But I went along, and I’m glad I did, because I got to meet Paul McFarland! It just goes to show that sometimes the happiest of coincidences can arise from something that didn’t necessarily look like much at first. The discussion began with very few people present. There must have been about ten of us in the room. I think Paul and I were the only ones who didn’t know the two main speakers personally. For the others, they were friends. What stood out from the conversation was that Quaniet did do most of the talking. That was the impression I got. He was keen to tell us about all sorts of things, including his vision of street photography. He also spoke at length about the @humans.of.capetown group, which was modelled on @humans.of.ny and is gaining more and more followers. As a result, photowalks are organised very frequently in Cape Town, where lots of photographers get together to take photos on the street.

I’ve already told you about those famous street photographers who hang around certain spots in Cape Town. These blokes who take photos of you in an urban setting and try to sell you the pictures or get you to take part in a little impromptu photo shoot in the street. I think this is a literal definition of the term. Street photographer: I take photos in the street. Basically, I call it taking street portraits or doing a photo shoot in the street. To me, that’s definitely not street photography!

The problem is that this confusion is reflected in Quaniet’s philosophy on street photography. As I listened to him speak, I realised that we didn’t share the same definition of what street photography was. For Quaniet, when out on the street, it was essential to have people’s consent before photographing them. The law required it, and he always spoke to the people he wanted to photograph to find out their stories. That’s when I began to wonder whether, ultimately, Quaniet hadn’t equated what the lads on the street were doing (our so-called street photographers) with street photography.

I’ve tried in the past to come up with a definition of what street photography is. I don’t think I’ve managed it. It’s difficult to define precisely what it is. On the other hand, I have no trouble at all saying what street photography isn’t! And taking street portraits the way Quaniet does is absolutely not street photography! It makes no sense. He takes photos of people in the street, but that’s by no means street photography! Some might argue that there are plenty of great street photographers who have also taken street portraits. William Klein’s famous photo of the boy pointing his gun at the lens is one example.

Even I’ve taken that sort of photo. My photo of the man on the beach in Marseille is a street portrait. I approached this man, had a chat with him and asked if he minded me taking a few photos. Having got his permission, I managed to capture a moment without making him pose. But it’s still a street portrait.

OK, but what’s the difference between what I’ve done here and what Quaniet does? There isn’t one. But I do know the difference between ‘taking a street portrait’ and street photography! The problem here is that Quaniet is telling his @humans.of.capetown group that what he’s doing is street photography, and I completely disagree with that. I’m not here to set myself up as some sort of arbiter of what is and isn’t allowed in street photography. But I believe it’s essential to know and study what the great street photographers before us have done. And education comes from books, not social media! Yesterday, just before I went to bed, YouTube suggested a video entitled: Street Photography Top Selection August 2026. I’ll put the link here.

Well, it might just be my opinion and it certainly won’t be shared by everyone, but it’s clearly rubbish! I didn’t even watch the video to the end because it was so disheartening. It’s just one example, but I’m convinced that YouTube is full of this sort of content. The problem is that, with social media, people just copy what they’re told constitutes a ‘good’ photo. And it’s never-ending. I’d already written about this in a blog post back in 2019: ‘Social Media is killing Street Photography’. That’s why I didn’t want to sit in on the conversation between Quaniet and Patrick at the start. Even during the Q&A session at the end of the conversation, I was itching to challenge them on the subject, but I held back because it was their moment (they both had an exhibition at the festival) and I wasn’t there to spoil it or stir up controversy over the fact that I don’t consider them to be street photographers. But I didn’t go to the opening of their exhibition, as I don’t see eye to eye with their work. The aim of writing this blog isn’t to disparage the work of other photographers. Please don’t misunderstand my intentions. I just want to clarify a few things to avoid any misunderstandings. Take street portraits if you like, but don’t call it street photography.

All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GR IV.

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It’s very hot here at the moment. We’re still in hurricane season, and it takes courage (or no choice) to walk through the stifling streets of Saint-Denis. Even with the best will in the world, when I was there, I had only one desire: to take refuge in a café or bar to enjoy the air conditioning! So last Saturday, when I left work at 4 p.m., I decided to hang out in Saint-Denis for a while. It was late afternoon and the heat was more bearable. As the sun was lower in the sky, the buildings provided nice shaded areas to take shelter. It was Valentine’s Day and also the weekend of the sales. So there were quite a few people in town, much to my delight.

I recently uploaded two videos to YouTube. It’s not that I want to post on Zuckerberg’s platform again, but it was the most effective way for me to share these videos on my blog. I am limited in the file size I can host on my website, so I use YouTube to host my videos. I didn’t tag the videos at all because I don’t care about SEO. That’s not why I posted them. However, John Harper shared these videos with Tim Huynh, a very active vlogger who has a pretty successful YouTube channel. I’ve known Tim for a while, from back when I was still active on social media, but we’ve grown apart. He’s become a big name on YouTube with his channel Word On The Street, which attracts huge amounts of traffic with thousands of views on each video, while I’ve cut myself off from all visibility and locked myself away in complete anonymity.

