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.

Cet article Street Portraiture is NOT Street Photography est apparu en premier sur Jeff CHANE-MOUYE PHOTOGRAPHY.

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The last time I had an experience like this was at the end of 2019. Gwen and the children had moved to Réunion, and I had to stay on in mainland France for a while longer for work reasons. I’d managed to pop over to Rome and had also stayed at a friend’s house in Marseille. Since then, I’ve always travelled with my family – whether to South Africa, Mauritius, Thailand, Vietnam, Nosy Be or, more recently, Malaysia. On almost all of these trips, I’ve been able to do some street photography by taking some time out for myself whilst the others wanted to head back to the hotel to rest. But this time, I was in Cape Town on my own! I could go out whenever I wanted. Visit the same places over and over again, just as I fancied. In short, total freedom.

The first week, however, I was tied up with English lessons, which took up a good part of the day. I started at 8.30 am and finished at 3.30 pm. But even then, I managed to make the most of the mornings and also of a few hours before heading back to the hotel. When I found out I was going to be spending several days in Cape Town, I tried to track down some local street photographers. Several friends had already warned me about the city, which is very beautiful but rather unsafe. As I was planning to spend quite a bit of time wandering the streets, it worried me a little, and I thought a local contact would be useful for advice.
I remembered a photographer from my Facebook days who, I thought, was South African and lived in the Cape area. A certain Mac Farlane. I started searching for him on Google but couldn’t track him down… I did, however, try Googling ‘Street Photography Cape Town’, in the faint hope that I might come across him or other street photographers. But I have to say I didn’t find anything. I used my wife’s Instagram account to carry out similar searches. I was a bit luckier and came across two photographers: Desmond Painter and Quaniet Richard. With the first, we made a vague connection, but I never heard from him again. Too bad… As for Richard Quaniet, I didn’t want to get in touch with him because, having looked at his work, it didn’t match my idea of street photography at all… Whilst doing my research, I also came across some strange stuff. It was on YouTube. When I tell you I’ve been researching street photography in Cape Town, I’m not messing about! I’ve gone to great lengths. I saw videos from Cape Town showing people armed with SLR cameras standing in very busy spots, taking photos of people in the street and offering photo shoots right there on the street. It’s up to you whether you accept the shoot or not. The photographer then sends you the photos they’ve taken, in exchange for a few rands, of course. I don’t know the rates, but in the videos, the lads seemed to be saying it paid quite well! I saw a few of them during my stay in Cape Town. In the videos, the lads say they’re doing street photography…
Other videos or street photographers I’ve come across only take portraits of people in the street, and very often photos of homeless people or wannabe gangsters…I invite you to try doing a search for yourselves and you’ll see what I mean.
All this to say that I was venturing into uncharted territory and was a bit apprehensive because I know how complicated it can be to do street photography on Réunion Island, let alone in an African country that’s rather poor and quite unsafe…

That’s why I spent my first few outings in fairly mainstream places – namely, the tourist spots. It worked out perfectly: the Malaysian neighbourhood of Bo Kaap was just 100 metres from my English language school. I went there very early in the morning before lessons and even afterwards. I took some lovely photos there and even got to know some of the locals who spent their late afternoons playing dominoes. They were all members of the Bo Kaap Muslim community, as I learnt from people who were very involved in the local area. I had a bit of a chat with them about how the neighbourhood had developed and the changes they’d seen take place, as they’d been born and had always lived there. I found it very interesting. I was hanging about there because it was a very photogenic neighbourhood, but I was also interested in the neighbourhood itself. That’s how I got to know a pensioner called Sadik. He offered to drive me around to Kalk Bay, Hout Bay, Muizenberg, Simon’s Town, Camps Bay… Basically, to act as my guide for a whole day! I asked him how much he’d charge for all that. 1,200 rands in total. That’s about €60. I know the usual rate is over 3,000 rands…

