The journey never ends.. .....

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” ― Ernest Hemingway

The above quote from the famous 20th century novelist, Ernest Hemingway seems to aptly sum up my photographic journey with SQA Higher Photography.  

My literal journey covered over 1,500 miles of travel to and from Skye

Sunrise view from my home in Skye - far from away from the city streets

to Glasgow and Edinburgh on four different occasions, allowing me to have five different photo shoot experiences on the city streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow for my final SQA project.  The learning journey, I guess, can not be quantified when I think in terms of research, of exploration of techniques and skills and most of all in terms of sociology.

 In between my photography travels,  I was actively engaged in the development and production of test images and in making justified creative decisions about the presentation of my final photographs.  

Pan flute player in Glasgow city centre

My research into street photography impacted on my own practice; I experimented, refined and developed skills in Adobe Photoshop Elements and then reviewed the variety of ideas, so as to present my final set of twelve images in the theme of 
"Urban Portraiture on Scotland's City Streets".    

The Muralist in the Tron Kirk, Edinburgh

B&W worked best for my portraits

In addition to submitting twelve A4 portrait style images in monochrome, each mounted on to A3 card (yes, cutting out mounts from card was another learning experience!), my A3 portfolio book records my decisions and evaluates the final outcomes.  

So during this period I did not have much time for  blogging, but I guess my photographic journey never ends as I still have a lot to learn, so indeed I may be adding further posts to this blog in the future.   What I did find satisfying was my engagement, through taking street portraits, with people from differing backgrounds and finding a connection with them.  

Getting his story from the Kurdish waiter

Edinburgh sweet shop

When I reflect on my decision to opt for the more challenging genre of street photography rather than landscape for example, which was readily available to me on Skye, I do not regret the challenges but rather more consider the added value that I found in the power of photography by seeing the link between people and their surroundings. Notwithstanding the fact that street photography is a powerful art form, I felt that my involvement as the photographer, with humanity at all levels of daily life on the street, gave me another window on the world.

Indeed, my photographic journey has only just begun  .......

"The streets are vibrant, intimate and accessible - a lot of life is happening in front of you.  Sometimes the everyday moments that make up people's lives provide the richest content for a photograph."  Leslie Rosenthal (from B & W Magazine).

Working the scene

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”
    -     Elliott Erwitt

The first edition was regarded as groundbreaking

I was captivated with the book, "Magnum Contact Sheets" (Lubben, Kirsten, published 2011 and 2014) although nowadays when most of us start off learning photography,  we are working in digital which means that we can dispense with the practice of using contact sheets.   We can of course easily create and print off a sheet of contacts from our digital images but they are seen as a different entity and Lubben refers to them as "a transaction of what a photographer has seen, rather than its trace".  The aim in publishing the book, therefore, was to acknowledge that this way of working was becoming obsolete but also show how the photographers within the famous Magnum collective agency capture their shots and undergo the editing and selection process for the final image.  The book contains the work of only one photographer who edits digitally but works with colour film.  Michael Subotzky, whose work "Beaufort West" series, Western Cape, South Africa, is included in the publication, stated that "Editing digital work on the computer was like going straight to a work print for each frame".

The book was produced to illustrate the process the photographer worked through when shooting the frames, then using the contacts as a tool for editing and finally having an index to an archive of negatives.  In the book Lubben states that contact sheets were "often compare to an artist's sketchbook" and indeed in the 1960s and 1970s when photography education became prevalent, contact sheets were studied and used as an item of instruction for photography learners.  Photography enthusiasts became interested in the process of taking the photograph rather than just the final perfected image and an example of this was in 2003

Contact sheets for the famous "Boy with the Toy Hand Grenade", taken by Arbus in Central Park, NY.

when the Diane Arbus: Revelations exhibition in San Fransisco's Museum of Modern Art included freestanding displays of her personal memorabilia, including contact sheets. 

Eric Kim, the contemporary street photographer has published an e-book, entitled "Street Photography Contact Sheets" because he felt it was important to share the process of shooting street photography with the reader.  He refers to the Magnum Contact Sheets as the most useful and educational photography book that had ever been printed.  He also cites the reference being made in the book that the illustrious and possibly the most famous photographer of all, Henri Cartier-Bresson destroyed his contact sheets and was not disposed to sharing his "detritus" with others.  

We are directed to examine the idea of Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment"  and realise that by looking at Breton's contact sheets, that it took more than one frame for him to capture that one single decisive moment image. 

Cartier-Bresson's famous photo symbolising the Spanish Civil War 1936

Cartier-Bresson's contact sheets as they appear in the book

Through looking at the contact sheets we can trace how Cartier-Bresson "worked the scene" as referred to by Eric Kim, and it gives us an insight into the process of his work.

