Snow Go !

Following predictions of snow on last nights weather forecast I prepared myself and kit for an early start this morning, but things did not go to plan.

Let me explain, back in June I was going about my day to day stuff when I was struck by a view that I thought could play a part in one of my pictures once winter arrived. The idea was retained in the memory bank (not the best place to keep ideas safe) until conditions were suitable. I realise that this level of planning might pour cold water on the myth that all Street Photography is spontaneous and shot almost from the hip, "Street Togs"  should not only see what is before them but what might exist should the light or conditions change in the future  .I admit that more than 6 months is extreme  but the take away point I'm trying to make is that locations can change for the better within hours when shadow patterns change etc.  We should also be looking for photographic potential and developing ideas for the future all the time.

Try to see past the picture opportunities that exist in the here and now and think about how views will develop during the seasons of the year and the early or late parts of the day.

Meanwhile back to my morning, the alarm goes off at 7.00am, I awake bleary eyed and peep through the blinds, I am greeted by what can only be described as an apology of a snow storm  The shoot is off, I pull the duvet cover higher and sigh at the thought of this shot escaping me again !

I've just got up and shared my frustration here, I feel better now !

Thank you.

Keep it real !

Hello, Hello, Hello...

Hi and welcome to a new year on the UK Street Photography website, i hope you lot have recovered from your seasonal excess and are ready to go for another 12 months of all things Street Photography.

I hope Santa was kind to you and that your book collection has grown over the festive period, mine certainly has although "Grim Street" is still not a book I own. I have no doubt that some of you probably acquired some new kit over the last few weeks, I hope it does what you expect it to do for you.

January is a great time to make plans, the Holiday commercials are already appearing on our TV's trying to tempt us to exotic locations all over the planet. I have managed to resist these offers so far. I have made plans to shoot a few UK based events this year and I would encourage togs to start making plans to shoot at least one major UK event this year in "Street" style . Why not visit a run-down coastal town at some point as the picture opportunities are great ! I would also encourage togs to visit the Durham Miners Gala as it is a great day out, Durham is a great city. Ask yourself what would you really like to shoot this year and make it happen.

Have you set your photographic goals this year, do you plan to photographically drift through the next 12 months or do you have things you want to achieve ?  Street Photography is the most accessible and democratic of art forms, set your goals, they are achievable with hard work and persistence. Create a web site, enter one of the awards, get published or just reach out to other togs in your area and plan an exhibition, anything is possible.

Finally a gripe, I realise that as togs we speak in pictures not in words but it would be nice if at least a few of my many visitors to this site said hello ! Share your views or plans for 2015.

The pic below is not really a Street pic, it is meant to reflect the mentality of the lone blogger.

Keep it real and say  - HELLO..!

.PS; For those who have not done it yet, buy a external hard drive and start backing up your pix to both the drive and the cloud. Drives that do both at the same time are now available. 

Bye, Bye 2014 !

Well its almost done, 2014 has been and gone . 

Personally and photographically the year has been okay for me. I managed to get through the year without confrontation on the street and captured a few decent pix, one of which will be exhibited in a major London gallery next year.

Recognition of my photographic efforts is not that important to me as I believe in my work and create it for its own sake rather than the pursuit of praise or worse still money. Having said that it is reassuring when others show appreciation for the images I make, as I , like many other togs have times of doubt and suffer creative lows, its good to know I'm not wasting my time and that others are connecting with the work. At the end of the day Exhibitions are a great way to increase awareness of my pictures.

As the years pass the one thing I become more concious of is the value of time, when I was in my twenty s I believed I would live forever and lacked any sort of urgency in my photographic endeavours..  I now value time above everything, as the penny has finally dropped that life is not infinite and a time will come when only my pictures remain.

This realisation certainly helps me to focus and prioritise.

I understand that some new togs need to develop a level of confidence before going alone on the street and may choose to join others in order to help develop a level of independence and creative vision. I am planning to offer a few  one to one Street Photography sessions during 2015, this will be a very limited service and will hopefully help aspiring Street togs get off on the right foot.

I have a number of shoots planned for 2015 and will probably return to my native North East in order to complete my "Another day Off" series.

The shot below was inspired by the long shadows offered by the winter sun, it was the last picture I made in 2014.

Happy New Year !

David Barrett

Merry Christmas

Many thanks to all of of you who have popped into this blog from time to time this year. I hope the year has been good to you and look forward to your visits next year.

I hope you have achieved at least some of your photographic ambitions this year and that the Street Photography Gods have blessed you with at least a couple of unusual moments,  I really do believe that some of the moments I capture are gifted to me, but I do not know from where or who ! Long may it continue.

Remember that Christmas is not a great time for everyone, if your out shooting over the Holidays do not exploit the vulnerable . Show some kindness, it will be reflected back.

My final picture of 2014 explores the influence of American culture on England and the commercialisation of Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Santa's List !

Following much deliberation I managed to complete my letter to Santa and have released it up the chimney, I hope it arrives safely.

I have asked Santa for the latest Winogrand book, it appears to be quite a significant publication. and will give me a great opportunity to study the work of this prolific American photographer who has inspired so many street togs. I have also listed the William Klein book ABC on my Christmas list and  live in hope that a book by Saul Leiter might  appear under my Christmas tree. I would also love to get my hands on a copy of Grim Street but I don't expect that even Santa can sort that one.

Looking closer to home I am anticipating ownership of the Chris Steele- Perkins book England ,My England as I believe it will complete my collection of British Photography books which already includes studies of England  by Tony Ray Jones, Ian Berry and Martin Parr.