All this to say that I played it safe at first because I was a bit apprehensive about being alone on the streets of Cape Town. During the day, in the city centre, I don’t think anything can happen to you because there are security guards on practically every street corner. I think the city is keen to ensure that most visitors feel safe. Above all, they don’t want to scare them off… . Because that would be a disaster! What really struck me was the number of homeless people and beggars on every street. You’re approached by beggars very frequently. Children, women, men, drug addicts… It’s never aggressive, but it’s quite unsettling when you’re not used to being confronted with that sort of thing. I was warned about this. Most of that money goes towards fuelling the drug trade. They ask you to buy them something from the local shop. What happens next is that they go to the shop to sell back what you’ve bought for them in exchange for cash. Of course, the shopkeeper takes a cut. And there you have it – cash for drugs…

During the day, I told you it’s fairly safe, but you still need to keep a close eye on your personal belongings. At night, it’s a different story. It was made very clear to me that it’s a no-go zone. If you need to go to a restaurant or to a friend’s house, do so by car or Uber. Don’t even trust taxis! The only time I found myself out and about after sunset, I took an Uber back. During my second week in Cape Town, I tried to be a bit braver by venturing around Grand Central Station, which was teeming with people coming from the suburbs and even the townships, all heading towards the city centre. I could really sense that I was on the border separating two different worlds. I’d spotted a flight of steps leading up to a market above the station, and loads of people were heading that way, so I thought I’d give it a go. Armed only with my Ricoh GR, I figured I’d go fairly unnoticed. At the top of the steps, a woman selling fruit asked me where I was off to. I told her I was just going for a wander, and she asked me to turn back. She told me that the area was very dangerous and that I should go back to the other side of the city. She looked me up and down and said, ‘Look at the way you’re dressed, look at your bag…’ You must be wondering what I was wearing? I’ve attached a photo of me taken by a mysterious photographer.

See? A pair of jeans, a black hoodie, a khaki shoulder bag. Yep, but the bloke’s Asian! What helps in Asia didn’t help here. I came across very few Asian people in Cape Town. I took the lady’s advice and went back to the ‘safe zone’… Gwen had also asked me not to take any risks and to come back in one piece. I have to admit that I tried again to go there with that famous, mysterious photographer, but it was the same story: people very kindly made it clear to us that we shouldn’t go there because it was very dangerous. Even the taxi companies that take people from the townships to the city centre advised us against going where we wanted to go… I wanted to photograph a slightly more raw side of Cape Town, but I had to make do with the safer areas. I could have taken more risks and gone there anyway, but sometimes you have to know when not to cross the line. And you know what? There was already plenty to do in the ‘safe zones’!

So who is this mysterious photographer who took my photo?
Let me start by telling you how I met him. I’d heard that my stay in Cape Town coincided with the city’s second annual Photography Festival. There were numerous exhibitions taking place all over the city, and there were even small meet-and-greet sessions with photographers taking part in the festival. So I went to a talk between Richard Quaniet and Patrick de Mervellec, who were exhibiting this year.
Just before it started, I found myself at the Leica stand – which, of course, is sponsoring the festival – and it turned out that Patrick de Mervellec had done some work for the Leica Foundation. I was joking with a bloke at the stand, saying I didn’t own a Leica because I valued my two kidneys too much! He asked me what I shoot with, so I pulled out my Ricoh GR IV, and he showed me his Fujifilm XF10, which was all battered and had bits missing. I told him I really liked that camera and that I regretted selling the one I used to have. One thing led to another, and we ended up talking about the Ricoh GRD IV, and the bloke thought I knew quite a bit about that old camera. At one point, the bloke looks at me and asks if, by any chance, I might be a certain Jeff Chane-Mouye?? I’m quite surprised that he knows my name, and then he tells me his name is Paul McFarland! The famous photographer I’d been searching for in vain before coming to Cape Town!!!

It really is an unlikely encounter and I’m in shock, but absolutely delighted to meet him. We sit in on the discussion between Quaniet and Patrick, which lasts just over an hour. And on the way out, we pop in for a coffee in a church. Yes, you read that right. As they can no longer maintain the premises, churches are now hosting cafés or jazz concert venues… We stay for quite a while, chatting about street photography and this happy coincidence. I learn that I’d got it wrong and that Paul isn’t South African, but Irish. He lived in Paris for a while, where he met many photographers I know: Philippe Blayo, Elizabeth Char and even Viktor Borst. I knew all these photographers back when I was still on Facebook. But I haven’t heard from them since I cut myself off from all social media. He’s still in touch with some of them, who even remember me! How long did I spend on there, I wonder? A bit over a year in total on Facebook and Instagram. Mind you, I was such a bit of a hothead that I’m bound to have left my mark!

