The Snapping Bishop

Ice cream, salted nuts and snow cones anyone … Its the Interval

Oooh the snow, wasn’t it a treat? Okay so the infrastructure of  London’s transportation systems failed miserably, but hey! who cares? I lost a few days work due to everything else failing, money down the drain, but hey! who cares? Lets face it, the streets of East London were the happiest I’d seen for a while; people actually communicated with each other, unusual words were used like, “Hello, good morning” and, “I have no way to get to work but at least the car won’t get a parking ticket, arf arf.”

For me, the biggest joy was the knowledge that my fifteen year old son will have at last witnessed and enjoyed proper snow before his childhood ran out and his childish play becomes tainted with adult respectability. He’s seen snow in London before, but just a mere smattering compared to my childhood memories within the county of Warwickshire, where school being cancelled was something you expected every winter and the bonus of a power cut just aided the weeks’ excitement. Even if my Mother and Father seemed rather stressed at times, for myself and my brothers it seemed such a wondrous time we barely noticed the associated food and supply problems. So it was a joy to hear a message on my answer phone that morning; “Dad, dad, get up, get up… you’re missing it, look outside!”. Ah yes, good to hear, that was me happy for the day…

This is one of my favorite shots taken that Monday, not very far from my home. You’ll never guess what the view is, well you might, but I’m not going to tell you. However rest assured you can’t go back and shoot this view today, or at any time in the future, snow or not.

Chinese New Year ‘09. ‘street’ (Set 2/3)

First set;  (1/3) Titled. What is ‘Street Photography’?

Third set;  (3/3) Titled. Free Hugs Anyone.

I realised something this morning whilst editing shots for this post: one of the things that intrigues me about this genre of photography is the unintentional fact that many people may not ‘get’ why I took a photograph. I know why I’ve taken the shot and I hope to convey my chosen visual cues to the viewer and trigger similar thoughts. This applies to all photography I’m sure, but in a similar way to devastating war photographs or a beautiful moment caught at a wedding, can street photography convey an accurate account of the moment with the same goal and  intent?

Can I really expect the viewer to pay so much attention just because I’ve labeled the shots ’street’ and insist there’s more to them than might be obvious? It may not be beautiful and it may not be intense, but nonetheless it’s all part our human existence, just not the most popular side. No I can’t, I either accept that many of the shots will be mis-interpreted or take better photographs that convey my ideas and thoughts more clearly. That, however, is considerably subjective, so I stand little chance of satisfying every view’s interpretation even if I were to set myself some unattainable goal.

So that being said I’m back to suck it and see mode…

These shots each have a story to suggest, hopefully you’ll enjoy the ideas and they’ll make you ponde. Some are  merely passing giggles of a shot, some observational views of people’s reactions, others are more serious and intentional. They are all fully and intentionally composed; for me there’s always a point of view in mind… that statement applies to all my photography and although its not obvious there is a great deal of my ‘me” in all of my photographs, slightly scary thought that too…

Chinese New Year ‘09. ‘people’ (Set 1/3)

Set two. (2/3) Titled. ‘Street’ Photography and Perspective.

Third set; (3/3) Titled. Free Hugs Anyone.

This first set of three sets contain shots picked for their aesthetic values, clean and clear (before the snow). The first five or so shots below can be, and are labeled as a ‘Street Photography’ to many it seems.  I feel however, they fit more readily into a portraiture genre. Candid they are, and taken in the street they are. But are they ‘Street Photography’ or just portrait photography taken in the street?

BTW, if you’re a regular reader of my blog and you’re wondering where the heck my new urban exploration stuff is… well its cold innit! Too cold to go clambering and sliding around unknown ground I feel; I do have a few new locations and oddities to start the ball rolling in spring and they’ll all be mapped onto the East London Map index page when done and filed under the Artifacts-Building-Ruins category, as well as others.

Meanwhile… following on from my last blog and the question above which I’m trying to answer to complete my personal perspective…
My next blog (Set 2/3) will cover the more gritty type of view I associate with true ’street’ Photography. Some more examples of this type (my better examples I feel) can be found in my main photographic gallery under the album title ‘Street-People‘.

It’s Chinese new year again, doesn’t it fly round quickly, and a perfectly good excuse to wander the packed streets of my Capital. This year however it turned out the streets were not quite as packed as last year and in being so I was able to get access to the various entertainments and festivities spread around the area without being a hundred yards away bobbing to see what’s what. The freezing weather we’ve just had down here in temperate London had taken its toll on the usual millions; thankfully it seemed to have no effect what so ever on the Chinese entertainers, clothed in very little, their wondrous coloured performances of dance and styles enthralled the frozen crowd for hours. In fact the snow coming down later in the day somehow added to the mood; what could be better, hot frothy coffee and Chinese take-away food with the whole family, a performance from a far land worthy of a king, all set in the buzzing surroundings of Trafalgar Square, with just a gentle falling snow to finish of the setting nicely.

You might expect to see below images of the entertainment and costumes mentioned above but, my intention that day, as it is most days, was to capture a different perspective on ’street’.

And some fun shots to finish off the clean theme …

I wonder if there are any adults left in the world who haven’t heard of a place called Trafalgar Square? As a Londoner I find that question very intriguing! I heard it said recently and this simple idea left such an impact on me, especially considering it may nearly be true to some degree, that I suddenly felt an awakened passion for this city; the city I forget I love so much. I feel at home on the streets of London myself, the madness of thousands upon thousands of busy streets makes me feel comforted somehow; I’m both at its mercy and yet also somehow invincible within this sublime yet intense sprawl. It’s as if at any one moment you can choose to let destiny take its flow or get off at the next stop and make another choice, yet simultaneously I can jump back on again. It’s a fantastic thing to want to be swamped and swallowed by the hive that is London and yet still be bold and inspired at the same time… Hmm! do you get that? Not sure I do; looks like I do love London after all.