What I did, I did voluntarily because, in general, I found social media tiring and, above all, too superficial. It must be nearly seven years since I deleted everything, and frankly, I don’t miss it at all. Tim doesn’t understand why I keep all this work confidential, sharing it only on my blog, which is read by about twenty people at most.

Does a tree make a sound when it falls if no one is there to hear it?

By analogy, one might ask: what is the point of taking photographs if there is no one to see them? Well, as I have always said, I take photographs because I enjoy it. I enjoy wandering the streets and capturing moments, I enjoy observing people, I enjoy watching life unfold before me and witnessing interactions between people. And that’s enough to make me happy. I created this website and blog initially to archive my journey when I started street photography. I also had the ambition to be able to connect with photographers who would understand my approach and appreciate what I do.

Since I started this blog many years ago, I have occasionally had photographers write to me to exchange ideas or just say a few words about my site. In recent months, even though I’ve been writing fewer and fewer articles, I’ve been surprised to see photographers contacting me to tell me about my blog, which they’ve recently discovered, and how much they’ve enjoyed reading it. Below are some of the emails I’ve received.

I have absolutely no idea how these people ended up on my blog. Okay, there’s Google, but my site still has to appear in search results. I talk about a lot of things related to street photography, whether it’s the practice itself or the equipment used. But I don’t think it’s well referenced, and as I said, since I’m not on social media, you really need a huge stroke of luck to stumble upon my site.

For me, these emails are worth all the likes in the world. The blog and website take on their full meaning. Connecting people! And it motivates me to write, to keep doing what I do, because somewhere, someone on the other side of the world might discover what I do and be touched by it, or recognise themselves in my way of seeing things. In short, these emails might seem ultimately quite insignificant, but for me they mean a lot.

All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GR3 | Crop 35mm.

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One thing that annoys me is the auto ISO made by Fujifilm. It’s not specific to the X100F, my X-E2 works the same way… Why can’t I use a shutter speed higher than 1/500s ??? In the street, I tend to shoot a lot on the fly and this speed isn’t fast enough for me. But I’ve accepted this constraint. The X100F, like all the cameras in the series, is a beautiful camera that plays on the retro feel. Many people love it because it has an OVF (Optical ViewFinder) that can be switched to EVF (Electronic ViewFinder). On my X-E2, I never used the OVF. I find it so much easier to frame with the LCD screen that the viewfinder isn’t really useful to me. When I was in Thailand, however, I used the EVF on my Fujifilm X-E2 a lot because I had a non-autofocus 23mm lens and when I used it at full aperture (f1.4), I had to do the focus manually. I found myself being very quick at this little game, even in the street when the light was poor. Here with the X100F, I can switch to autofocus when there’s not enough light. As I’ve already explained in previous Blogs, I work in the street with the zone focusing. So I don’t use the camera’s AF. I tried to focus manually with the X100F for fun and I didn’t like it at all. The ring is very small and I found it uncomfortable to use. My 7Artisan 35mm f0.95 or my TTArtisan 23mm f1.4 were much more pleasant to use.

Ever since I started shooting with the X100F, I’ve complained that it’s too flashy. And yet I’d taken the trouble to buy the ‘black’ version to try and go unnoticed. But it’s no use. This camera attracts attention wherever I go. I don’t think it’s the size of the body. I sincerely think it’s the ‘retro’ feel that gives it away. Over the last few months I’ve been trying to ignore this problem. And frankly it was starting to weigh on me. So I made the decision not to use this camera any more. I’ve put it away until I can sell it. The price seems reasonable. It’s still going for around €900 second-hand. I’m selling it again because it doesn’t suit me. I’ve already written about it. GEAR MATTERS ! If I’m not comfortable in the street, it will show in the results of my work. The X100F interlude was short-lived. I can’t say that I took many photos with this camera. I’ve put together a slideshow of some of them, which I’ll share with you.

So EXIT the Fujifilm X100F. It’s a question of feeling and you’ll be more comfortable with one camera or another. John Harper also bought a Fujifilm X100S several years ago and sold it because he wasn’t comfortable with the camera. He switched to Leica. Don’t think I’m going to do what he did! No. I’m still convinced that the Leica MP or any other Q wouldn’t suit me. In fact, I think that whatever I do, I always come back to the same camera. Yes, you’ve guessed it, I’m going back to the GR … Back to square one!

Well, almost. I’m not bringing out my Ricoh GRD IV, or my Ricoh GR, but my Ricoh GR3, the unloved, the hated camera. I refer you to the article in which I trashed Pentax/Ricoh following the release of the GR3. So what am I saying? I can say it now, I use the Ricoh GR3 by default … Remember, in a previous Blog, I listed the important elements in choosing my camera for 35mm shooting. I’ll list them again here:

• A compact camera
• A 35mm fixed focal length, no zoom
• The Leaf Shutter
• Image Quality

Well, I’ve got it, it’s the Ricoh GR3 ! Yes, this camera has a lousy battery life. It overheats. I’m not going to list all its faults, but it’s got a lot of them! But it’s compact, has Leaf Shutter, a good IQ and it also has 35mm! In crop mode, I grant you, but it’s much better than the regular 35mm ! I’ll tell you why.

