Streets and Their Backgrounds

This will be my last posting for 2013. I thought a few observations about the choice of a picture's background would be appropriate for end of year musing...

While in street photography one does not have the luxury to take time and frame a shot, it is often possible to find a background you want to have for your story. Then it is a question of patience, luck and quick clicking to freeze a story with that background. I have chosen a few shots from here and there to show what all this means for me.

This was a band in Paris, under the Tour Eiffel. There was enough movement among the players, and a background of steel, horizontal and vertical. I developed the picture at a slightly warmer temperature to give additional grain and fuzziness to the movement.

Atop the Table Mountain in Cape town, South Africa, a tourist was taking a picture of her travel companion. The clothing lines were smooth and appropriate for a B&W shot. But the background was just perfect for texture and contrast. The story would have been lost if they were facing the ocean. I still wonder, however, if she was smiling.

This one from Porto, Portugal. I liked the graffiti and the lines of the setting (horizontal, vertical, strait, curves, smooth, rough, etc). I stayed there for a long while waiting for someone to walk into the picture with a story. But that day no one walked by. So, I took a picture of the background to remind me that there was no story in that picture! It is said that a street photographer follows the same strategies as a hunter, and that often comes back home empty handed.

Sometimes simple lines capture a 3-D feeling most appropriately. This one from Prague, Czech Republic. I think the story would have been different if the priest had a straight posture like the soldier, as everything else is in cold squares, rectangles and vertical lines.

A simple gathering of teenage girls is most un-telling for a picture. But when they look at their shoes with different body languages, it makes it worthwhile to frame. A waist-level camera, in this case a Mamiya 645 1000s, can be very helpful for such quick shots. This one from Baltimore, Maryland.

I liked the brick wall, the arch and the columns as background to the art-deco shape of the bench. Yet, I needed a subject in front of them! This was in Taipei, at the National Taiwan University campus. I passed by that spot a few times, between classes during the afternoon, but could not get a picture. Just as I was about to leave for the day, this woman walked slowly toward the bench. It was a clear day but she had an umbrella- so I had to wait and see what she was up to. She took her shoes off, parked the umbrella just so, and assumed an visibly uncomfortable posture for a person in need of rest. I then realized that the bench had very short backs, and only on each side. The symmetrical lines of her posture were in perfect harmony with the background. Sometimes art-deco may not lead to comfort!

Finally a picture from Vienna, Austria. A night shot with a 1948 Canon B-II rangefinder and a 50mm 1.9 Serenar collapsible lens, wide open. One can guess what the man may be thinking, but the expression on the woman's face remains enigmatic. The wide-open lens gave the softness and very shallow depth-of-field to the background making it more fantasy-like.

December 24, 2013
©Vahé Kazandjian, 2013

Women in Arizona

I did not plan to take pictures of women during an Arizona trip, but the ones I chose ended up about women telling stories about Apache Junction,Tucson, Mesa and Flagstaff.

The first one was on the road from Tucson to Apache Junction. Deep gorges, cactus, desert, sun. This young woman was sitting at the edge of a deep valley and seemed lost in contemplation, smoking a "Camel"-- what can be better in the desert?

The second picture was at Mesa, at a horse farm where this woman rescued old horses. This one was her favorite and she agreed to a picture. There is a kindness that comes through.

The third is a true street picture, taken in a parking lot. As I was getting to my car I heard laughter, turned around and a second later wondered what I captured without having time to focus. I still do not know, but since the feather headpiece was on the car, where was big Chief?

The last one was at the University of Tucson. I liked the "Women's Plaza of Honor" but needed a story. After a few minutes of waiting, the man sat at the entrance and the women walked into my picture. Men stayed at the entrance of the Plaza, it seemed.

All pictures taken with a 1969 Nikon F. The first one with a Nikkor 200mm telephoto of the same era, and the other three with a Nikkor 50mm. The negatives have chemical damage and are scratched, but I thought still have a story to tell. After all who goes to Arizona and returns without pictures of cacti ?

December 21, 2013

©Vahé Kazandjian, 2013

Unplanned Shots

Every photographer has stories about what happened just as he/she was clicking. Unplanned shots are especially frequent in street or candid photography since we try to capture the moment as it happens not as we plan to frame it like in landscape or architectural photography.  Everything is moving in our subjects and we have only that critical instant to freeze it into a picture. Most unplanned shots are “non-keepers”- the story we were hoping to capture is not there anymore, or aesthetically it is no more appealing.  Everyday examples include people walking into the frame, the subject seeing you and looking at you, a dog, a car, a bird or even uninvited shading suddenly hiding all or part of the subject.