I suggested to Paul that we meet up again just before I left, just to pop into Cape Town for a bit to take some photos. It was with him that we got turned away yet again whilst trying to get to the market on the roof of the railway station. We ended up taking the train to the Woodstock neighbourhood. It used to be a bit of a rough area but is starting to gentrify, with quite a few little cafés and artists’ studios popping up. We had a bit of a walk along a wide avenue and, to be honest, it didn’t strike me as all that ‘hipster’. I found it rather ‘raw’ and lovely to photograph. There were quite a few people hanging about in the street, but as there were two of us and we were chatting as we walked, nobody approached us. I could walk there on my own, although I’d be very cautious because, as is often the case in Cape Town, you can sense a certain tension in the air. Perhaps I feel that way because I’m not black. I’m Asian, and it’s as plain as the nose on your face that I’m not one of them. And in Woodstock, unlike in the city centre, there are no security guards…Paul and I agreed that street photography is generally a solitary pursuit, but I really enjoyed hearing his thoughts whilst out on the streets and seeing what caught his eye. Paul places a great deal of importance on details on the street, which I don’t necessarily do. We talked at length about our views on street photography and found we agreed on many points, if not all of them. I learnt that Paul had won a Fujifilm X100V in a Fujifilm competition in South Africa, and I simply can’t resist sharing his photo with you – it’s absolutely stunning!

Paul is a really excellent street photographer and incredibly passionate about his work. We share a certain preference for a rather old-school style of street photography. He shoots almost exclusively in black and white, and in quite a few of his photos, I detect a touch of Trent Parke. I’d encourage you to check out his Flickr gallery to see what I’m talking about. His account’s a bit of a mess, and I have to say his work isn’t particularly well showcased – which is a shame, because there are some truly brilliant photos there if you take the time to have a proper rummage!

What can I say to round off my thoughts on Cape Town? Is it easy to do street photography there? I don’t know. It’s a far cry from Asian countries. I don’t think Africa, generally speaking, looks like an easy place to photograph. Whilst I feel at ease and uninhibited in Asia, I don’t feel quite as confident in Africa. Doing street photography on Réunion Island, in Nosy Be or in Cape Town seems more complicated to me. People’s reactions to the camera make things less straightforward. But Cape Town really is a beautiful city. You almost always have an amazing backdrop with Table Mountain, Lion’s Head or the sea. Going out to take photos by the sea at the beaches around Camps Bay, Sea Point, Kalk Bay and Hout Bay is a real treat. There, in winter, there wasn’t much going on, but in the height of summer, I can imagine it’s an incredible playground for a street photographer. I’ll leave you with a slideshow of photos taken during this street photography trip.

All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GR IV and the GR III.

Cet article This is my Capetown ! est apparu en premier sur Jeff CHANE-MOUYE PHOTOGRAPHY.

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Cet article Malaysia Street Gallery est apparu en premier sur Jeff CHANE-MOUYE PHOTOGRAPHY.

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I uploaded a slideshow to YouTube last night and John Harper had already texted me about it during the night! He’s my biggest fan and, like all fans I suppose, a bit biased when it comes to my work. I’d still like to thank him for his compliments, though! I’d forgotten I had subscribers on YouTube, and anyone who’s subscribed to my channel must have received a notification. I only use YouTube to host my videos, which are quite large files. I’ve stopped tagging or trying to promote my videos – it’s pointless. So I was a bit surprised to receive John’s message before I’d even written this blog post and shared it…

Having visited Thailand and Vietnam over the last two years, I can say that it’s incredibly easy to do street photography in Asia. And yet, before going to Malaysia, I was a bit apprehensive because I knew what I’d achieved on my previous trips and I had lots of questions about what I might be able to capture this year. I was reassured quite quickly, and those fears faded away. Starting our trip in Kuala Lumpur played a big part in this. We were staying a stone’s throw from several shopping centres teeming with locals and tourists. It was hard to tell them apart, actually, as many tourists come from other parts of Asia and so blend in with the local population!

