Good grief, Shel, aren't you making a large assumption here?
Bruce was shooting in the city. Does that mean he HAS to be shoot in a
particular kind of way, and more precisely, in the manner characterised as
"street photography"?
When it is clear (by, amongst other things, the absence of people in
several of the shots) that Bruce is shooting in a different way, can you
not treat those pictures on their merits, as "cityscapes" perhaps?
Now I don't know what passed between you and Bruce beforehand. Perhaps he
declared: "today I will shoot in the style of Belinkoff and C-B". If so,
he didn't so much fail, as just not do it (except for the musician
picture, previously posted, which many people liked).
Of the eight, three are of group members; three are what I called
cityscapes, and I personally like each of them; one is the musician, which
is surely both a "street" shot and a good one; and the last is the
memorial picture, which to me is more about shapes and textures, and it
works well IMO.
I think your comments pertain more to you and your approach to photography
than to Bruce's pictures. Personally, I enjoyed the gallery, on its own
terms.
John
On Tue, 18 Oct 2005 08:41:18 +0100, Shel Belinkoff
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Bruce ....
I'd like very much to give you a few "atta-boys" for this little gallery,
but I can't.
The "street" is a dynamic, vibrant, organic place, teeming with activity
and life, filled with joy and sorrow and humor and relationships. There
are connections between people, between people and objects, between
circumstances - some swift and ephemeral, others slower, longer lasting,
and, perhaps deeper. I think "street photography" is about showing those
connections, those relationships, and telling stories. Showing something
of
the joy and sorrow and excitement and tension that exists out there.
While I have been characterized as a "street photographer" (regardless of
how true that may be) I have never understood what such photography was
all
about - at least for me - until this evening when I looked at your small
gallery.
Bruce, it pains me to say this, in part because I like you so well
personally, in part because a lot of your work is great and touches me
deeply, but I must be honest. These photos pretty well miss the boat as
far as I'm concerned. There's no life in them (with the possible
exception
of the MLK memorial shot), no vibrancy. I don't feel connections or
relationships. Composition in some cases is poor, but it's often hard to
find good composition "on the street" as there's so much going on.
You've
got to shoot fast, and learn to see almost intuitively, being able to see
everything in the frame in a fraction of a second, or being able to
assess
a situation and know when to make, or not make, an exposure.
I want to thank you for putting these pix up. From a purely personal and
selfish standpoint they have helped me define and understand some of my
own
work a lot better. Perhaps we can get together in San Francisco or
Oakland, and spend a day together making some photos on the streets.
Kind regards,
Shel
[Original Message]
From: Bruce Dayton
I have gathered together a little gallery of my street attempts at
our recent outing.
Enjoy...
http://www.daytonphoto.com/Galleries/NorCalSF/index.htm
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