So for learner photographers, like myself I think we have much to learn from these photography masters by gaining access to the contact sheets and getting a "behind the scenes" glimpse into their way of working.

Magnum contact sheets showing how Bruce Gilden "works the scene.

"I love the people I photograph, I mean, they're my friends.  I've never met most of them or I don't know them at all, yet through my images, I live with them" - Bruce Gilden.

The Hielanman's Umbrella

“I suspect it is for one’s self-interest that one looks at one’s surroundings and one’s self. This search is personally born and is indeed my reason and motive for making photographs.” – Lee Friedlander.

The Hielanman's Umbrella, seen from Argyle Street, Glasgow

The shops under the bridge are painted in a uniform, green colour 

The glass walled railway bridge which carries the the platforms of Glasgow Central Station across Argyle Street is an iconic landmark.  It was given the name "The Highlandman's Umbrella" locally, because of its being a meeting place for many Gaelic speaking Highlanders who had come to Glasgow seeking work, from the late 19th century onwards and remained so well into the 20th century, where Highlanders kept in touch mainly at weekends, by meeting under the bridge.  Having been a student in Glasgow in the late seventies, I was aware that although the practice had ceased long before then, my father had participated in the "Gaelic community gathering" in his young days but I would suggest that few young Glasgow Gaels today are aware of the landmark connection and nickname.  I considered the social impact on society today, with the advent of the technological age and the ease of communication as people connect through social media.

The nail-bar lady with whom I connected was from Vietnam 

Eric Kim, of whom I have already blogged, is a very dynamic online facilitator of street photography who studied sociology in University.  He likes to define street photography as "proof of humanity. (Nov 2013, petapixel.com, An Interview with Eric Kim).  In his writing, Kim refers to identity and that it is insightful for photographers to work on projects that are personal to themselves, citing that sociology has been the biggest influence on his own photography.


Kim's free online blog posts and e-books are inspirational, especially for the street photography beginner and he published his first book in 2015, "Street Photography: 50 Ways to Capture Better Shots of Ordinary Life." He gives lots of techniques and tips as well as drawing on the wisdom of the great classic photographers, using their experiences in his teaching.

Mirror reflections of the East African barber and his client 

This multi-cultural community of workers, were happy to engage with me, and my photography subjects showed an active interest in the fact that I had travelled from the Isle of Skye to photograph people in urban contexts such as the businesses under the "umbrella". 

Capture through the window of the Kothel Grill House 

Chat from the Kothel Manager

Melissa from the shop next door buying lunch 

Returning to Glasgow in March, one month after my first visit I decided to call in at the Kothel Grill House (this was a result of me being captivated with the image I had taken on my previous visit, shot through the window).  I chatted to the Greek manager about the working community under the bridge and was pleased to discover that he knew the story about the Hielanman's umbrella.  In a true spirit of welcome he practised his only word from the Gaelic language for my benefit, using the word "fàilte"!

Fàilte from the Kothel Grill House!

Paul Halliday a sociology academic at Goldsmiths, London University and a practising urban photographer whose 20-year long street photography work on "The London Project" was featured on Channel 4,  easily identifies  the links between visual art and sociology.  He writes:-

"through engaging with the social world, we have access to a set of new experiences that take us into hitherto unimagined worlds; . Engagement comes in different forms, but what drives it, to my way of thinking, is a desire to contemplate that there may be a multi-verse of lived experiences being played out on the streets." 

(Paul Halliday, Creatve Director of Urban Photo Fest, London 2013)


Undoubtedly the taking of street photographs can impact on the photographer as a self-connecting experience with people in all forms of society. I did feel a strong connection with the people I photographed on these two occasions and through this I am able to define the added value of this project.


"For me the most memorable street photographs are always the ones that hit you in the gut, evoke some emotion, and burn themselves into your mind.  They are photos that challenge you to rethink what it means to be human, that challenge you to see society differently and to connect. "  Eric Kim

People Make Glasgow

"The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street."   Robert Doisneau 

PEOPLE MAKE GLASGOW -  visual sociology

Arriving in Glasgow on a sunny afternoon in February, I felt I was truly in the role of a street photographer.  Unlike my previous photoshoot, this time I had researched and prepared for the outing.  Having read that when photographers take to the streets prime lenses are out in full force, I decided to trade in my DX lenses beforehand and invest in the second-hand purchase of both an 85mm and a 35mm lenses for my FX camera.  This meant that using a prime lens would encourage behaviour which in turn should lead to an improvement in photography skills, for example, your feet become the zooming action.  Thomas Leuthard, a contemporary international street photographer from Switzerland, travels all over the world and offers online courses as well as street photography e-books available on the internet has been an inspiration to many starting out taking photographs on the street.  
http://thomas.leuthard.photography/    

Leuthard  writes that "a prime lens is best because it is sharp, fast, small and affordable" and that it is also important to know the exact distance from where you should stand.  He advocated the 85mm for a full-frame camera so starting with the 85mm to allow me a longer focal length and therefore more reach, I had a wander round the city. Capturing candid shots was quite exhilarating and I felt very animated as I focused on studying human behaviour on the streets.