How does the 35 mm mode work on the GR3? It’s just a crop of the image taken in 28 mm. So basically the camera doesn’t zoom in. As a result, the 35 mm file is only 15 MP, whereas the 28 mm file is 24 MP. That’s more than enough for my purposes, especially as the file size isn’t really important. What’s important at my level (I’m not planning to make 2 m diagonal prints…) is to have good image quality management. And here you retain the same quality as when shooting with 28 mm because it’s still a crop of the original image ! The real advantage comes from depth of field ! Even if I shoot at 35 mm, the DoF is calculated from the 28mm ! I think I must have lost a few people in mentioning these considerations, but the images below will speak for themselves.

Basically, I shoot in 35 mm while taking advantage of the DoF of a 28 mm. So I’ve turned my Ricoh GR3 into the ultimate 35 mm Point & Shoot! Everything is sharp between 1.16 m and infinity at f8 when I do the focus at 2.5 m. If I wanted the same thing with my Fujifilm X100F or any other APS-C camera, I’d have to close my diaphragm to f16 ! Which means that if I were to run out of light using the GR3, I could even open to f5.6 and gain one stop of light while keeping a fairly good DoF (1.3 m at 13.6 m).

Being back on the street with a GR changes everything. I’d forgotten how light this camera is and how perfectly it fits in the palm of my hand. The funny thing is that even at 35 mm, I shoot as if I were at 28 mm. Looking at some recent photos, I think they could have been taken in 28 mm. There’s not much difference between the two focal lengths. There’s just a little less distortion. Purists will say that I’m not really shooting 35 mm because basically this is just a crop of the 28 mm image from the Ricoh GR3. But as you can imagine, I couldn’t care less. My Ricoh GR3 is constantly in 35 mm crop mode. I’m not even tempted to switch back to 28 mm. In any case, I can’t see myself shooting 35 mm with any other camera than this one. I’m prepared to accept the many faults of the Ricoh GR3 in order to be able to use it. So Mr Pentax/Ricoh, now that you’ve brought us a 40 mm Ricoh GR3x, wouldn’t you like to come up with a native 35 mm GR3 or 4 as well? I think I might be tempted.

All the photos were made with the Fujifilm X100F and the Ricoh GR3 using the 35 mm crop mode.

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I ran into many photographers that day. It’s easy to spot those who work for newspapers. They are armed with several cameras, big super bright lenses. They are often stationed high and in front of the demonstrators to take pictures of them. There were also photographers who documented for the trade unions. I don’t count those who immortalise this popular movement of the people with their smartphones. I was in the street on Tuesday, because like many French people, I find this reform unfair. This government has not stopped giving gifts to the richest and then telling us that we will have to work more to finance our pension system. Since the Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine, the rich have become even richer. Apparently it’s not a crisis for everyone … It would be enough to tax the rich a bit more to solve the problem. Or else increase salaries so that there are more contributions to fill the coffers, but the employers are opposed to this. We are now being asked to work more when we know full well that after 50 you are considered a liability and nobody will want to employ you. Anyway, I’m not going to make a speech about this reform because it’s all about Street Photography here !

Last Tuesday, I went to demonstrate against the reform and of course I went to document this demonstration. I had never seen so many people in the streets of Saint-Denis, proof if any that citizens have mobilised to show their discontent. Pensioners, students, children with their parents, mums with pushchairs. In short, a very heterogeneous mix. The demonstrators were grouped by trade unions and therefore by order of “importance” ! The CFDT led the way, followed by the CGTR and the UNSA. Other less represented unions followed. There were entertainers in front of each group who harangued the militants to be as noisy as possible. I stayed a lot next to the “reds”, the CGTR, because they skilfully used smoke bombs to give the demonstration a sense of scale. There was a bit of “chaos in the street” where they passed. Of course it was staged. With the smoke and the microphones, I sometimes felt like I was at a concert! The demonstration took place in very good conditions without any excesses. The police were very discreet, just blocking the roads that interfered with the procession. There must have been some cops in civil clothes among the demonstrators, but frankly, the atmosphere was good.

The streets were really crowded and it was really exciting to be in the middle of all these people. It reminded me of Rome, Paris and even Marseille. Those cities where frankly it is very easy to do street photography. Some people will disagree with me and say that just because the streets are full of people doesn’t mean it’s easy to do street photography. Well … I’ll just answer that it’s not easy to do Street with almost empty streets … Here in Reunion Island, I do with what I have. I’m quite surprised to see that at the end of the year, I manage to have about ten photos of which I’m proud on Saint-Denis. On Tuesday, with its crowded streets, I just had to be attentive to see opportunities and I didn’t limit myself to photos of the demonstration, but I was also interested in the people who gravitated around the procession. I was able to do some layering and close-up. In short, I had a great time. I really took these photos in the heart of the demonstration. There were hardly any photographers in the middle of the march. What interests the newspapers are photos showing the size of the demonstration. I found it more interesting to be close to the people. Next Tuesday, there is a new call to take to the streets. I will be there!

I put below, other photos taken during this day. They were all taken with the Ricoh GRD IV.