Just to let you know, the Malaysian population is made up of several ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians. I’m sure I took plenty of photos of tourists, but in such a short space of time (three days), it was difficult to do any more substantial street photography. What’s more, I was also exploring the city with my little family, so I had less freedom to do what I wanted, even though I did set aside some time early in the morning and late in the afternoon. It’s worth noting, though, that unlike in Thailand and Vietnam, there’s hardly anything going on in the city before 10 am! It’s dead as a doornail! I found that quite surprising, so I took very few photos in the morning whilst waiting for everyone to wake up…

We then headed off to Taman Negara (which means ‘National Park’ in Malay), located in the centre of the country. We spent three days in the muggy, stifling heat in the village of Kuala Tahan, just opposite the park, on the other side of the river. Although the place was very small, I managed to do a bit of street photography whilst hanging about in the late afternoon near groups of children who knew how to have fun with next to nothing – and, above all, without mobile phones! I also had a go at night photography during a wet evening and started to get the hang of it.

I started out shooting in P mode – that is, fully automatic. I let the camera choose the aperture and ISO. I focused solely on the shutter speed. Basically, given the lack of light and my shutter speed, I was practically always at f/2.8: so I switched to A mode (aperture priority), set it to f/2.8 and adjusted my ISO according to the shutter speed. I tried to keep the shutter speed at a minimum of 1/20 s to avoid camera shake. I think my Ricoh GR III had some issues with the image stabiliser, as I couldn’t go any slower, whereas I can do so now with the GR IV… In Taman Negara, I’d already lost autofocus on my camera, so I was focusing manually by estimating the distances.

We then went to the Perhentian Islands, where I mainly enjoyed the sea with my family. Of course, I did a bit of street photography whilst I was there, but we were mostly in snorkelling and sunbathing mode. I did, however, take one of my favourite photos whilst we were there. It was a shot of our captain’s hand – he’d gone for a dip in the South China Sea whilst we were splashing about watching turtles, sharks, clownfish, titan triggerfish and moray eels… I’d climbed back onto the boat because, believe it or not, swimming and free-diving really takes it out of you. I’d grabbed my Ricoh to take a few photos of my wife and children, and that’s when I saw the captain coming back to the surface and getting ready to climb back on board. I quickly framed the shot and regretted not having autofocus any more, as I really needed it right then and there! Even though I was at f/8 and focused at 2.5 metres, I could tell I was too close and didn’t have time to change the focus distance on my camera. In the end, out of the three photos I took, only this one is acceptable in terms of sharpness.

It’s not perfect, but considering it was taken without autofocus, I think it’s more than decent. With hindsight, I realise I could have done things differently and simply stopped down the aperture even further to f/11 or f/13 to make it sharper. But when the scene presented itself, I didn’t have the mental capacity to think of anything else. Some might say this isn’t street photography because it’s as if I were photographing a member of my own family. In this case, it was the captain who was accompanying us. This photo is 100 per cent candid and not staged. And I consider it 200 per cent a street shot.

Our final destination in Malaysia was the island of Penang in northern Malaysia. We stayed in the beautiful city of George Town. We arrived there after a gruelling journey of nearly 8 hours by bus. Joachim, Gwen and I had traveller’s diarrhoea for two days. We were at our wits’ end with vomiting and diarrhoea… Thankfully, there were two toilets in the flat! Only Ronan escaped the bug. So we were confined to our flat for two days. And you know what? We had very few regrets, as it rained for both days… So we weren’t really able to explore the town much. As I recovered a bit quicker than Gwen and Joachim, I went out to take some photos, but I was still a bit weak. It was there that I managed to buy my Ricoh GR IV, which cost me €1,300. I’m left with a slight feeling of unfinished business in George Town. I think this city has great potential for photography, but we were at the end of our trip and everyone was tired. I reckon three weeks in Asia is a bit long. Until now, our trips had never lasted more than 15 days. A lesson to bear in mind for our future trips… Even though I had the Ricoh GR IV with me, I hardly used it at all in Malaysia; I stuck mainly with the GR III.