 Ladies waiting for the bus in West Nile Street 

Girl waiting to cross the road

Chatting in Buchanan Street

Taken through the glass canopy of Buchanan Street Underground

Couple absorbed with mobile phone 

This made me recognise the relationship between sociology and street photography and how they are inter-linked.  It was good not to have any preconceived ideas of what I would capture but to have an open mind and be prepared to adapt, rather than photograph evidence to support a pre-chosen theme.   All the above shots were candid and I especially liked capturing the girl waiting to cross the road, as I followed Leuthard's  e-book advice and stood across the road from her at the traffic lights on the other side of the street.

An original candid but after interaction I got in close and took some  portrait shots

While some street photographers believe purely in candid photographs, street photography can also happen when you engage with the person being photographed such as I did in the following images.  

Chips and Irn Bru

On duty at the Argyll Arcade in Buchanan Street

Eric Kim, a young South Korean street photographer, based in California, has had his work exhibited and published.  He has been interviewed many times for photographic articles, stating that he sincerely believes in the ethos of Open Source learning, as he shares videos, interviews and e-articles along with regular blog posts.   He has a huge following on the internet, especially his blog which is considered the defacto Street Photography blog:- http://erickimphotography.com/blog/start-here/

Busking in Argyle Street

Kim states that street photography does not necessarily have to be candid.  "To me plainly put, a "street portrait" is simply a photograph of a stranger in which you ask for permission".  He thinks there isn't really a difference between street portraits and street photography but considers street portraits a sub-genre of street photography.  He puts emphasis on the sociology of street photography and what we can learn from studying humanity and engaging with people from all walks of life whom we meet on the streets.  Certainly, I found that once you overcome your fear of approaching strangers, interacting with people on the streets of Glasgow was a very enriching experience.  

Indeed, People Make Glasgow!

"For me, a great street portrait is an image where I can look into the soul of the subject, and relate or empathise with them on a human level."  Eric Kim 

Seizing an Opportunity

"Its one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it's another thing to make a portrait of who they are."        Paul Caponigro

An introduction to Street Photography

Having prepared a Time Frame using Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely (SMART) targets and a Project Brief Cycle (see below), I now needed to focus on my theme selection in order to prepare a structured project proposal by the end of February.

Project brief cycle showing monthly breakdown of project tasks

In the interim, a weekend trip to Edinburgh beckoned; the reader should be aware that such visits are a rare novelty for me, with Scotland's Capital City some 220 miles distant from the very rural Isle of Skye where I live (the nearest city to my home in the Scottish Highlands is Inverness, which is a journey of 103 miles).  I had therefore never previously tried street photography but having become aware of the genre through my course, I decided to take the opportunity to try it in Edinburgh's streets during this trip, despite it being a very cold Saturday afternoon with wintry snow showers. 

For me capturing moments of public life in urban streets was an alien concept, but I did find the experience both exciting and rather exhilarating.  I recognised during my time of portrait taking for the Image Making Unit, that I really did enjoy the interaction between the photographer (me) and the subject being photographed.  These conversations contributed to making the atmosphere relaxed and resulted in images which reflected the characteristics of the person in front of the lens.  Perhaps, living in a small rural community makes me also enjoy the buzz of city life and gives me a personal fascination for the people on the busy streets.  I also may have discovered that taking photographs of city street people encourages my empathy for fellow human beings, eg living in the Isle of Skye one does not really encounter homeless people, living on the streets.

Homeless James on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh

I believe the resulting image of James, who was homeless and sitting out on the street in the freezing winter weather, was a defining moment in my decision to develop a theme in the genre of street photography.  When a viewer remarked that he did not like the picture, as it made him feel sad, I felt that I had managed to capture the essence of the person photographed; that is, I had harnessed an emotion and was able to share it with the persons viewing the picture. 
"I had a portrait of who he was".   

A decision was made and my theme was selected.

street petition, campaigning for living wage

The following two images are a result of my investigative research of how to present my final images, perhaps in triptych style or even superimposing one shot on top of another to make a statement. 

Test triptych of LUSH shop images, taken from the street.