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Molière

A quick rant against YouTube. Yesterday evening I posted a slideshow of my photos taken in January. This morning, I had the unpleasant surprise to receive an email from YouTube telling me that the thumbnail of my video was censored because it violated YouTube’s policy on nudity and sex … I’ll give you the text of the mail below.

So what Jeff? Are you sharing porn pictures now? Well I admit that I had voluntarily put this photo in thumbnail to illustrate my slideshow. But I was far from thinking that I was going to shock YouTube moderators with its content! I took this photo because I wondered why they had gone so far as to reproduce the nipples on the breasts of this clothes dummy. The devil is in the details ! I showed this photo to my wife who told me that this dummy must surely come out of a sex shop. Ah yes, I had not thought of that … Anyway, I find the censorship of YouTube disproportionate. They’re not even real nipples ! In any case, I escape a more serious sanction with the strike on my YouTube channel. So I had to quickly rebricate a thumbnail to escape YouTube censorship. So where it is rant is that they censored the thumbnail, but not the content! Basically exit the nipples on the thumbnail, but I can keep them in the slideshow. Is there any logic? No, just a lot of hypocrisy from YouTube …

I put the video in question back to you. It is clear that it slams less there and I can say goodbye to my thousands of views!

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It has nothing to do with my style which was different than today. My early years, I looked for myself a lot. which is normal when you start. What has changed is that I know what type of photos I like and that I am also more uncompromising in the editing. What hasn’t changed is that I still shoot a lot. I am a serial clicker. Some people count the number of times they press the shutter button, I don’t. I allow myself to shoot lots of shit, lots of failed photos, blurry photos. There is something that I refuse, however, is to shoot in burst mode. I watched some videos of Nick Turpin on his YouTube channel using the Spray & Prey technique. Basically, he tried to spot an interesting scene and then he takes hundreds of 5 or 7 fps photos to try to capture some gesture, an interesting movement. I was shocked to see this. But he is not the only one to do this. Many Street Photographers use this technique (if you can call it a technique …). It seems to me that Elizabeth Char, had told me that Tatsuo Suzuki was doing the same thing. After all, they only use the capabilities of modern cameras that allow you to shoot in a burst mode. Who can say if Henri Cartier Bresson or Garry Winogrand would not have used burst mode if they had it on their Leica M6s? In any case, I refuse to do Spray & Prey. It takes away all the magic of the practice. These fleeting moments are unique and difficult to capture and that is what makes them precious.

For almost 2 years also, I created my YouTube channel. Just after my visit to Bristol, I decided to upload my slideshows to YouTube because my web host did not allow me to put too heavy videos on my site. The most watched videos so far are those made in big cities (Marseille, Rome, Paris, Toulouse, Bristol). The rest of the videos are pretty confidential. Aix-en-Provence and Reunion Island do not attract much attention. However, one thing caught my attention. Two videos made with the Ricoh GR3 and the Fuji XE2 got a lot of views, while the others tagged with the Ricoh GRD4 got very little. There is no secret. It’s like blog posts. You have to do Gear Porn to attract people. I remain convinced that if I only made slideshows with the Ricoh GR3, my videos would gain in visibility.

Do not think that I feel a sense of injustice in my words. It is in the end quite normal. The niche I occupy is of little or no interest to people. I live on an island that hardly anyone knows about and I use a camera that some might qualify as oldie … Well, I’ll admit that it’s complicated for me to go and live in one of these big cities because I absolutely do not want to! As for the photo equipment, it’s clear that going to GR3 would make my slideshows more visible. Just look at my only video made with the Ricoh GR3! The photos are not great (to say the least) and yet the video totals nearly 1k views … I will not give in and I continue to go against the flow. I’m not going to change things and the Ricoh GRD4 will be used over and over again until there isn’t one left for sale on Ebay! This January, after a short break where I used the Ricoh GR last December, the Ricoh GRD4 is in the spotlight. I know very well that it is not cameras that take the photos. The most important is the eye that is behind the viewfinder (or in front of the LCD screen in my case). But I remain convinced that I could not have made the same photos with a GR or a GR3. The technical limitations of the GRD4 make me act differently and the photos are what they are because they are made with the GRD4.

I’ll leave you with the January 2021 slide show. Ah yes, I’m trying to be a bit of a scam with the slideshow thumbnail. Not sure it works, but at least I would have tried everything!

*** UPDATE: The slideshow thumbnail has been censored by YouTube ! You can read here what happened … I am sharing here the original sulfurous (…) thumbnail that was removed ***

All the photographs were made with the Ricoh GRD4.

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Hello John, you are one of the first street photographer I interviewed on behalf of my Blog at the beginning of 2017. I was already impressed by your work at the time, but in these almost 4 years, it has changed a lot and in a good way. We were able to meet and discuss during my visit in early 2019 near your home between Bath and Bristol. I was able to follow in your footsteps and see with my own eyes the places you walked and photographed tirelessly. I wanted to talk to you again about various topics related or not to street photography, to life in general.