All in all, the loss of autofocus on the Ricoh GR III had very little impact on our trip to Malaysia. The main reason I bought the Ricoh GR IV was because I knew that, in the near future, I’d have been wondering whether to upgrade my kit. The GR III works very well in zone focusing mode. The only problem is that when you want to achieve a more precise focus whilst opening the aperture, it’s quite complicated and you have to rely on a bit of guesswork. I did try it, but you’re never quite sure of the result. That’s why I stuck to f/8 practically the whole time! We rounded off our trip with three days in Singapore. I’ll tell you all about that in another post.

Here’s the slideshow from Malaysia. All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GR III, and some with the GR IV. I used the 35 mm crop mode very often, but I also used the 28 mm when I needed to.

Cet article Malaysia Street Photography est apparu en premier sur Jeff CHANE-MOUYE PHOTOGRAPHY.

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So yes, I’ve bought the Ricoh GR IV. Let’s rewind a bit. In my last blog post, I told you about my misadventures with my Ricoh, which had lost its autofocus. It was quite a nuisance, forcing me to use it differently, but ultimately, for street photography, it was manageable. Even though I had a few more limitations due to the loss of autofocus, I was getting used to it. After my trip to the Perenthian Islands, I noticed the annoying appearance of several specks of dust on the sensor. As I could no longer take my camera apart to clean it, I started to seriously consider upgrading my kit. Not that it was urgent, but the question was bound to come up in the fairly near future, and it’s still a bit of a hassle to get hold of a camera on Réunion island.

Even though I’ve wrecked quite a few Ricoh GRD IVs (drops, splashes, etc.) and a few Ricoh GRs as well, I only have three cameras left that are more or less in working order. A GRD IV that plays up as soon as you open the aperture and seems to have focusing issues. A Fujifilm X-E2, over 10 years old, which I mainly use with manual lenses; and the Ricoh GR III, which is seriously starting to show signs of wear and tear. I’ve said it before: the Ricoh doesn’t have the robustness of a Leica or any other camera with a more solid build. It’s still a pocket camera, with all the advantages and disadvantages that entails. Among the disadvantages, I’d single out its durability. Not that the camera is fragile, but I don’t consider it to be ‘durable’.

So here I am, on the lookout for a Ricoh GR IV to buy. My plan was to buy it in Singapore just before coming home from holiday. After doing some research online, it turns out the GR IV is out of stock in Singapore. The only model available is the monochrome version… So, change of plans – I’m making the most of our stopover in George Town, Malaysia, to buy it. In Malaysia too, stocks are quite low, so I’ve contacted a shop to ask them to put one aside for me. €1,300: that’s the price I’ll have to pay for the Ricoh GR IV… It’s expensive. Especially when you consider that the GR III was selling for less than €1,000… I didn’t get a great deal by buying it in Malaysia. It’s more or less the same price in France. On Réunion island, you’d be looking at a good €1,500! The downside is that I only have the Malaysian warranty… Which is basically the same as having no warranty at all!

I started using the GR IV in George Town and also spent three days in Singapore with it. I’m going to share my first impressions of this camera after just one week of use.

For those of you with a Ricoh GR III, don’t expect a revolution. You’ll quickly find your feet. A few buttons have gone, others have changed shape, but you won’t get lost! As for the rest, it’s a Ricoh GR. Simple and effective. I think they’ve included a Snap mode on the mode dial, but I’m not yet sure what it’s for. I just switched to Av mode (Aperture priority) and that was it. I quickly made my usual settings: Snap at 2.5 m, f/8, 1/500 s, Auto ISO (1/500 s | ISO max 1600). Nothing revolutionary. There’s just one thing I do regularly now, which is to manually adjust the ISO to deliberately reduce the shutter speed when I know I’ll be in situations that don’t require high shutter speeds. All this to prevent the ISO from rising too quickly and thus keep noise to a minimum.

The image quality is really very good. I think my GR III must have had a slight sharpness issue as well, because at f/8, the images are much sharper at infinity with the GR IV. I’d already suspected there was a slight problem with the GR III, but as I had nothing to compare it with, I thought I was just imagining things… Now the images are much sharper! At ISO 1600, the images are of very good quality. I haven’t pushed it any higher yet. I’ll do that later.

