Weekly Photograph - Hallway Traffic
1.11.06 @ 10:17 pm
My friend Dennis has been pushing me toward taking photos of people. As I wrote earlier, I have previously made that endeavor, albeit in a in a very weak way. Dennis however has done a great job of pressing the issue and so last week I went out with my wife with the explicit intent to photograph real humans. I still consider it a weak attempt, but judge for yourself.
My wife and I decided to head over to the de Young to take shots of people hanging out in and around the museum. I still feel very uneasy taking photos of people - especially when you receive a less than tepid response to pointing a camera towards certain people... I quickly decided that taking photos from afar or photographing the backs of people was much more comfortable. I know, this is skirting the main issue, but I consider it my own little gateway to getting courageous enough to boldly take photos of total strangers. How long will I be in this cocoon? Who knows. Still, I think there is a lot of room to take some very interesting photos where I integrate people into scenes such as the photo above. This distance gives me a sense of ease and the subject usually never even knows about it. That will make both of us happy.
black and white, deyoung, Photography, san francisco weekly
November 1st, 2006 at 11:06 pm
$0.00 in Comment Love for November
Striking photo - it looks so crisp in black and white. This photo is really wonderful when you know the context of it. The people looking at art become part of the art of this photo while their identities remain private. Good photo - I look forward to more in the near future!
November 2nd, 2006 at 12:25 am
$0.50 in Comment Love for November
Was the contrast really that dramatic? Or did you have some photoshop help? I love this image very much. The composition is EXCEPTIONAL. This is definitely one of my recent favorites, PJ.
Keep up the photographic studies of humans. I know it’s difficult and sometimes awkward, but I am quite sure it will eventually give you amazing results!
November 2nd, 2006 at 12:39 am
No Photoshop doctoring at all except dust cleanup. The scene was extremely high contrast due to the flood of light coming in from the huge window. I have been giving myself personal limits on how much Photoshop I can use for any picture.
November 2nd, 2006 at 8:50 am
$0.00 in Comment Love for November
I always feel nervous and uncomfortable when people I KNOW take photos of me; never mind how awkward I feel when complete strangers do it so I can’t blame you for not wanting to take photos of people you don’t know.
November 2nd, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Yeah, it hasn’t been too comfortable just yet. My hope is, the more I do it, the less intimidating it will be.
Thanks for the comment!