oh, that empty feeling…..a blank slate…..past accomplishments are but a background blur….new commission, new assignment…..it is always "a mountain to climb" to even get to this state of "nothingness"…the state of being you are in when you actually get a "commission" and then…and then…and then…now what do i do???
the old adage "sometimes you get what you ask for" starts seeming so so true….and when you do have an assignment, you have to figure out how you will do what you are being paid to do….stepping off a plane that has flown you to the other side of the world and walking out on to the hot tarmac and a unfriendly customs officer is not quite the same feeling you have when you are with your buddies having a beer and dreaming of what it would be like if only you had the time and the resources to do a major magazine assignment…..
somehow the most "exotic " places can look pretty ordinary or unfriendly under certain circumstances…..pictures, good pictures, great pictures are much further away than the long plane flight…and it is the great ones that you have been commissioned to shoot…on demand ….right now….no excuses…
so for this you must get "psyched"…..like an athlete before a game…like an actor ready to step on the stage….no matter how much experience you have, you always know that what you are about to do is going to have some new twists and turns and some kinds of problems you have never encountered before….and you will have to solve them…..no excuses…no calls to the editor…you are being commissioned to take great pictures…whatever it takes…whatever the obstacles…now…today….no portfolio review….the real thing….
i remember thinking at one point early in my career that surely a "big time" assignment for say National Geographic would somehow "transform" the subject matter….that the world would somehow be "different" with National Geographic in it…that those "famous photographers" had "better subjects" than i had….nope…disappointment… it was same world as the world of the Topeka (Kansas) Capitol-Journal…only thing different about the world of National Geographic were the much higher expectations of the editors waiting for my work….
more time to shoot?? not really….pictures situations move by just as fast for a magazine photographer as they do if you are working for a daily newspaper or freelancing…..events are events…moments are moments….whether you have a "name" behind you or not….reality is reality….more time in the field, but "more and better" pictures required at the end….and you are all alone…really all alone….no buddies at the bar ….
i now have a three week commission coming up in the first week in august to shoot in seoul, korea…..a Magnum group project…10 of us shooting different topics…mine is korean youth culture…..a major exhibition and Magnum book will follow…..
but here i am now on family vacation and i am starting to get "psyched"…starting to think….not worrying….but not taking it lightly either…..how will i do this??? how will the young people be?? what is the "ballet of the streets" for korea?? do koreans hate being photographed or like being photographed?? i do not know the answers to any of these questions…experience tells me i will be able to figure this out…but, i am thinking, thinking , thinking these two weeks before the shoot….slight apprehension…
i never "assume" i am going to do good work…in my mind , i must make at least 5 very special pictures in a 2-3 week period….i should have dozens of mediocre or "good" pictures…but, mediocre is unacceptable and even "good is not good enough"….i am not talking about satisfying the korean sponsors….i am talking about satisfying myself….coming up to my own standards…i must now get "psyched" to do my very best work….
in this last week i have put a little pressure on you to "produce" in the next few weeks….in this case, we are looking at it as an exercise or as an experiment…but, on the other hand, some potentially significant people for you will be looking to see your work….first impressions are often the only impressions…..you should take this seriously….i would ….
now, my questions for you are these: do you get "wired" and "psyched" before you shoot??? or do you go into a project totally confident and relaxed???
Martin kind of brings up another point I wanted to ask you about, David.
You mention minimal adjustments to your position, inching around to find the right angle and frame, and that makes a lot of sense to me… if you have the time to do it.
What if conditions don’t allow it? Non-cooperative subjects as Martin mentions, of street photos… do you alter your approach or try to force it on the situation as much as you can? And if the former, how do you think your less studied photos compare to the ones you take when time and conditions allow a more methodical approach?
Thanks,
- Giancarlo
hi everyone,
question number two………..most of my pictures have and continue to be from ’self assigned’ projects. the number of commissions i have done is slowly rising. so far my the majority of my favorite pictures have come from my personal work. i think that this is due to the fact that i have created the project, chosen the places to go to, selected the subject in that moment and snap the picture is made – the whole thing is generated by me, for me.
i found that with commissioned work the process is slightly different: i’m making photos for other people. although i’m the one with the camera and i choose what to photograph, there is always that thought in my head that this is for them. its less organic less personal. yet i still try to push the creativity to get as much as i can out of a situation, to make the assignment the ‘job’ as personal as i can. yet there are some pictures that i have made while on an assignment that i really do like. i like the problem solving aspect of it…..the client needs pictures to illustrate an article, my job is to get those pictures, to put the pieces of the puzzle together in order that i can supply them. it feels good when it al comes together.