Double exposure shot of bus-stop super-imposed on Princes Street landscape (Edinburgh)

Statement of Intent

My aim is to photograph people on the streets of Scotland's capital cities in the street photography genre, and to develop a personal style by researching and investigating the work of street photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Garry Winogrand, Robert Frank and contemporary street photographers such as Eric Kim.  The added value of this project is the challenge of working both in an unfamiliar genre and also within the time constraints of visiting distant urban locations, which will require careful planning.  I also aim to extend my depth of knowledge and skills,  both in the development and production of images as well as in the evaluation and critical reflection of my photographic work.

Objectives are:-

• to produce a structured project proposal and action plan to support the project brief cycle by 29th February 2016;
• to complete the time frame for SMART targets, detailing tasks, resources, location, people and success criteria by 29th February 2016;
• to be able to research and investigate the influence of classic and contemporary street photographers;
• to photograph images in appropriate locations and produce sheets of test contact images for initial selection by 31st March 2016;
• to gain an understanding of and evaluate the sociological impact of my street photography;
• to use post-processing software in order to present a set of images for final selection;
• to complete the selection process for the final twelve technically competent images for submission to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) by 30th April 2016;
• to present final images in appropriate format detailing the chosen methods;
• to critically reflect on and evaluate my photographic practice and produce a piece of text for submission to SQA by 9th May 2016;
• to submit project by 17th May 2016. 

I am beginning to enjoy the challenge!

"Photography for me is not looking, it's feeling.  If you can't feel what you are looking at, then you're never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures."   Don McCullin

Evocative and emotional

"I think that emotional content is an image's most important element, regardless of the photographic technique.  Much of the work I see these days lacks the emotional impact to draw a reaction from viewers, or remain in their hearts."        Anne Geddes

Time to choose a theme

On completion of both the Image Making and Contextual Imagery Units (both previously blogged -  ref:  Ruraltopia and The Role of Women in Photography) our major project loomed large towards the end of January.  Now the dilemma for me was not demonstrating the required project planning, technical and creative, critical thinking and evaluation skills but the added value which would be to focus on challenge.  So breadth, challenge and application of learning come into play in terms of progression and assessment of my ability to integrate and develop the skills learned, for this final project of my photographic journey.

Ideas, thoughts and exploratory work as recorded in my journal jottings led me to consider two themes which generated initial discussion with the course lecturer in order to negotiate a final project task.  Having explored the topic of Visually Evocative Images of Rural Decay and disappearing crofting traditions, I also photographed old crofting artefacts and used the images to conduct some research as to their appeal:-

rural decay

 

foot plough, peat iron and scythe

My crofting artefact pictures were inspired by the work of Werner Kissing (1895 Germany - 1988 Dumfries).  He was employed part-time as a photographer and writer for the School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh and between 1952 and 1961, he produced thousands of images for a photographic collection mostly of ethnographic interest such as traditional crafts and life style, as well as collecting artefacts for the Dumfries Association. 

His earlier visits to the Western Isles included a film made in Eriskay (A Poem of Remote Lives) the images of which are well documented in the books, "A Different Country" and "A Poem of Remote Lives: Images of Eriskay, 1934", both by author Michael Russell.

implements on stonework

peat iron and turf spade

While my childhood crofting background and personal links with the location of the rural decay shots below, evoked strong emotions from me, I did consider from my research that perhaps the topic of rural decay could be viewed as rather cliched and not provide an adequate challenge for me in terms of added value in progression of my photography skills.

image with Gaelic text (rusted) from my home village

abandoned tractor on the family croft of my childhood.

Following on from the theme above, I explored the idea of representing human emotions involving image and text, in order to have a set of images showing the range of human emotions.  My research included looking at Plitchick's wheel of emotions (1980) and using 

perhaps a Gaelic phrase or simile to represent basic emotion, e.g. sadness is like the ocean; joy is like a flower, etc and perhaps show this in local contexts with indigenous peoples in Skye's crofting communities.  

I liked this creative idea by American photographer Adam Goldberg,

http://www.adamgoldberg.com 

where he superimposes two different but related scenes one on top of the other, which strengthens the emotion the image he is trying to portray.

This was my first attempt at trying out this double exposure technique with Adobe Photoshop Elements 13:-

Joy is cake

I still needed to carefully consider the local contexts I would use to portray the range of human emotions through 12 different images as I wanted to make others feel the emotion when looking at my images

I concluded that I still needed to respond to the challenge in order to make an impact on the viewer. Therefore, my quest for an appropriate theme was not yet settled with either of the above ideas. 

"Photographers mistake the emotion they feel while taking the photo as a judgement that the photograph is good".                 Garry Winogrand