothing. If I should walk into NikonJeb's new gallery & find a photo I feel I must purchase...what would be my reasons?
09/28/2014 02:00:25 PM · #14
I can relate to how Ann shoots street. I find myself using the flip screen on my Olympus Pen most of the time. The camera isn't attached to my face and some probably think I'm just fiddling with my settings. I was talking to a guy shooting street a few months ago. He had a large Canon SLR and ran up to his subject pointing his camera in their face. He even talked to them while shooting. Not my style and he didn't seem interested in candid moments.
09/28/2014 03:09:16 PM · #15
“And as I got a little older, it has become more important to me again to be morally conscious—not to vacate that responsibility, but to say, “These are my feelings about it. This is what America looks like right now. These are things that are socially reprehensible. These are things that might be overturned.” If you don’t point them out, if you only glaze the surface, the beauty of light or the beauty of the subject, you don’t see what might need to be corrected, or what can be changed, or what’s really wrong. An artist’s responsibility is to not avert his gaze. Maybe you can’t correct it by pointing it out, but you can at least certify that you saw it at that time, and that it was painful to you.” ... Joel Meyerowitz

From 12 Lessons Joel Meyerowitz Has Taught Me About Street Photography. by Eric Kim
09/28/2014 04:45:49 PM · #16
Originally posted by ubique:


I'd sure lika Leica; a Leica M Monochrom would be very nice I think. But maybe this new Lumix will fit my budget better. It has the EVF in the 'rangefinder' location, as well as many other attractions.


I'd sure like a Leica as well, especially a M Monochrom, but unless it's an older film M, it isn't going to happen, because budget. That Panasonic does indeed look juicy. But alas, I just bought a waterproof housing for my RX100, so I'm keeping it, at least until the housing fails and the camera drowns.
09/28/2014 10:09:14 PM · #17
Originally posted by pixelpig:

Thank you. More needs to be said & written on framing the shot. I had to smile, for I hate holding any camera up to my face for so many reasons. Like Ann I'm shooting based on the high-contrast parts of the composition because it's what I can see in bright sunlight. I aim & fire by intuition. But, watching the clip I began to wonder...why do we look at photographs? what are we looking for? I used youtube, while I was there, to do a search but found nothing. If I should walk into NikonJeb's new gallery & find a photo I feel I must purchase...what would be my reasons?


buying a photo means you have a wall where it will look nice.

why we look at photos, well, we can only conjecture about the urges that drive us. If you want to start a thread about it, I will be glad to do my own conjecturing.
09/29/2014 12:40:32 PM · #18
Originally posted by posthumous:

Originally posted by pixelpig:

Thank you. More needs to be said & written on framing the shot. I had to smile, for I hate holding any camera up to my face for so many reasons. Like Ann I'm shooting based on the high-contrast parts of the composition because it's what I can see in bright sunlight. I aim & fire by intuition. But, watching the clip I began to wonder...why do we look at photographs? what are we looking for? I used youtube, while I was there, to do a search but found nothing. If I should walk into NikonJeb's new gallery & find a photo I feel I must purchase...what would be my reasons?


buying a photo means you have a wall where it will look nice.

why we look at photos, well, we can only conjecture about the urges that drive us. If you want to start a thread about it, I will be glad to do my own conjecturing.


Perhaps some people buy a photo for decorative purposes only...If I simply want to fill wall space, I can make my own eye candy easily enough. I'd rather buy an image with which I feel a connection that goes beyond, "Ohhh pretty, that will go with the curtains AND the drapes."
09/29/2014 03:17:19 PM · #19
Originally posted by Spork99:

... I'd rather buy an image with which I feel a connection that goes beyond, "Ohhh pretty, that will go with the curtains AND the drapes."


I thought that the curtains were the drapes. That is, the same thing, or near enough that you would just have one or the other. For myself, I would not have either, so the decorator's impulse when choosing art would never arise.
09/29/2014 03:39:20 PM · #20
Originally posted by ubique:

I thought that the curtains were the drapes.


You must be a man.
09/29/2014 03:45:30 PM · #21
Originally posted by ubique:

Originally posted by Spork99:

... I'd rather buy an image with which I feel a connection that goes beyond, "Ohhh pretty, that will go with the curtains AND the drapes."


I thought that the curtains were the drapes. That is, the same thing, or near enough that you would just have one or the other. For myself, I would not have either, so the decorator's impulse when choosing art would never arise.


I try to match my hanged art to the uninvited guests.
09/29/2014 09:32:29 PM · #22
I try to hang uninvited guests.
09/29/2014 10:22:01 PM · #23
same thing.

Message edited by author 2014-09-29 22:23:21.
09/29/2014 11:17:05 PM · #24
Originally posted by tome:

Thanks Paul for sharing this!

Regarding viewfinders - what about cameras without one? Cell phones, point and shoots... do you think they make you more aware of the environment?


Good question. I'd say the advent of the large lcds on devices that lack a viewfinder make us quite the opposite, more obsessed and dedicated to purely what is on that screen, be it what is in front of us or communicating elsewhere. To that end, I think lcd's are hugely damaging to our greater awareness. You can't peer one eye into the lcd and one into the greater scene (which is incidentally what I do with a dlsr). With an lcd, you cannot focus 2 inches in front and 10 feet beyond in quite the same way you can simultaneously look through a viewfinder. I find it damaging. How many times have we all had somebody in a city run straight into us because they were mesmerized by their lcd? I can't count, that's for sure...
09/30/2014 01:00:18 AM · #25
Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

How many times have we all had somebody in a city run straight into us because they were mesmerized by their lcd? I can't count, that's for sure...


I activate the bump counter on my LCD screen.
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