It’s typical of you ! It’s the same with your photography, you’re being hard on yourself. I like this because it shows that you have a critical eye on your work. It’s been a little over a year since I created my YouTube channel. I found it interesting because I didn’t have time to share my photos in my Blogs anymore and since I love music a lot, associating photos with artists that I liked seemed fun. And I also feel like I’m sharing with a different audience than the one who frequents my website. You also got started a few weeks ago by creating your channel to share slideshows. What did you like about this new way of sharing your work? 

The jury is still out on the YouTube channel. I’ve posted about six slideshows so far. I like music too, but seem to be stuck with the free theme tunes from Apple, I use “Photos” on the iMac to make a simple slideshow. I’m not ready to spend money on it just yet. Slideshows aren’t really the best option for YouTube presentations, that said one of my posts had 1.3k views, perhaps it’s the way to go. There’s a rumour in our house that Father Christmas might be bringing me a GoPro. If he does then I’ll do a Vlog, it won’t be as polished as Tim Huynh’s though, he’s a very accomplished film maker. A few POV street walks definitely and possibly do some of my trips on the motorcycle. Well just fragments of the journey if there’s anything interesting and then a POV of wherever I happen to be photographing.

To continue talking about photography, I have seen over the past four years your style of photography change. Even if you always keep that rigor in the composition that characterizes your style, the fact that you adopted 28mm instead of 35mm, did that change a lot of things in the end? How did this transition go, after so many years spent photographing with 35mm?

I don’t think it changed hugely. Definitely I can get closer with the 28mm than the 35mm and retain focus throughout the frame. The 28mm has been glued to the camera for 10 months, okay, before that the same could be said for the 35mm. It’s a slightly wider feel to the frames and that’s what I wanted. The 35mm is certainly more of an all rounder, but I’m enjoying this 28mm immensely. Actually this week, as we’re in another lockdown I’m using or forcing myself to use the 50mm, the dust has been blown off. I’m not sure I like it very much at all, really hard work to manually focus and very tight framing. I’ll write it up in the blog.

Thank you very much John for these wise words shared with us. The photographs in this Blog are only monochrom and that was on purpose. John shoot now a lot in color, but I kind have a preference for his monochrom work. These photos were chosen by me among a very good selection that John provided me. These photographs speak to me and I don’t know if they can be considered as the best ones he has made. He’s a very prolific photographer and I urge you to subscribe to his Blog to be notified when new articles are available.

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So let’s come back to this photo taken in May 2018 in Porquerolles. I had asked John for his opinion on this. For me it was a street shot. FYI, it’s my wife who stands out in silhouette. This is the apartment we had rented for the few days spent on the island of Porquerolles. I was coming back to the apartment after putting the trash in the containers when I saw this scene with the palm trees reflected on the window glass. The curtain, the light, the reflections : everything was present for a photo. I quickly went in to pick up my Ricoh GRD4. I rarely take it with me when I take out the trash … Note, maybe I should ! And that’s where I took this photo. This photo was definitely taken with a Street mindset. But does that make it a Street Shot ?

Another example of the subject I am trying to develop here. This photo was taken in 2017 in Ardèche during holidays with wife and children. It’s me the shadow on the left and as you can see I shoot very often with the camera at chest level. FYI it is to have a lower perspective than shooting at eye level that crushes. This is by no means for sneaky reasons. I could squat down, but my knees hurt … The shadow on the right is none other than Joachim, my boy. This photo is neither posed nor scripted. This end of the day with a low sun lengthened the shadows and Joachim, my big boy, was having fun running up the stairs. That’s when I took this photo. Personally, I don’t have any questions about this photo. For me it occupies a prominent place in my Street Photos portfolio. I think the reason I’m not questionning myself is that you can’t tell who that person is on the right. Now you know because I told you. But anyone who sees this photo cannot know.

On this other photo, I don’t wonder anymore because it was taken at home (well our old home …) in Jouques and we can clearly distinguish Joachim and also a friend and her daughter in the photo. I really like this photo because it has everything I am looking for in a candid photo. No one pays attention to me and I captured a moment of this day. I will not include this photo in my Street Shots because I consider that there was a tacit acceptance of the photographer in this specific case. Even if I do not intervene in the course of what is happening, my presence is accepted as I document moments of Elodie and her daughter Anna … But what is certain is that this photo was realized with a Street mindset. I have a lot of photos that fit into this category. I put you some below.

All of these photos were made with a Street Mindset and you can see it, no one is paying attention to me. Note, they are so used to seeing me with my Ricoh, that in the end they no longer pay attention to what I’m doing … But in the end whether it is photos of complete strangers captured candidly or photos of my family captured in the same way, what does that change in the end ? For several years now, the line between what I do in the street and what I do while documenting my life has gradually blurred. I can no longer take posed photos. When I’m asked to take group photos at family meals, I don’t know how to go about it. I feel like it’s unnatural and I’m not having a lot of fun. My settings are not optimal. It doesn’t make sense to do portraits with small apertures, does it ? Besides, I am rarely satisfied with the result obtained. I prefer to capture candid moments. This is what I do with my wife and my children. I like this freedom to operate without constraints and to be able to frame as I want by breaking the usual codes and to offer my vision of what is happening around me.

