thoughts ->
NYC
Sept. 16, 2012
This month I'm celebrating an anniversary - the third one of having a very close relationship with The City. It was all interest and excitement at the beginning, almost hatred afterwards (during one of the hottest and most humid summers recently, while being unemployed and fighting the first trimester nausea), but then it got settled somehow, and we are on good terms now. What's more, I think our relationship may be even improving or at least, I stopped the care so much about the lack of visible evidence regarding functionality improvement, and can value the effort of trying.
What helped to change my point of view, besides other things, was experiencing NYC by bike and seeing some single-street downtowns elsewhere in USA. Both helped me to realize how colorful and rich in possibilities NYC is.
This photo quite sums it up. Shot in one of the most iconic neighborhoods of the new NYC that (non-hipster) tourists never heard about, with the famous skyline in the background, it displays what you think may be the best about living there (or here?). Here are my few takes.
the market at Union Square
New Jersey skyline
ballet practice at the shore, Manhattan west
Chelsea
Prospect Park
Greenpoint
Halloween, D-train
Union Square
Union Square
Boerum Hill
Park Slope
concert at Brooklyn Museum
Park Slope
Park Slope
Red Hook
NoLiTa
East Village
Brighton Beach
Highline Park, Chelsea
Orchard Beach, Bronx
Williamsburg
Williamsburg
Barnes&Noble, Union Square
Prospect Park
Prospect Park/Park Slope
Prospect Park/East Village
Midtown West/Brooklyn Heights
our roof, Park Slope
East Village
Coney Island
thrift store, Park Slope
Chelsea Market
However, I noticed that I'm taking pictures of now-my city quite a bit less than in the past. And it's something to consider, because NYC is definitely worth it.
thoughts ->
On flickr
June 16, 2012
Thomas Hawk, once an avid flickr enthusiast, said that
flickr is dead. What he meant is that flickr lost its significance as a social photography platform. Thankfully, that doesn't make flickr dead for me. What is that
social photography anyway?
My approach to photography has evolved since the time I joined flickr, as has the approach of my contacts. While at the beginning I was actively seeking social interaction - comments, favs, people adding me as a contact, I've now found my place in a small community, and frankly don't care how many new people come and browse through my memories. It is good enough that flickr allows me and my family to view them in a neat way. So maybe that's what actually happened to more users - after all, flickr has been around for a while, and it's normal that the community has become a bit more mature, and the current network can be characterized by stable clusters rather than by a rapid growth.
Two observations:
- Growing popularity of analog photography in my contact circle. Since film photos typically cannot be shared real-time, this looks like an antithesis of social photography according to the wikipedia definition. Yep, I too got hooked. Better colors, higher acceptable exposure range, aesthetic grain, archiving options, the moment of surprise, I don't need to continue.
- I feel overwhelmed by the vast amount of photos I saw, thanks to social media and online sharing. I have such a hard time to feel that I'm doing something original, that I don't even attempt it anymore. It seems that everything worth being photographed has been shot from all possible angles. And shooting a cup of coffee, the mirror reflection of myself, or a random flower just to spit out the daily dose of pictures is imho quite boring.
Instead of the frequent attempts to be original, I now aim for personal significance. This results in fewer photos taken on average through a given period of time, and my photostream now resembling an old-school family album, mapping vacations and children's milestones. So again, I've drifted away from social photography.
To conclude, flickr still works great for me and my needs. And it has an awesome community of talented photographers who don't superficially overshare. Because you know - flickr is dead, and there are google+, facebook, and instagram for that purpose.
thoughts ->
What makes a good photo?
June 9, 2012
I'm not quite satisfied with my photos lately. Thus I compiled a few notes for myself:
- Good light is important but not sufficient, if the scene is boring and there's no vision behind.
- It helps to let the others have a peek into your personal life but beware of being show-offy. If you are, it may deserve you attention (think celebrities) but not respect.
- Get out of your home, head to nature at best. It is not only beautiful but there's much more freedom to photograph people than it is in the squeezed city streets. A small person amidst vast landscape somehow makes a powerful statement.
- Don't shoot random people in the street if there's no personal connection between you and them. It's not artistic, it's boring. Especially the 15th+ picture.
- Try to have a story behind each photo. In that way, it becomes unique, not just the same picture that everyone else has taken in the same place.
- Think. Ahead. Being spontaneous is often rewarding but if you are at least a bit familiar with the photoshoot circumstances, it helps to spend a while thinking what picture would you like to bring home. It's less likely that you'll get a great idea afterwards, while lying in the bed in the evening.
- Having decent gear helps, especially with landscape photography, but anything really high-end is very secondary to having a great vision.
- Not sure about photo projects. On one hand, committing to regular photo projects challenges creativity and after all, complies with 6. However, can we really create a memorable moment out of nothing? Probably the best thing would be to make memorable events more frequent in one's life.
Here are a few examples of photos that immediately caught my attention:
anna/marek
Mr Sullivan
eyebex
Kornei
slnka
eros turannos
Bradley Farrish
Katrina Lane
