I also feel total unpretentiousness on the part of Petri’s approach to his subject (however he wished to define it), first, and presenting it to us, second. All very poetic in the end…

Congratulations. I really enjoyed this essay. I did not see the images in color and I don’t think I want to. I want to keep these images in my mind just like this. Great tone and mood with the music. Were you influenced at all by William Klein’s street photography? This type work for me is photography for photography’s sake. Does it have to be commercial or marketable? I think those of us that read Burn are the market and this is the marketplace. We just need to figure out a way to finance the work.

All the best,

Frank

Congratulations Petri.

I love this introduction Petri. I also feel that street photography is a theraputical experience and it’s wonderful that you like wandering and letting your senses and instincts guide you and your camera rather than worrying about creating a concept or telling a story. These things will most likely arise from your exploration by themselves. In my opinion this is the most difficult kind of photography to do well, but when it is, nothing else can compare. I like some of your photos, especially the ones where people are caught off gaurd, and are perhaps not looking into the lens. I think that you can push these spontaneous photos farther, perhaps with more things happening in the frame. I’m not sure if I like the portraits combined with the other style. Going back to Erica’s essay a few days ago, this mixture seemed to work well…I’m not sure why..perhaps some others here can comment on this.

Nice job…keep walking, walking, walking and looking.

I still need to fight with this strange Czech keyboard so the text might look strange… Can you believe that there are many keys in this keyboard with for example 5 or 6 different marks in one key :)

The video was made in this way that I asked to my brother to make a song to go with my usual photography style. I didnt need to explain too much…we know each others styles so well. I asked for about 4 minute song and that maybe caused a little bit of problem in sequencing…and I had to give there couple of ‘filler’ images… I think the whole thing is just a little bit too long. To be honest, when I heard from Burn that they wanted to publish it, I had to do it again from scratch (well, I had the mp3 and jpg files in my computer) because I had deleted the whole thing from my computer because it was not perfect, haha…

On technical side few words. I am an camera geek. I change my opinions abruptly. I might shoot with rangefinders for few months exclusively on B&W and it always comes from clear sky the idea that now it’s time to shoot color. Thats the end of B&W. Then this color period can last few months until I go back. Therefore I have that same stuff photographed in B&W, color, 35mm, 6×7, 6×6, panorama… Maybe I was lazy or too tired to think anymore about mixing color and B&W when I did the video (because I had just done the book version before this) and that was also one reason why I gave everything on B&W. It was a little bit easier this way. I admit that some color pictures work better on color, but what is done is done. I think that all selected color files also work in B&W.

…actually, even if in this video I tried to sequence the pictures with the music and I little bit grouped pictures by their content, normally I like mixing not only color and B&W, but also mixing everything else. In my newer work I decided to mix really personal photos with landscapes, portraits of strangers, street…everything. But I have found out that for example in Slovakia where I am studying right now, this kind of thinking is not too popular. People want to put pictures into groups… I am not sure if I agree on that idea… I get bored easily if things are not mixed.

— Pomara wrote: It’s great for what it is, but I have to ask, does this have a market? Should we enjoy Passers By for what it is or should Petri’s project be judged for it’s potential to entice a wider, paying audience. —

One of the main things why I wanted to use these street pictures in this video was to try thinking what to do with the work… It’s not journalism for sure… I cannot sell these images to newspapers or magazines. No one needs this stuff. Maybe it is just for galleries and books when the material is good enough. I dunno.

Great work! The photos really capture the loneness that we all feel at times when we are alone and lost in our thoughts. And the music is very beautiful and works perfectly with this series. I don’t find your portraits jarring. They work for me. I think they put a face to these strangers especially with the change in music (more upbeat). If that is what you were intending I got it. But maybe you need to cut the weaker ones and keep the strongest. Maybe you could start to end the essay with the portraits and then the final shot could be just one overall street shot rather than several as you did in your sequencing. I also think the photos look good in black and white. Your work makes me want to hit the streets. Thanks for sharing and it keep up the good work!

I would go as far as to say Street photography is probably the only genre of photography I dislike. I have never seen a point to it, always considering it the domain of stalkers and amatuers.
But then i saw your work. My god Petri- I finally get it. As I sit watching the multimedia over and over again i can see the reflection of my smile over the black border so many of your images. This work is unified, poignant and not at all pretensious.
Congratulations and thank you for teaching me in 4.06 minutes to open my mind again.

Congratulations!!!

This is wonderful work. I’m very moved, and like Jim, I’m not a big fan of street photography, but this is wonderful stuff.

The music!! Perfect! I’m sharing this link with my music group.

I’d love to see you take advantage of the music to punctuate your slide changes a bit more effectivly, but other than that small suggestion, I love what I see here.

I also enjoyed STRAP very much. What a wonderful discovery. Good luck to you in your future.

I assume that this is to be taken as a personal POV. It’s great for what it is, but I have to ask, does this have a market? Should we enjoy Passers By for what it is or should Petri’s project be judged for it’s potential to entice a wider, paying audience.

Petri thanks for sharing.

I absolutely LOVE this essay! Yes, it’s longer than we usually see here on Burn but because of the unique blend of your moody images and your brother’s soulful music, it just doesn’t seem too long. At least not to me. You are an exceptional photgrapher, my friend, one whose eye picks out just the right moment, details, gesture, atmosphere and setting. And your brother is equally talented with his music. What a combo! Hope you will continue to collaborate. I can also see MM pieces incorporating stills, video and music. I can’t wait to see where you go from here!

And the b/w worked wonderfully well for mme. I’m sure your images are excellent in color too, but the mood of this piece called for b/w. Especially with such soulful music. I’m afraid color would have drawn too much attention to itself and upset the fine balance between image and music.

Patricia

This work was wonderous to experience. It, along with the garage sale essay would be my Burn favourites so far. Congratulations it was a great melding of images and sound.

Thank you.

I can’t find any decent way to scroll through the images one by one though, without the music. I would like to be able to. I clicked here, I clicked there, I clicked everywhere looking for a way, but the only way that I could find was to grab the little “play” ball while the show is still in progress and drag it backwards.

In this regard, I felt a bit trapped, unable to properly explore your pictures as individual works, the way I wanted to.