While on the subject of English photographic studies I have decided to continue my humble English project "Another day off" throughout 2015, this will be my fourth year of this project but it is no real hardship as I love the subject matter of England and the English.

Finally I am expecting some news this month regarding my "English pictures" but I am unable to say more at the moment, I have included a scene from last years International Mummers Festival below to try and give this blog a more festive feel.

Keep it real !

Christmas Theme

I have decided to try and create a few street pix working around a Christmas theme over the next few weeks. I have no idea how many images I'll manage but I hope it will become a welcome distraction from the festive madness that appears to have started already.

I went out today to see what I could see and once again I was a bit apprehensive about the quality of the available light, it would be better described as " available dark" !

I cranked up the iso to 800 and knew I would have to rely on squeezing every bit out of my raw files later if anything worthwhile was to be achieved, the Xmas street lighting above my head looked as if it might feature in at least one of my shots so I took up a low camera position to try and catch a few passers bye .

I had noticed the star shaped light and wondered if I might be lucky enough to get three men as my main subjects in the foreground to try and suggest a sort of modern nativity vibe (3 wise  men) I eventually came away with the shot below, I might return to this location and see if I can better this one.

Anyway have a good weekend and keep it real !

Rural Street Photography ?

I'm a little uncertain about the title for this post but I shall plough on regardless, although SP is certainly the child of urban living I do think the rural lifestyle throws up opportunity's for togs with the right mindset to exploit moments that are almost exclusive due to the small population of street photographers in rural communities. 

The greatest problem rural based togs experience is the density of population, as in many ways SP is a numbers game and highly populated locations offer the most opportunities.

Rural locations certainly offer fewer chances for togs to capture worthwhile images but I believe a change of approach can pay off !

Many of the folk who live in our city's and towns head for the country side to relax and participate in leisure activities giving togs the chance to capture great moments of people in what can be surreal situations.

I would also remind togs that now and again a picture can be created without people that might still deliver a response from viewers.

I captured the image below yesterday and post it here because it makes me smile, I hope it makes you smile too.

Keep it real  !

Walking Home After Eating "U" !

Integrity or Creativity ?

The clocks have gone back here in the UK and the Street Photography days are getting shorter and this presents a bit of a dilemma for togs who try not to intervene with their subject matter.To flash or not to flash that is the question ?

I must admit I prefer to shoot straight but the shortened days and flat oppressive light is making me think what was previously unthinkable for me !

I went out today in search of moments but captured only 2 frames of the same subject , in short my day was tough and I did think about using flash but resisted, despite my fondness for the work of Marc Cohen I just did not feel comfortable using a light source that is not a natural part of the moment although I am happy to use artificial light sources that belong to a scene.

The question I am wrestling with comes down to integrity or creativity ? as I am convinced that flash combined with blur can produce interesting images, in fact I'm no stranger to the technique but that harks back to a time when I was motivated by the bottom line and in the business of supply and demand. I am increasingly concerned about protecting the integrity of my work, I believe  introducing a light source that is foreign to a scene diminishes the element of truth and brings into question the ability of an image to be representative of a moment .

I think I will shoot with flash on the street at some point but I don't think it fits with my current series , I will use it for visual effect and I will be aware that I have polluted the moment and sacrificed truth for pictorial reasons.

The picture below was taken today, no prizes for guessing where the inspiration for this one came from.     Keep it real !

PS :No ringflash was used in the making of this work !

A Quote

"I have tried to show the sadness and the humour in a gentle madness that prevails in people. The situations are sometimes ambiguous and unreal, and the juxtaposition of elements seemingly unrelated, and yet the people are real."

Tony Ray-Jones

Creative Camera & British Street Photography

Following my last blog which promoted the acquisition of photography art books rather than photographic kit, I would like to pay tribute to one of my favourite photographic publications ever.

Creative Camera magazine was published between 1964 and 1999 and was a cornerstone of British art photography, it was published by the Coo Press which was famed for racing pigeon publications and represented the beginning of the Great British photographic revolution !

I am old enough to remember being confronted by this publication and have to admit that as a teenager I found the imagery quite challenging and just did not get it !  Looking back I now realise that my visual photographic vocabulary was not developed well enough for me to even begin to understand or meet the the challenge of many of the early portfolios;  Ralph Gibson, Paul Rogers, Chris Killip and Homer Sykes:  all featured in the early days of Creative Camera along side historic photographers like HCB and Eugine Atget.

Colin Osman, Pete Turner and the legendary Bill Jay should all be commended for not only driving this quirky publication forward but for helping to lay the foundations of what became British Art Photography against a background of technique / kit based amateur photography publications and an establishment that had not embraced photography as art at this time . The democracy of internet publishing was a long way off back in the 1970's, the golden period for this iconic publication in my opinion.

Creative Camera magazines can still be found on internet auction sites alongside the 5 Creative camera year books which I believe are extremely relevant to 21st century UK street photography and might still challenge many photographers understanding now , Creative Camera brought readers a important overview of where photography was at this time and suggested what it could be …

Should you wish to understand how we got to where we are now and discover the publication that gave Martin Parr, Tony Ray- Jones and many others early opportunities to be seen by a wider audience you should become acquainted with Creative Camera you will be surprised by the quality of reproduction and the vision of the publishers & contributing photographers.

As the Sex Pistols rocked the musical values of Britain , Creative Camera was preparing for a revolution of photographic anarchy in the UK !

Keep it real !