i think those great pictures are the culmination of the total experience, of being in a place and a moment in time and seeing it all come together, of being ‘in the zone’ and knowing it.
so personally i don’t mind whether its through personal work or an assignment, if it happens i’m happy.
cheers
Jason.
giancarlo…
what i am talking about requires almost no time… i was talking about what happens in “milliseconds”..and my “jockeying for position” is happening in very short periods of time..ten seconds or less…as i said “i am not even talking about moving across the street”…..i am mostly in places where people do not like to be photographed..maybe i was not clear enough..but pls. re-read carefully exactly what i said in previous comment above….
and also please remember two things:
(1) i am self-assigned much of the time as are most magnum photographers
(2) during all of my formative years in photography there was no national geographic and there was no magnum….
but i knew then, as i know now….there was no time, no money, and no excuses…
i never try to alter a situation other than perhaps trying to make friends in a potentially unfriendly situation…just common sense….
but if things look impossible, i just walk
away….go someplace else…you must develop a “sixth sense” for who wants to be photographed and who does not…
and most of the very successful photographers i know are total masters of getting into very difficult situations…..or dealing with potentially conflictive subjects…..
there are two ways to get good “street pictures”…(1)one way is to be “invisible”…(2)the other way is to be totally “non-threatening” or totally “part of the scene…it is hard to be invisible or totally un-noticed….i personally have worked very hard in evolving with choice #2….
one of the things i concentrate most on in my workshops are exactly these issues…the issue of “how to photograph people” is always a stumbling block for most…..
i will try to do as much as i can here to help all of you…however, one of the things i do in my classes that is impossible here, is to get to know the personality of the photographer and then it is easier for me to make practical suggestions about how he or she might think about the way they work…
Up to the beginning of shoot time, I suffer through waves of anxiety, checking and rechecking my gear, reading as much as I possibly can on my subject, and tormenting myself with self-doubt. Once I begin an assignment, however, I quickly get into the rhythm of shooting and a zone of intense awareness. It’s exhilarating and more fun than anything I’ve ever done in my life.
I also think your recent work is stunning. Thanks for being a constant source of inspiration for us all.
Jeff
I have abandoned #1 a while ago. #1 – being invisible just doesn’t work for me. No matter how small the camera is – people notice it. Even if you linger around certain area without a camera just looking around for shooting opportunities people notice you. It is, I think, because you’re not just a passerby without interest in the surroundings. Instead you are a stranger who is interested in the surroundings and that makes people notice you. I think the only way it would work for me if I had a totally concealed camera with unnoticeable remote shutter mechanism, like a pencil or something like that. But we’re moving into very creepy territory here.
I instead keep on improving #2. With this method it doesn’t matter how big your camera is. It is a sincere method too. You are a person with a camera who takes photographs. No deception in your action. Therefore it is ok to look around and observe and to photograph. The trick is then in how do you get your shots without someone taking offense? Let’s just say this technique is a work in progress but I’m doing alright and improving. It sure helps if you project some sort of respect where people think twice before wanting to attack you verbally or worse. It helps to keep moving when possible and it helps to have good communication skill if you talk to strangers.
Thanks David. Makes sense.
Do you have any plans to hold one of your workshop on the West Coast at some point? I’d love to attend one but NYC makes everything a lot more complicated…
Hi, everybody.
How could i be invisible? I’m as tall as you, David, and a little bit larger — from shoulder to feet — and for me it’s almost impossible to go unnoticed. It just gives me one option: being friendly, admitted into the situation. Think that’s the main reason i started to work with amateur artists; actually they love having a photographer this close to them. This project works for me as a training for further, harder situations.
See you all.
hi everybody, hi david, its 1 :30 am in my city, sat28th. willing to find a new day in your blog when i wake up tomorrow!
espero que esto no sea pedir mucho.
by the way,these days i’ve been really psyched, wired, hectic, mad, thrilled, confused, satisfied, not satisfied…with the assigment i’m working on, the one to show you.
I normally take pictures of animals so I try to be invisible most of the time. I was recently in Zimbabwe where it’s a bit different and you can be seen by every thing and they are either happy with you or not. The last night I was there I was in a big log pile when a big musk bull elephant decided to have a close look. Though I was possibly taking the best pictures I’ve ever taken I had to stop because the shutter noise was winding him up and he looked like he wanted to kill me. I was also taught some manners by a lion mum which was a heart stopping moment. In general I find understanding animal behaviour easier than people.
“now, my questions for you are these: do you get “wired” and “psyched” before you shoot??? or do you go into a project totally confident and relaxed???”
Hi David! Good question for a very impulsive soul as I am :-D. Usually I just go and shoot. Just leave my adrenalin wild… Because if I think of it in advance, I really get nervous as I am not confident at all with my work, you know that….