I have the impression that this label story : Street, Life, Family … is important when you post on social media because it is important to categorize what you do on social networks. It doesn’t matter to me, because in the end we just talk about photography ! Anyway, I’m no longer on social networks …. What matters most to me is that the photo is the reflection of an authentic moment and not a staged photo. We see too many scripted photos with the Street Photography label. I photograph real moments. Call it, Street, Life, Family … whatsoever.

All photos were taken with the Ricoh GRD4 and the GR.

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The most important thing in this app is the detail on the pages visited. In this case for my site, it is about the pages of blogs. There is very little passage on the portfolio part. I think it’s the blog part that brings traffic. I had discussed with a friend who was creating his website. He only wanted to highlight his portfolio on his site and nothing else. Basically use it as a showcase. I specify that he is an amateur photographer like me and not a professional. I just told him he should consider having a blog part because that’s what brings in traffic and that’s what makes people come back. With a little blog, we go from a static website to something alive. That’s why I quickly created a blog section on my site.

What is true is that it takes time. Writing articles, finding topics … To talk more specifically about my blog, I had until a while ago a target for writing dozens of articles : social networks and of course the behaviors related to those this. For a year, I left Facebook and at the beginning of the year I did the same with Instagram. Each passing day moves me a little more than a hypothetical return on these platforms. Frankly, I have absolutely no desire to return. Anyway, if it’s to become embittered and constantly complaining in blogs, it will be a holiday for everyone that I keep away from Facebook and Instagram.

When I spent a few days in Bristol, my English teacher pointed out that Blogging was also some kind of social interaction. She is not wrong on this point, but the only difference is that I share what I want, and I do not have to suffer the innumerable ads, nor the posts of others. I decide to go to blogs or sites that interest me and I do not let myself dictate what I have to see. Besides, how did one do before the event of platforms like Facebook or Instagram ? People had blogs and they were going to see other people’s blogs.

To return to my blog, it’s quite interesting to see the most read pages over time. I clearly saw a difference between when I was on social media and when I completely broke with them. The most read articles so far are those related to the Ricoh GR 3 (nearly 700 views). Those who follow are related to the gear (fuji XE2, ricoh GR or ricoh GRD4), but at a much lower level (~ 200 to 300). Clearly, if you want to attract people, you have to talk about gear. Personally, I never wrote these topics on purpose and told myself that it would make a number. It’s just a statement I make. I wrote a lot about GRD4 because it’s a camera I love. Besides, I have just cracked and buy a second hand one again … We will discuss again in a future blog ! What is amazing is to see that even after several months (even years), some blogs on the GRD4 are still read by some ! I remind you that this camera is almost 9 years old. As I told you, since I cut the bridges with social networks, my articles peak at maximum 40 readings. It’s weak I grant you but it’s like the photo, I do it for me.

My most read article to date is the interview I did with Olivier Duong, one of the co-founder of Inspired Eye. He is a guy I really like with whom I sympathized and it was important to me to do his interview. He shared the interview in his newsletter and I must have nearly 4000 views for this blog ! It was just huge but obviously it is not representative of the attendance of my blog. Other articles related to Fuji XE2 were also read a lot because of HP Chavaz, a photographer whose work I appreciate very often shared my blogs on the platform Scoop.It  (If you’re using Fuji Gear, you should check this)

Two things emerge from the small study that I conducted on the attendance of my site. The first is that it is obvious that the presence on social networks increases more than significantly the traffic on my blog. Which is completely normal ; you touch a lot more people. The second thing is that articles on gear still attract many more readers. What I particularly like is that regularly I have people who arrive on my Blog from a Google search (organic). Which already means that my site is well referenced, but also that these people did not come by chance and that it is for a very precise reason.

This year so far, nearly 7,000 sessions have been recorded on my blog for just over 3,000 unique visitors. These numbers show that people are coming back to my site. My blog is a little over 3 years old today. Even if at the moment, I do not blog much, I still enjoy writing these articles and sharing with you photographic journey.

All photos were made with the Ricoh GR on Reunion Island.

Cet article Slowing things down … est apparu en premier sur Jeff CHANE-MOUYE PHOTOGRAPHY.

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Ça y est, je m’atèle enfin à la rédaction de mon Blog sur mon court séjour parisien. Les souvenirs sont encore là mais j’ai l’impression que ça fait une éternité ! Paris c’était il y a 1 mois, mais entre temps beaucoup de choses se sont passées. Bristol a beaucoup occupé mon esprit et j’ai d’ailleurs rédigé un bon paquet de Blogs sur mon séjour en UK. Il faut dire que j’avais passé une semaine à ne faire que de la Street Photography. La dernière fois que j’avais fait ça, c’était à Liverpool il y a 3 ans …

Nous avions décidé ma femme et moi d’emmener les enfants voir Paris avant de déménager à l’Île de la Réunion. C’est quand même la capitale et il y a plein de choses à voir. D’ailleurs sûrement trop de choses pour un court séjour. Quitte à monter sur Paris, on a décidé de faire aussi Disneyland. Je ne vais pas m’attarder sur notre séjour chez la Bande à Mickey, mais les enfants ont adoré ! On a fait tout plein de manèges plus effrayants les uns que les autres. C’est un monde en carton pâte, mais vachement bien fait. J’étais ému de voire Mary Poppins alors que mes enfants sont passés indifférents devant elle …

