We as street photographers aren’t documentary or reportage photographers. We are not trying to create images that attempt to show an “objective” view of reality. Rather, the images we create are generally for ourselves–portraying our own view of reality.
I think what makes a photographers’ work interesting is how he/she sees the world. I think that photographers should have an opinion about the society around him/herself and show it through his/her photographs. I think that striving to search for “objectivity” will simply make one’s work boring and not very interesting.
Klein’s street photography was very subjective. He traveled to places all around the world and photographed things how he saw them. He shares how he approached street photography in New York:
“In New York I took responsibility for the people I photographed. I felt I knew them – the people, the way they relate to each other, the streets, the buildings, the city. And I tried to make sense of it all. I just photographed what I saw though its true I used the camera as a weapon in New York.
When Klein visited Tokyo, he approached street photography there much differently:
“In Tokyo [the camera] was more of a mask, a disguise. I had only the vaguest clue to what was going on. I wasn’t there to judge anything. I was an outsider and felt pretty uncomfortable sometimes. Have you ever eaten an official Japanese dinner for four hours on your knees? It was different in New York.”
Klein also explains how he believed in getting personally involved in his photography:
“In a way its true I had a lot of old scores to settle. I was involved. According to the Henri Cartier-Bresson scriptures, you’re not to intrude or editorialize, but I don’t see how that’s possible or why it should be. I loved and hated New York. Why shut up about it?”
With Cartier-Bresson being almost like a demigod in the photography world, he set most of the standards for photographers. But Klein stayed true to himself and rebelled. This is what he had to say about HCB:
“I liked Cartier-Bresson’s pictures, but I didn’t like his set of rules. So I reversed them. I thought his view that photography must be objective was nonsense. Because the photographer who pretends he’s wiping all the slates clean in the name of objectivity doesn’t exist.”
Klein also makes the great point on how photographers are subjective when photographing a scene:
“How can photography be noncommittal? Cartier-Bresson chooses the photograph this subject instead of that, he blows up another shot of the subject, and he chooses another one for publication. He’s making a statement. He’s making decisions and choices every second. I thought, if you’re doing that, make it show.”
Klein talks more about how photographers are prejudiced, and how the camera adds to that prejudice:
“Id say that such a person wouldn’t let the camera express itself. He’s prejudiced. A camera can record the passage of time, if only for a fraction of a second. Why say it shouldn’t? Besides, if you look carefully at life, you see blur. Shake your hand blur is a part of life. But why must a photograph be a mirror?
Most things I did with photography are considered acceptable today – except maybe this use of a wide-angle. It seemed more normal to me than the 50mm lens. You could even say the 50mm is an imposition of a limited point of view. But neither lens is really normal or correct. Becausein life we see out of two eyes, whereas the camera has only one. So whatever lens is used, all photographs are deformations of what you actually see with your eyes.”
We as street photographers aren’t documentary or reportage photographers. We are not trying to create images that attempt to show an “objective” view of reality. Rather, the images we create are generally for ourselves–portraying our own view of reality.
I think what makes a photographers’ work interesting is how he/she sees the world. I think that photographers should have an opinion about the society around him/herself and show it through his/her photographs. I think that striving to search for “objectivity” will simply make one’s work boring and not very interesting.
Klein’s street photography was very subjective. He traveled to places all around the world and photographed things how he saw them. He shares how he approached street photography in New York:
“In New York I took responsibility for the people I photographed. I felt I knew them – the people, the way they relate to each other, the streets, the buildings, the city. And I tried to make sense of it all. I just photographed what I saw though its true I used the camera as a weapon in New York.
When Klein visited Tokyo, he approached street photography there much differently:
“In Tokyo [the camera] was more of a mask, a disguise. I had only the vaguest clue to what was going on. I wasn’t there to judge anything. I was an outsider and felt pretty uncomfortable sometimes. Have you ever eaten an official Japanese dinner for four hours on your knees? It was different in New York.”
Klein also explains how he believed in getting personally involved in his photography:
“In a way its true I had a lot of old scores to settle. I was involved. According to the Henri Cartier-Bresson scriptures, you’re not to intrude or editorialize, but I don’t see how that’s possible or why it should be. I loved and hated New York. Why shut up about it?”
With Cartier-Bresson being almost like a demigod in the photography world, he set most of the standards for photographers. But Klein stayed true to himself and rebelled. This is what he had to say about HCB:
“I liked Cartier-Bresson’s pictures, but I didn’t like his set of rules. So I reversed them. I thought his view that photography must be objective was nonsense. Because the photographer who pretends he’s wiping all the slates clean in the name of objectivity doesn’t exist.”
Klein also makes the great point on how photographers are subjective when photographing a scene:
“How can photography be noncommittal? Cartier-Bresson chooses the photograph this subject instead of that, he blows up another shot of the subject, and he chooses another one for publication. He’s making a statement. He’s making decisions and choices every second. I thought, if you’re doing that, make it show.”
Klein talks more about how photographers are prejudiced, and how the camera adds to that prejudice:
“Id say that such a person wouldn’t let the camera express itself. He’s prejudiced. A camera can record the passage of time, if only for a fraction of a second. Why say it shouldn’t? Besides, if you look carefully at life, you see blur. Shake your hand blur is a part of life. But why must a photograph be a mirror?
Most things I did with photography are considered acceptable today – except maybe this use of a wide-angle. It seemed more normal to me than the 50mm lens. You could even say the 50mm is an imposition of a limited point of view. But neither lens is really normal or correct. Becausein life we see out of two eyes, whereas the camera has only one. So whatever lens is used, all photographs are deformations of what you actually see with your eyes.”
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..