Now I’m working in a project. I do think of it before and make some sketchs, but I can tell you that I do not go there feeling confident and relaxed, and seeing the picture later, you can tell that I wasn’t feeling confident….
But now I pussed myself into a big assignment: I’m planning to go alone to Senegal at the beginning of september with no idea of what I will find there but with the hope to photograph life and soul. I’m, in a way, scared because I’m going alone with a big camera but feeling that I must prove myself that I can do it… so now, while I’m getting “psyched” I feel excited but I feel scared. Will I bring with me all the things I expect? Any advices about shooting in a place like this? hmmm, I think I am getting kind of nervous. Is this a phase of the “psyched stage”?
Good luck on your assignment in Korea. That really sounds interesting!! Sure you’ll enjoy it with or without getting psyched! :-D
Have a nice trip and come back with great pictures!
Ana
Well, all yhe work Ive evr done was for me so I never get nervous:) Just excited every time I go out with the camera. I would love to feel that nervousness though and get paid for it:) Maybe some day.
David, I sent you an e-mail. When you get to Seoul please get in touch with me so I can bore you with some of my snaps. Anyway, looking forward to meeting you when you have time.
Thanks David for your answer to my question above. I have a question for everybody here:
In an article that appeared in the Digital Journalist, it was written that, in a few years from now, still news photographers would not exist anymore. News photographers, according to this article, woud film the scene, and then extract still images from there.
My question to you all: why taking still digital images when we could extract still images from a movie (that would contain sound as well). In other words, are we seeing the last years of still photography as we know it?
Thanks to all for your answers to come.
Arie
Hello all,
Just walked in the door from my trip to the Pacific Northwest, Washington State with the kids and family and then on to four days in B.C. for a romantic getaway in a fabulous spa. I got some absolutely fabulous famiy photos!
Regarding psyching up or getting nervous before a shoot–I go on automatic pilot and walk out to meet the unexpected. This trip was a very good example of how a shoot unfolds for me. I knew nothing of the area I was going to, B.C., as we decided at the last minute to go. I went to bed the first night with the water up on shore in the bay and woke up the next morning with it gone. Wonderful shots of shapes and shadows and mountains behind that created great opportunites for shooting with my 100-400. This trip that is the only lens I used. I always seem to go out with one goal specific such as using a certain lens and fit the shoot into that goal. I have had some fabulous photos come from this type of experience.
So in answer to your question, I pay attention to instructions and jump in. Blind usually but it always works out.
Lee
At the moment, all my works is personal project. You know for yourself when are you get The Shot. I was lucky enough to have the freedom on few commission jobs because of my style and vision. Even I cannot help stretch my limit and experiment some aspects and techniques I would like to try. Some works and pays off, some frustrates me. Every project is a new challenge. That is the direction I would like to go.
At the moment, all my works is personal project. You know for yourself when are you get The Shot. I was lucky enough to have the freedom on few commission jobs because of my style and vision. Even I cannot help stretch my limit and experiment some aspects and techniques I would like to try. Some works and pays off, some frustrates me. Every project is a new challenge. That is the direction I would like to go.
At the moment, all my works is personal project. You know for yourself when are you get The Shot. I was lucky enough to have the freedom on few commission jobs because of my style and vision. Even I cannot help stretch my limit and experiment some aspects and techniques I would like to try. Some works and pays off, some frustrates me. Every project is a new challenge. That is the direction I would like to go.
At the moment, all my works is personal project. You know for yourself when are you get The Shot. I was lucky enough to have the freedom on few commission jobs because of my style and vision. Even I cannot help stretch my limit and experiment some aspects and techniques I would like to try. Some works and pays off, some frustrates me. Every project is a new challenge. That is the direction I would like to go.
Arie- I saw that article in digital journalist and I read a forum discussion about it. I think the main point made during that forum discussion (including several professional photojournalists) was that it depends on what YOUR goal is: web-based photojournalism (e.g. CNN, MSNBC) vs. print-based documentary and/or artistic work (eg books, magazines etc).
For a web-based photojournalist, all the editors seem to want is a short video clip and some low res stills. I’ve tried extracting a still from a video using just my little P&S digicam and “Grab” on my Mac. It’s very easy to get an image of a selected moment with more than adequate quality for a web news report. But it’s a far cry from anything I’d want to print and hang on a wall…
Arie,
I agree with Asher and would add that in the blogosphere and in web/TV-based photojournalism video & video/shots will increase their foothold, but even with HD cams becoming cheap and available, they won’t replace cameras as the premier shooting tool for stills.