Art piece: Title. SoulSeat. A man living on the street finds some solace within a small church.

I’m really trying to start myself writing about ’street photography’ with that intro but it hasn’t worked. I wanted to write a passage that encompasses my reasons for shooting the shots below, I wanted to explain why it is I’ve become interested in this genre of photography.

Trafalgar Square: Iconic or ironic?

I’m so lucky to be living in this city when it comes to street photography; I have a considerable choice of subjects in most areas. Some, like Trafalgar Square offer an almost limitless supply of changing types, from tourists of any and all continents to the richest and the poorest, and all in-between. Not forgetting the sexes, the young, the old and the undecided, all passing each other on the same street but living in totally different worlds .

I hear people refer to Londoners as arrogant, possibly obstinate, an over self-confident attitude that sometimes rubs… but this is just a guise, a show of intent but not actually the truth of their being. It’s a side effect of being members of one of the most intense Cities in the world, we fight to keep our identity to some extent; without a little shouting now and then our voice would be lost in the constantly changing masses that have passed through London throughout the decades.

Hmm, still not getting going here… lol.

Let’s have the rest of my ‘Street’ photos. I’m gonna conclude my reason on a future blog (when I’ve decided what the answer is…)

All shot last Saturday afternoon during a wander from Covent Garden to Trafalgar Square.

A merge of two photographs

Hastings, a seaside town in East Sussex, UK.

Okay, I admit I’ve become obsessed, No not with Hastings although I have fallen for the place before, with its fine old town center, classic seaside house frontages and a wonderful 1930s styled promenade. Which was very special at the time with the locals, because it incorporated the first ever claim of a constructed underground car park anywhere in the world, this facility stretches underneath the whole length of the promenade in such an unobtrusive way that unless you spot the down ramps you’d be sure to miss its existence. Built in 1926 under the supervision of Sidney Little an appointed borough engineer, the massive construction was know as the ‘Concrete King’ in the 1930s and incorporated an sea viewing ally all the way down its length under the promenade, which is know now ,as it was then, as ‘Bottle Ally’ because of the bottle ends embedded into its decorated walls.

‘Bottle Ally’…

Theirs something subtly stylish, quaint and yet very old and established about this particular seaside town that I cant help but fall for, containing vast contrasting mixtures of architecture and history that can’t fail to grab your interest if you ever visit, I may even try and buy a house one day soon.

But no, it’s not about that Hastings, it’s about photographic composition, I can’t leave it alone! Not that that’s a bad thing, but I’m beginning to deny myself the pleasure of a simple snap to fulfill the urge to compose something slightly more rewarding. I do this for totally selfish reasons, I care little about grabbing every moment as a record anymore, now preferring to record just one or two, purely in an effort to see if I can make some thing more out of the scenes, … its a self chastising method I reckon, or maybe I’m just enjoying the ability to create something because I can … I feel you nodding.

I try and give my advice and thoughts on a photo forum occasionally, its a photo community thing, I recently suggested some of the reasons that makes good compositions work, and why we have guide lines labelled ‘The composition rules’. The question was, “How do the composition rules make a good photograph.” This is what I wrote…

“A composition either works or doesn’t, its not down to fitting the rules in anyway, it’s about the rules being a useful aid to make the composition.
When a composition works it’s because it satisfies fundamental natural relationships with how humans view what’s good, (beautiful) and bad, (ugly) via the natural selection characteristics in built within our DNA to aid us to populate, prosper and survive…
A good composition ‘pleases the eye’ or rather pleases your cool DNA spotting senses.
Why, one word, symmetry. …everything natural has it, designers strive to nail it, its natures blue print of what works and what doesn’t.
A beautiful human face is full of symmetry, as is a stunning human body, the female form ..From an apple to the curve of a trunk of full healthy tree on an horizon, the petals of a rose, that point at which the first leaf junctions its stem …evolution has chosen what fails and what survives, and as intelligent descendants we can naturally see what’s beautiful and what’s not … Tell me you find Girls Aloud unattractive and I’ll call you a fibber right.
We’ve learnt some of natures tricks, and the ‘composition rules’, guidelines really, are adapted from some of them.”

These are some of my shots from Hastings last Saturday afternoon. As you can see my hat wearing friend became the main subject of many of my compositions. (The first and this one below are over pushed High Dynamic Range photographs)

Under the now closed pier, can you tell why?! eek.

A wander through London on a cold wet Saturday.

Its grey, its wet, the sunlight is non existent and a cold wing is blowing in from the Artic …. not a ideal day to attend a meeting with other photographers for a wander and jabber down through London last weekend. …As expected, the weather paid its toll on the interested and come the day all but the most hard core of photographers turned up to complete the challenge …that being, can you find inspiration to make pictures on such a drab and horrid day. … Hell yes, they all grinned, I’ll do my damndest

If you’ve ever had to work a scene, with the rain pouring down your lens and the viewfinder constantly smearing over, a lens change causes the sort of condensation you wipe from the mirror each morning and the weight of your camera bag increases as does the cold rain that runs down your spine … then you know, just how daft a bunch of passionate photographers must be.

The two shots above are some of my faves to the day, simply because I completed my personal challenge to make use of all the umbrellas that day.

For a change, maybe a moment of madness … Yep its Black and white.

The Photographers …Wet, and unusually caught not doing much photography.