Journal — Tristan Parker Photography

Where Will the Street Photography Boom End?

Street photography is booming right now, and I think that this raises a few questions. Some of these questions in my mind will lead to desirable results, others however may not.

In the years gone by there have been a wealth of very talented artists that have walked the streets of the various cities and locations of the world with a simple camera in hand, and a very simple goal. The goal was to document and record the world around them. Some were doing it for different reasons to others. Some were doing it to preserve memories of their life, others as they loved to interact with their subjects and record life of people in the places that they either lived or visited. Others still as they were simply obsessed with the still image and its wonders. I think that even the later needed to be draw in some way to the people around them though, it was a requirement of the trade for most.

Setting up a Home Darkroom (part 1)

I think that its quite evident if you have read through the progressive writings on this evolving blog that I am well towards transitioning back to film as my preferred medium. I started with an OMD, went through the usual find the right focal length type deal. Got a Nikon FA, tried a few point and shoot classic film cameras. Got a little rangefinder Leitz CL. Broke the FA, replaced it with an F100. And finally added a Leica M6 to the mix. I think its been about 2 months since I took the OMD out of the house and used it. Shame really as its a great camera. I dont think that I will ever sell it, as there is a time and a place for digital still and I think that I would end up getting something different anyway... Maybe a point and shoot digital is a better option... Anyway, I digress.

Why you should let your images stew before processing and editing

This topic is something that I think a lot of people struggle with in the digital age. Even film shooters in the digital age have things just a little easier, and hence just a little quicker than our counterparts of the years gone by. Its not only photography as well, its everything. Its the mobile phone and everything that it gives you the instant you want it. Its the ease of online shopping and the fact that you can now buy things without even leaving your house! Its the speed of the world these days, and its something that people need to take care to control before it controls you.

Real Photography - The whole process and why you should know how it works

I am very lucky in the fact that my Dad is a photography teacher, and this means that I still have access to a darkroom, and all the equipment that goes with it. Not only that, but as Dad has always taken photos, i was also very lucky to learn how to process my own black and white film, and print from an enlarger in a darkroom from a very young age.

Long Term Street Photography Projects?

If you look to the greats of our magical art form they by in large have something in common. They have long term bodies of work exploring something that they found interesting. This is not only the case for the street photographers, and it may not have been that the project theme was something that they intended to investigate until they realised that something tied a lot of their work together already, and continued with something that was already there.It can be broad or very narrow, but they usually have something that to them built their body of work.

Light Makes Me Happy!

So, I was driving to my second job as a SPIN instructor the other night (on a side note, I have noticed I start a lot of Blogs with the word "so"), I will give you a little context... I left my main job at about 4pm and it was pissing down rain... I ride a bike to work, and I only live about 2k from work, so I ride in normal clothes... Now when I say pissing down rain, Im talking thunder bolts and lightning, very very frightening... Oh my... I digress... So, we get the idea, there is lightning and thunder, Im wet through, and riding home... I have had a cracker day, so this little hurdle isnt getting to me one bit... I come home, get changed, jump in the car and drive to SPIN, its not far away... When I get in the car its still black and gloomy outside, and still belting down rain...

Best time of day for Street Photography

So I have sort of covered this in a round about way in a couple of other posts. I will reference these at the appropriate points below. Im currently sitting at home as we start to enter the Winter months in Melbourne. As a photographer I search out light for my work. Granted we have high tech gear these days, and even with film of old, that allows shooting in very low light conditions. So, based on this, when is the best time to shoot on the street.

I would argue that any time is a good time to shoot on the street, but some times will prove a lot more challenging that others for various reasons.

The Masters and Street Photography: Not what you think

So there is a wealth of information out there on the classics of street photography, and what you can learn from their work. I thought I would take this tried and tested, well read blogging formula and perhaps have a look at some of the masters of photography in general, and what we can still learn from them from a street photography perspective. I have blogged on the rules of photography applied to the street, and I think that my aim with this initial blog will be to take some of those rules and contrast them with some work from some of the real greats of our art. Not just street greats, but landscape, studio, and fine art greats, surrealists... What can we as street photographers learn from them?