BTW, it seems to me we’ve seen something similar with DSLR and RF cameras, and you see what’s happening with the M8.
If anything, I think we’ll se a hybridization of cams, (video + still) with video buffers becoming larger and higher res.
GC
“…are we seeing the last years of still photography as we know it?”
I think every generation has watched still photography change drastically “as we know it.”
However, I doubt still photography will go the way of the Dodo. Trying to capture that “moment” with a Leica or a Nikon or a 4X5 view camera carries a thrill and a creative rush that is unlike anything you get with a video camera.
For me it is anyway.
martin….
i have two kinds of patience…one is the kind where i am “waiting” and not taking any pictures at all….this patience could be for 5 minutes or for 5 days ….the other is when i am finally shooting and perhaps taking many pictures , but not the “right” picture…..but i have noticed that my very very best pictures tend to be pictures where i just have a single frame…only one…not anything close….when i have time to shoot many pictures that are similar, it feels good at the time because it seems like i am really getting “insurance”…many good pictures of the same thing…but then, later this “insurance” looks boring or not quite right…..i have also looked at the contact sheets of many magnum photographers and i see the same there too…the very best pictures are literally little slices of life that come and go quickly never to return…pieces of “magic” that required intense concentration, but then “came and went” so fast that they could barely be captured…..but, were “capturred” because of this patience and then intensity….
for all…
i do want to discuss this whole business of stills vs. video…but it is a whole new topic….i must catch a plane in about an hour , so no time for me this minute….but i will be back in new york on wednesday, so i will bring it up again then….if i forget, remind me!!!!!
Oh, about being invisible or non-threatening… it completely depends on what you want to shoot. I would say that only the invisibility works for proper street photogaphy, which is usually cold and anonymous. Being non-threatening has the problem or advantage (depending on what you do) that you’ll end up meeting the people. But it’s sort of great when you can carry a medium format camera and take pictures without anybody asking questions because already some people asked questions and now you are simply part of the scene. Not sure if it’s clear. Yesterday I was walking around when I met Iraqis celebrating their victory in the Asian Football Cup. I just joined for shooting, and after some people encouraged me to shoot as much as possible, it was simply a big party. Or another day I was just following some of my usual suspects and when I kept on shooting when new people joined in they just looked once at the camera, nobody made any comment, and stuff sorted.
Hi David,
I attended a seminar in Bermuda with Flip Nicklin (he shot stories foe the Natioanl Geograohic) and he told us that a picture is in fact three pictures: close shot, medium shot and far shot (that gives the context).
Maybe you believe that your one time shot pictures are the best because you did not get “tired” (=”overworked”?) of the subject. Maybe the single shot is more spontaneous, which allows your internal self to express itself on the picture (sorry I could have said this better in french…but I am trying!)
Arie
David,
To your point about feeling your one off images being stronger than series… I’ve often felt the same thing and attributed to the genius of the unconscious, the zen state of being in the moment without trying and without effort (”Zen in the Art of Archery ” is a great little book on the subject). And that’s difficult to sustain for any length of time — for me — while working a series.
Have a good flight,
- Giancarlo
Hi Giancarlo,
funny that you mentionned this book, Henri Cartier Bresson loved this book, it was very close from his own views on photography. I read and re read this book several times.
Arie
Giancarlo- you might enjoy “Zen Keys” by Thich Nhat Hanh, if you have not already read it.
Arie,
Did not know that about HCB, but it makes sense that he would find that parallel… It is a wonderful little book and I have read it a few times myself.
Asher,
I have not read “Zen Keys” but I’ll check it out. Thanks for the hint!
David,
Now you have 2 zen books to add to your list!
- Giancarlo
David
When I’m working I never try be invisible, now I just try to talk with people or just participate. I hinge my camera on neck, everybody knows that I will taking pictures, and I’m waiting, and waiting for one or two frames (or more if it’s possible). I had so many unpleasant situation like we all I suppose so I try bypass it. I’m very sensitive on this.
Last weekend I was working in gothic festival in little middle-aged castle. Fans of dark gothic music have faced each other there. Everybody had strange dress like on Halloween or carnival. (I don’t know word describing it “they changes?” )
On this meeting everybody take pictures each other. So I was totally free and I was felt great!
There were many photojournalist but I was one of first on place and all the time, so many people treated me like one of them. I had huge smile on my face all the time because I truly like them all, and they try to look very serious (dark) but when they see me everybody smiles to me too (they are most dark-positive-sunshine people) . This was best environment for work I ever could dream.
I was learned many things in this weekend. I work on positive films so I must waiting for results. I tested make something other than just portrait people in freak dress. Shapes, light, crowd…
We’ll see, we’ll see…
Peace for all
Martin