Nous avons passé en tout 4 jours à Paris même. Autant vous dire que c’est extrêmement court … Nous avions essayé de faire un planning de visites, mais c’était compliqué de s’y tenir et on devait composer aussi avec les enfants qui fatiguaient. Même si on se déplace en métro, les distances parcourues à pied sont longues pour des petites jambes d’enfants. Au final on s’est contenté du strict minimum pour nos visites. Il fallait aussi que ce soit ludique pour les enfants. Nous avons donc fait : Le musée du Quai Branly, Le Louvre, la Tour Effeil, le jardin des plantes, le musée de l’évolution, l’Aquarium du Trocadero, une petite virée en bateau mouche et aussi pour terminer l’Exposition sur Toutankamon. C’est peu et beaucoup à la fois. Juste pour info on a attendu près de 3h (!!!) pour monter à la Tour Eiffel …

Côté photo, je savais que ce séjour à Paris n’allait pas être dédié à la Street Photography. Il faut savoir faire la part des choses. Ce séjour était avant tout un séjour en famille. Pas comme mon séjour à Bristol … Même si c’est assez frustrant d’aller à Paris et de ne pas pouvoir arpenter les rues comme le font certains photographes de rue parisiens que je connais (Christophe Mousset, Cedric Roux, Pierre Montant ou encore Elizabeth Char …). J’ai pu en tout et pour tout m’accorder 1 petite heure en solo une fin d’après-midi. De toute manière, vu les journées chargées qu’on avait, j’avais pas trop envie de sortir une fois rentrés à notre appartement …

D’ailleurs pour la petite anecdote, j’étais sur le parvis de Notre Dame quand s’est déclarée la première alarme dans les toits. C’est en rentrant à l’appartement que ma femme ma demandé si j’avais vu l’incendie à Notre Dame. Je pensais qu’elle me parlait du quartier de Notre Dame, mais j’étais loin de penser que c’était bien la cathédrale qui brûlait … J’ai fait quelques photos sans me douter que le feu avait commencer à prendre dans la toiture.

Je vous avais déjà dit que j’étais monté sur Paris avec 2 Ricoh GRD 4. Je les avais nettoyés et je pensais qu’ils fonctionnaient correctement. C’est à Disneyland que je me suis rendu compte que j’avais de gros problèmes sur les deux appareils. Très peu de photos de notre séjour chez Mickey sont utilisables. C’est pour cette raison que j’ai rapidement appelé Elizabeth Char pour lui emprunter son Ricoh GR 2 pour le reste de notre séjour dans la capitale. Pour le reste, je vous invite à relire mon Blog  Ricoh GR(D) : The Curse.

J’ai donc passé ces quelques jours à shooter exclusivement avec le Ricoh GR 2. J’avais déjà expliqué dans un précédent Blog que je n’étais pas un adepte du mode TAv. Ce qui me déplaît dans ce mode, c’est l’impossibilité de définir une limite à la montée en ISO. Pour moi c’était f8 et 1/500s et donc le monde TaV choisissait l’ISO qui correspondait en fonction de la lumière disponible. Ce mode est courant sur les autres marques. Sur le Fuji par contre on peut mettre une limite haute aux ISO. Par exemple moi je savais qu’il ne fallait pas que je monte plus haut que 12800 ISO car au dessus je perdais beaucoup en qualité d’image. Quand les conditions lumineuses étaient pourries, mon Fuji XE2, gardait l’ouverture à f8, les ISO étaient au max à 12800 et l’appareil choisissait de dégrader la vitesse. Le mode TAv sur le Ricoh opère différemment. Il garde constant l’ouverture et la vitesse et monte inexorablement dans les ISO. Ce qui fait que si on ne prête pas attention vous avez des images à ISO 25600 voire plus ! Autant vous dire inutilisables…. Le GR 1 ou 2 est vraiment très mauvais au dessus de 6400 ISO. C’est pourquoi je n’aime pas ce mode sur le GR 1(2). Je préfère opérer en mode A (priorité ouverture), en choisissant mon ouverture et mon ISO et laisser l’appareil calculer la vitesse. Vous allez me dire que c’est la même chose que le TAv ! Eh bien non. Je sais que je n’irai jamais au dessus de ISO 6400. Je préfère si la lumière venait à manquer sacrifier ma vitesse ou ma profondeur de champ. D’ailleurs c’est assez révélateur le tout nouveau Ricoh GR 3 ne dispose plus de ce mode TAv.

Même si je n’ai pas pu me dégager du temps pour faire de la Street, j’ai profité de nos visites pour faire quelques photos. Comme j’avais constamment l’appareil au poignet, j’ai profité de tous les moments, que ce soit dans les files d’attente, dans le métro ou tout simplement en chemin vers les différents musées. Paris offre énormément d’opportunités. Il se passe toujours quelque chose et à la limite on ne sait pas où donner de la tête. C’est assez perturbant car quand on vient de province comme moi, c’est un peu too much. On a vite fait de s’éparpiller tellement il se passe de choses.

