We have a word in German – Weltanschauung – literally for seeing the world, but in the meaning of philosophy of life or ideology. The point is: To know and understand the world, you have to see the world. The best way to do this, is to travel. It’s an expensive affair, but you ‘ve got to spoil yourself sometimes.
Scooter behind Sagrada Familia
Two weeks ago I traveled to Barcelona, three days for exploration, rest and relaxation.
When Olivier Ficco from strassenfotos asked me that question last year, I couldn’t answer first. “Best memory” isn’t the same like “best picture”. If he had asked for the last, the answer wouldn’t have been much easier. Is it sharp, well composed, vibrant, contrasty? Is it often viewed, liked or commented at my Instagram or Flickr stream? Regardless of the content and the technical quality I like pictures, wich tell a story about the subject or the photographer itself. For every photo I’ve taken on the streets is a story – a memory – behind.
The first weekend last month in Berlin was springtime for a day or two. The streets, cafés and hotspots where overcrowded with people. A perfect opportunity for taking pictures. So I grabbed my camera, backup-camera, batteries and hit the streets.
A few weeks ago I got a message from Matt.
Hi – my name is Matt, and I work at Artsy. While researching Henri Cartier-Bresson, I found your page: http://fleetingpix.net/blog/color-vs-bw-in-street-photography/.
I am reaching out to certain website and blog owners that publish content in line with our mission to make all the world’s art accessible to anyone. We hope to continue promoting arts education and accessibility with your help.
Last week I bought a fantastic book with photographs by Fred Herzog. This German-born and Vancouver-based photographer is known for his street photography in color at a time, when mostly black-and-white images where commonly accepted as art. I first came to his work about three years ago and was very impressed by his pictures about daily life in Vancouver.
Sometimes I turn my head away from happy people, full of envy. How can they be so happy and why I’m not. Where is my happiness, how can I get it back? In those moments I feel like I’m the unhappiest guy on earth.
2016 was year number three in shooting in the streets for me. Again I discovered and learned a lot. In January I met the famous street photographer Thomas Leuthard at a photo walk in Berlin at -3°C. I took only a few pictures because I had to ask and talk too much, but it was a great experience to meet and talk to other street photographers.
When I go thru online street photography galleries, I mostly find titles or image captions only with place and date like “New York, 2016”. Eric Kim told me in a workshop, that this approach is more documentary, chronicle and professional. The idea behind this: A picture in (street) photography has to „speak“ for itself. Instead of finding his own story a certain title could direct a viewer to a story, that only the photographer has seen.
For about two years now I’ve been shooting street photography. I walked hours after hours and miles after miles to find a decisive moment, an interesting spot, a story to tell – the hardest and the best part of the game at the same time.
You can find tons of suggestions about camera gear in the internet, especially for street photographers. The more I do and practice street photography, the more I realize, that literally any kind of camera is suitable for street photography, even smartphones. It is less a question of brand or specification than more of purpose and practice.