Over 40 years of photography I have learned to celebrate rather than lament about the outcomes of many an unplanned shot. Indeed, sometimes the outcome (both as a story and as aesthetics) is better than what I had aimed for! So, as a curious student of experience, I have seen three types of unplanned shots worth celebrating:

1.       Your story, as you wanted to tell, disappears but a new one takes shape that is even better;

2.       A technical “mishap” tells the story better;

3.       You capture your story but find out a pleasant surprise about it after the shot.

Please note that I use mechanical film cameras only, so I have to adjust speed, aperture, focus, shading from light, and minimize camera vibration at slow speed, and manually rewind the film between shots. Some of those “cave man photography” issues may not be as prominent with today’s digital-all miracle light boxes!

I have chosen three pictures to illustrate my points.

I took the first photo at the Night Market in Taipei. I saw the lady with attractive legs and in the background focal plane of two mannequins. Immediately I thought of “Three Mannequins” and clicked. Then I entered the store to tell her that I took a picture and that I appreciate it. When I came close, the lady turned and smiled: HE had a goatee!!! When I developed the film and printed the frame, there was enough evidence of male anatomy to support my story when my friends were incredulous about the details… This is an example of the category #1 above.

The second picture is an oldie: we were visiting a bat cave in Pennsylvania and my son and daughter were as excited as any 7 years old twins can be at the sight of bats flying all around at the mouth of the cave. My son was imitating bats by flapping his arms and there was just enough light for a fast lens, at full aperture, to take a picture.  When I developed the film, I realized that the very slow speed I had used on my Nikon F had also captured the movement in the shape of true wings! The technical “mishap”—the very slow speed, while aesthetically resulted in a blurry and bad contrast picture making it difficult to scan without distorted pixels , made it a new story.

The third picture is a typical street shot, taken in Los Alamos, New Mexico. I saw this man in a park with a cat perched atop his dog. They were “at peace” and I thought his message was one of co-existence and harmony. I immediately took a shot and was quite proud of capturing the very second I wanted. However, when I took my eye off the viewfinder, I saw a mouse atop the cat! It had turned around the cat’s neck just as I was clicking, and the folding of the camera mirror had obscured my view for a split of a second. By now the dog had moved a bit, the cat was looking at me, and the story had disappeared. I was disappointed for not being able to take a picture with the mouse in the frame which was the true message of co-existence the man was displaying in public. To my surprise, when I developed the film, the mouse was there and it was looking at me!

I suppose one has to remain accommodating for all the unplanned events which may be worth celebrating.

December 4, 2013

©Vahé Kazandjian, 2013

Taichung and Bone China

Somehow tea tastes better in Fine Bone China cups. Apart from the ceremony of preparing tea, the delicate rims of these cups give way to the almost imperceptible passage of the tea from cup to lip. I am most attracted to porcelain and Bone China cups where the cobalt blue dominates. It is a mini-vacation to hold these cups and sip on aromatic, bold, dark or green teas.

When in Taiwan, I have learned to appreciate the porcelain cups made in Yingge. Actually it is through such artwork made in Yingge that I learned about the shades of cobalt blue.

I was visiting a hospital in Taichung and on the way there mentioned to my colleague my interest in porcelain and Bone China. I was told that Taichung had small, artisanal factories where unique Bone China is made. I immediately asked for a visit!

After 2 hours of touring the smallest workshop in Taichung I learned about the cattle bones they use to make Bone China. Indeed, these low-iron bones are pulverized and mixed with the porcelain product. Every shop seems to have its own recipe and formula. The bones, the fineness and amount of the pulverized ash, the mixing and firing process all define the clarity and strength of the Bone China. Some cups are so thin-lipped that are translucid!

But, the process produces a lot of fine particle dust from the bone ash and the mixing of the porcelain ingredients. Large factories have well organized ventilation and vacuuming systems to minimize workers’ inhalation of the airborne particles. Not in this small, artisanal workshop. The lady polishing the first-phase porcelain vases was wearing a nuisance mask and had only a fan next to her and another one behind her to expel the dust out of the room. I was in that room for 15 minutes, took a couple of pictures, and learned about the process. When out of the room, the glass of my camera lens was covered in a fine film of white powder.

Picture taken with a Nikon F and Nikkor 50mm 1.4 lens.

December 3, 2013

©Vahé Kazandjian, 2013