My adventures in streetphotograhy #7
Another photo-hike in Copenhagen and this time i felt I was getting my thing together. I sensed that I had trained my eye to spot the possibilities, when they appeared and were ready to shoot fast and in the face of people. Still I am nowhere close to the big masters, just in a year or so of stumbling around with a DSLR, but at least I had the developing feeling and a potential to get really good shots, if I could just spot them.
First of, one of the best photographs I ever took, in my humble opinion. There was a skater gathering in the western end of the city. A lot of youths everywhere and lots of action and so on. A good place to lurk. I was not that lucky with any of the shots I got at this scene after all ... except for this one. I spotted the couple sitting there and the guy trying to be very inciting and looked deeply in love. Then I noticed that the girl did not nearly reciprocate his affections but seemed detracted by something or someone. Then the guy just kissed her and I threw the camera at them and shot at the exact moment their lips met.
It was shot with backlight and it was also overexposed and frankly, looked pretty much like crap on the camera. But luckily, I kept it, and when at home, I adjusted it to correct exposure etc. and then I knew a had a good one on my hands. The backlighting actually enhances the framing of their faces as the light reflects the periphery of their hair. The shot quickly reminds you of Jean Honore Fragonard´s painting "The Stolen Kiss", except the girl in my photo is in the reverse mode. She is not interested in the kiss, so it is rather lost.
THE LOST KISS
I was watching this couple for quite a bit of time, and they just stood out from the crowd, mostly because of the very extrovert and obviously very much in love guy. But at the same time, he ignored her rather reserved attitude, even if she returned his attention to some extent. But at some point I realized that if they kissed, this relation would come forth and I just hit the shoot button when it happend, no time to think. Luckily I bagged it :-)
The difference in attraction comes very clearly through in the guys almost dreamy expression with the girl at the same time almost pushing him away with her cup and her eyes turning away to something else. There are so many emotions and symbolism here. The guys in the back above him, seem to be talking but are only a distant noise to him .. he may want to listen to what they have to say. Right above his head is a grafitti on the wall that could be his scared true self trying to wake him up to his blindness to her possible hypergamy. She looks as cool and collected as can be and completely in control of the situation. She is the master here and she is alert of everyhting that goes on.
THE STOLEN KISS
by Jean Honore Fragonard
Next... it is one of those situations that are impossible to spot unless you stand at the right spot at the right time. It is pure luck ... and as a famous golfer once said "the more I play golf the luckier I seem to get". And that goes for street-photography too. The tree trunk seem to open up in a V that casts shadows to create an X ... and in between the top V, there is a person sitting in the distance who now seems framed in a very interesting ornament of trees and shadows.
It is an additional luck that the person is sitting in profile to give the maximum effect. The x created by the tree and its shadows makes an artificial perspective that drags your eyes towards the X-man ... I like little things like that.
X-MAN
Directly inspired from several Henri Cartier-Bresson photos, I immediately spotted the opportunity and shot quickly before anything detracting appeared (a buzzling city) or the X-man moved. It is one of those that hits you like a ton of bricks ... the sweet decisive moment ... whether or not it actually is a great shot or not. I think this one is.
I always look for something out of the ordinary, something that stics out ... and it can be anything. The un-ordinary is what gives me this feeling of the surreal and I try to build on that if I can. In this last shot from this hike, I saw this half drunk guy at the trainstation, with a cowboy hat.
THIS TOWN AIN´T BIG ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF US
There was just something weird about his behaviour and I walked very close to him in the hope that something would happen. He then seemed to be provoked by some guy with a dog talking in his cellphone, and then I just shot the scene right from behindhim toward the guy with the dog. The spaghetti western notion is clearly there and it is just one of those funny shots that stands out from the ordinary. (Title inspired by a song by Sparks)
--oo--
My adventures in Streetphotography:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Perfect @mandibil! Great photos and accompanying stories! Upvoted, resteemed & DPS.
Thank you very much
Many thanks for your curating work here @photo-trail Thanks to you I quickly discovered several other people who's photos I appreciate!
🍒 Duuude, the first photograph of the kiss really caught my eye O_o, it's excellent, I want to do street photography like that, give me some tips on how to do good street photography, please 😊.
And by the way, the guy from the picture was a little bit like Pepe Le Pew xD
Thank you for your kind words. Read through my whole series of oosts to get a few tips ... and watch the full "Decisive moment" film with Cartier-Bresson in part 1.0, it is hugely inspiring and instructive
Thank you, I will check it out
Very nice post! You are a talented writer and photographer - lucky you! I'd very much like to get into street photography, as they always tell a story. It'll have to wait because I live in a boring small town... at least the nature is nice here! Upvoted and followed.
Thank you... but "boring towns".. may just as well be good spots to shoot. The big city can be a bit of a stress with all the flux of traffic etc.
As you say, @mandibil, any place can be a source of an interesting shot. For me, the hardest part is to actually force myself to take out my camera or phone and get in the right mood - then it's mostly about waiting for a right moment, and even luck plays a big role, but Love your "story" style. Though of course, often stories are "illusions", in a good way, but nevertheless something we project onto disjointed appearances. Though illusory though, it ads spice to mere still pictures. Once again, well done, upvoted.
Thank you. Yes i guess you have to really show patience... but also be able to spot the possibilities in whatever situationyou are in. It takes a lot of imagination