Je vous ai regroupé dans un diaporama un certain nombre de photos réalisées pendant ce court séjour parisien. Tout y est mélangé ! Des photos de ma petite famille, des snapshots à la volée dans la rue. Toutes les photos ont été réalisées avec le Ricoh GR 2 et le Ricoh GRD 4.

~o~

Paris : Far away, so close …

That’s it, I’m finally finsishing my writing of my Blog on my short stay in Paris. The memories are still there but I feel like it’s an eternity ! Paris was 1 month ago, but in the meantime a lot has happened. Bristol took a lot of my mind and I wrote a a lot of blogs about my stay in the UK. It must be said that I had spent a week doing only Street Photography. The last time I did that was in Liverpool 3 years ago .

We decided my wife and I to take the children to Paris before moving to Reunion Island. It’s the capital city and there is plenty to see. Besides, surely too much for a short stay. Leaving to go on Paris, we decided to do also Disneyland. I will not dwell on our stay overthere, but the kids loved it ! We made lots of rides more frightening than each other. It is a fake world, but really well done. I was moved by Mary Poppins even though my children were indifferent to her …

We spent a total of 4 days in Paris. As much to say that it is extremely short … We tried to do a schedule of visits, but it was difficult to stick to it and we also had to deal with the children who were tired. Even if you travel by metro, the distances traveled on foot are long for little children’s legs. In the end we were satisfied with the bare minimum for our visits. It was also necessary that it is playful for the children. So we did: The Quai Branly Museum, The Louvre, The Effeil Tower, The Garden of Plants, The Museum of Evolution, The Trocadero Aquarium, A Small ride on the Seine and also The Exhibition On Toutankamon. It’s a little and a lot at a time. Just for info we waited nearly 3 hours (!!!) to go up to the Eiffel Tower …

On the photo side, I knew that this trip to Paris was not going to be dedicated to Street Photography. You have to know how to share things. This stay was above all a family journey. Not like my stay in Bristol … Even if it’s pretty frustrating to go to Paris and not be able to walk the streets like some Paris street photographers I know (Christophe Mousset, Cedric Roux, Pierre Montant or Elizabeth Char…). I could in all and give me a small hour solo one late afternoon. Anyway, given the busy days we had, I did not really want to go out once we got back to our apartment …

Moreover for the little anecdote, I was on the forecourt of Notre Dame when declared the first alarm in the roofs. It was while returning to the apartment that my wife asked me if I had seen the fire at Notre Dame. I thought she was talking to me about Notre Dame neighborhood, but I was far from thinking it was the cathedral that was burning … I did some photos without suspecting that the fire was starting to take in the roof.

I already told you that I went to Paris with 2 Ricoh GRD 4. I had cleaned them and I thought they were working properly. It was at Disneyland that I realized that I had big problems on both cameras. Very few photos of our stay at Disneyland are usable. That’s why I quickly called Elizabeth Char to borrow her Ricoh GR 2 for the rest of our stay in the capital. For the rest, I invite you to reread my Blog Ricoh GR (D): The Curse.

So I spent these few days shooting exclusively with the Ricoh GR 2. I had already explained in a previous blog that I was not a fan of the TAv mode. What I do not like about this mode is the impossibility of defining a limit to the ISO. For me my settings were f8 and 1/500s and so the TAv  chose the ISO which corresponded according to the available light. This mode is common on other brands. On the Fuji by cons we can put a high limit to ISO. For example, I knew that I should not go higher than ISO 12800 because above I lost a lot in image quality. When the light conditions were bad, my Fuji XE2, kept the aperture at f8, the ISOs were max at 12800 and the camera chose to degrade the speed. The TAv mode on the Ricoh operates differently. It keeps constant the aperture and the speed and goes up inexorably in ISO. So if you do not pay attention you have images to ISO 25600 or even more ! As you say unusable …. The GR 1 or 2 is really bad above 6400 ISO. That’s why I do not like this mode on the GR 1 (2). I prefer to operate in mode A (Aperture priority), by choosing my aperture and my ISO and let the camera calculate the speed. You’ll tell me it’s the same as the TAv ! Well no. I know I will never go above ISO 6400. I prefer if the light ils lacking to sacrifice my speed or depth of field. Moreover, it’s quite revealing the new Ricoh GR 3 no longer has this TAV mode.

Even though I could not get away from the street, I took advantage of our visits to take some pictures. As I had the camera constantly on the wrist, I took advantage of every moment, whether in the queues, on the subway or simply on the way to the different museums. Paris offers a lot of opportunities. There is always something going on and at the limit we do not know where to turn. It’s quite disturbing because when you come from the province like me, it’s a little too much. We are quickly scattered so much things happen.

I have put together in a slideshow a number of photos taken during this short Parisian stay. Everything is mixed ! Photos of my family, snapshots on the fly in the street. All photos were made with the Ricoh GR 2 and the Ricoh GRD 4.

Cet article Paris : Far away, so close … est apparu en premier sur Jeff CHANE-MOUYE PHOTOGRAPHY.

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