Teamwork

Greenville, SC | N Main St | Jan 2022

Walking on Greenville's, SC, Main Street, I saw these two workers repairing a wall.

Working with their backs to the sidewalk, they seemed unaware of the people walking by. Focused on the task at hand, they quietly went about it, working together and getting the job done.

The public also did not notice them, indicated by the woman whose reflection is visible in the window in the background—going on with their daily chores, busy being busy. Not deliberately ignoring the workers, but not interested.

And is that not what generally is the case?

We all go about our busy lives without paying attention to the people around us.

It seems we are more interested in the actions and lives of movie stars, social media authorities, and other so-called 'influencers' than in the real people around us.

This thought inspired me to start working on a new project about real people: manual workers, parents, emergency services personnel, shoppers, office workers, etcetera.

In the upcoming weeks, I will need to flesh out the details: where to focus on possibly, what type of images, medium (film, digital, or both).

More to come.

Hello Mrs. Cartier-Bresson

Greenville, SC | S Main St - W McBee Ave | January 2022

When I saw this lady walking towards me, I almost froze.

Where have I seen those sunglasses before?

Could it be?

Is it her?

If only HCB was here, he would be able to tell

61 years... impossible, it can't be her...

Maybe her daughter?

In Focus: Mobsters

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Mobsters

Party-Goers In Black And White

Background Story

I love living near Greenville, South Carolina. It is very walkable, and it has several districts that are great for the types of images I like to create. Greenville's downtown area has the right mix of shops, restaurants, and parks to generate some hustle and bustle while maintaining that small-town USA feeling.

And there is always something going on.

I love to stroll Greenville's streets, looking for situations that could make interesting subjects for my Street Candids series. On this particular day, I noticed a group of party-goers standing in a street near the famous Westin Hotel on Main.

How It Was Made

I worked with the Canonet QL17 rangefinder camera, loaded with Ilford Delta 100, a fine-grained film excellently suited for that day's sunny conditions.

After taking some pictures of the old Greenville News building on Main, I roamed some time in the area around The Westin Poinsett, the old Chamber of Commerce building, and the clock and fountains at the crossing of Main and Court Street.

 

When I saw this group standing in the street between the Westin and the old courthouse building, I was immediately intrigued. I walked towards them and composed the image to include parts of the road and create leading lines.

In post-processing, I cropped the original image to the 1:1 aspect ratio to ensure the group of men was in the center of the image and to emphasize the leading lines in the composition.

Why It Works

I like this image for several reasons.

First of all, the subject matter. A group of men in black suits, standing in an alley-like street. What are they talking about? What are they: party-goers, members of a band, or maybe...?

Zooming in, a man is visible standing in front of and facing the group. Is he a photographer taking a group picture? Or is he confronting the group; are they confronting him?

Then the image's mood: to me, it looks intriguing and maybe even a bit intimidating. The contrast between the black and white areas in the image increases the dramatic feeling: the suits, the walls, the shadow in the street.

Lastly, the crop I used: changing the image to a square format enhanced the leading lines and increased the group's focus in the middle.

One Additional Thought

While this is one of my Street Candids I like best, looking at the image triggered some thoughts regarding the decisions I made regarding capturing and presenting the image.

One of the strengths of photography is also one of its most significant challenges: by choosing a specific composition, the photographer decides what their audiences will see and influence their audiences' conclusions and emotional response to the image.

Using a specific film or film-simulation while capturing a scene or making certain adjustments to the image during processing, the photographer can add a certain mood to the picture.

The photographer can even more impact how people will look at the image and experience it by adding a caption.

Concerning this image, the men might have been wedding guests or maybe even the groom and his best men. Or perhaps it was a bunch of guys attending some other formal event.

However, by capturing them this way, using a specific film, and adding a caption, I turned them into something very different.

How easy, or difficult, is it for you to view this image as I present it now to see them as something else than a group of 1930's gang members? To what extend is your initial reaction to and assessment of this picture influenced by the choices I made?

These observations and questions take us back to how "straight" straight photography is, or to what extent it can be; which is something for a separate article.