There’s something pure about mainstream jazz in combination with street photography. Back before I began going on shoots with my wife, I used to wait until I was in a dark shitty mood, load up with a couple of Nikons, plug jazz into my ears, and go on a shooting spree. My favorite shooting opus…
Helen Levitt’s 1970s color photos resonate with a distinctive color palette, full of blue, turquoise, green and red hues. Her shots are of people, alive in their environment, rich in the structure of “ordinariness,” and not simply adornments found in a grey-hued urban landscape. Like Joel Meyerwitz, Levitt waits for those normal gestures that mark…
New York City, 1980, Helen Levitt, (c) Helen Levitt Estate Helen Levitt was a shy woman, who by her own admission preferred to let her photographs speak for her. And they did, in spades. Her work focuses, to a great extent, on relationships, with special attention given to children. Her use of color in the…
Sleeping Passengers, Greyhound Bus Terminal, New York City, 1947, Esther Bubley, American (1921 – 1998) Esther Bubley was an American documentary (street) photographer who specialized in photos of ordinary people, taken in an intimate, expressive manner. She spent much of her career in New York City and Washington, DC, and is, among other things,…
M and I have begun a new series that we call the Raw, Naked World City Street Photography Ratings, Sadly, we won’t be telling you where to take street shots of nakey folks (although we might if we run across any). However, since we’ve found ourselves carrying cameras and shooting wherever we go, it made…
Ed. Note: It was my intention to profile the last 3 photographers of the Rule-Making epoch at once. However, due to utter laziness, I’m posting these in 3 pieces, starting with Bruce Davidson. I’ll try to get to Elliott Erwitt and Robert Frank sometime this week. As always, I appreciate your patience for the long…
My lovely husband Bill and I often have this debate, the conundrum of the apparent prestige that black and white photography has over colour. Both Bill and I have written extensively about this subject here, being that we, as you may well be aware by now are fairly prolific photographers. Although we have been known…
M and I have been talking about leveraging our series on the Art and History of Street Photography into a sort of online course on street photography and art and photography in general. All of that has been on hold with all of the activity in our lives, namely her moving to the U.S. from…
Sometimes you’re lucky in your life, and you get a benediction from somebody who actually speaks your language and cherishes that you’ve joined the tribe … you’re no longer lost.
Part 9 – The Rule Making Epoch: Brassaï to Lisette Model We are back, after an approximately 6-week break, due to the frenetic pace of life, and, frankly, the lukewarm reception of Part 8. We intend for this series to appeal to more than those simply looking for interwebs shots from the photographers involved. Indeed,…
Raw, Naked Art 