Right from the first time I used it, I found the camera overheated a lot! It’s the same problem as with the GR III. But on subsequent occasions, the issue was less severe. I can confirm that the GR IV still overheats. It’s not unbearable, but it remains a problem. In this respect, Ricoh hasn’t improved on its latest model… I’d also complained a lot about the battery life. The GR IV has a brand-new battery: the 1,800 mAh DB120 (compared to the 1300mAh of the Ricoh GR III). So? After my first outing, I was surprised by how short the battery life was and started grumbling… But on subsequent occasions, I was pleasantly surprised. Ricoh claims 250 photos on a single charge. Personally, I managed up to 350! I’m a bit of a shutterbug and I chimp a lot. So, all in all, it’s really not bad – in fact, it’s very good. For the record, I switch off the touchscreen and anything else that might drain the battery. Basically, a battery used to last for two hours of intensive use. I had three batteries with me and never used more than two in a whole day! That’s a pleasant surprise for me, and kudos to Ricoh.

It’s nice to be back with the AF. And in that respect, I think it’s more responsive than the GR III, which I didn’t find particularly good. The 5-axis stabilisation (instead of 3) is incredibly effective. Again, my GR III must have had a few issues in that regard, as I’ve taken handheld night-time photos with the GR IV at very, very slow shutter speeds.

So, those are the most important points for me. All in all, after a week’s use, I reckon it’s a good update to the Ricoh GR. Is it worth switching to this new model if you’ve got the III and it’s working fine? Hmm, I’d say no. If you’re in the market for a new GR like me, between the GR III at €900 and the GR IV at €1,300, I’d still go for the latest version. OK, it’s a lot more expensive, but my first impressions of this new model are quite good.

This trip to Singapore also gave me the chance to enjoy using the camera’s native 28mm lens once again. I often found myself needing a wider focal length whilst I was there. All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GR IV in Singapore.

Cet article First week with the Ricoh GR IV … est apparu en premier sur Jeff CHANE-MOUYE PHOTOGRAPHY.

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In the days leading up to our trip, I’d been agonising over what kit to take. The Ricoh GR III? The Fujifilm X-E2? Both? In the end, I settled on the Ricoh and nothing else. By the second day, my Ricoh had lost its autofocus! Just that. My GR III has already been faulty for months, with an LCD screen that doesn’t work very well anymore. I’ll refer you to the blog post where I talk about it. Until now, I’d been putting up with this problem, which I consider minor.

This week, just before I left, I wanted to clean my sensor as there was a tiny speck of dust on it. Nothing too serious, but I thought a clean sensor would be ideal. Well, whilst taking my Ricoh apart, I noticed that a small ribbon cable had been severed. I think that’s why my LCD isn’t working properly. Another, more serious problem has cropped up. I can’t get one of the screws holding the sensor in place out. So it’s impossible to clean it. Out of frustration, I put it back together without cleaning it…

So here I am at the very start of my trip with a Ricoh GR III that has two problems. A faulty LCD screen and no autofocus. Just so you know, the Ricoh doesn’t have a viewfinder and isn’t designed to be used without autofocus, as the manual focus is just rubbish. Well, rubbish in the sense that it’s very, very difficult to focus manually. For one thing, the camera doesn’t have a focus ring, and for another, everything is done via the LCD screen. This is all the more problematic when the screen, like mine, is faulty…

I quickly have to make do with what I’ve got. On the morning it happened, we were visiting Chinatown and I used everything I knew about zone focusing to carry on taking photos, even without AF. I switched the camera to fully manual mode: focus set to 2.5 m, f/8 and Auto ISO (max 6400 & shutter speed 1/800 s). But I still have serious doubts about the focus. In fact, I didn’t know if it was just the AF system that was broken or if it was more serious than that and the whole focusing system had stopped working…

Anyway, I started fretting about it, and Gwen told me I should just use my other camera (the Fujifilm). She couldn’t believe it when I told her I hadn’t brought it with me… Well, you’ll just have to buy a new camera then! I must admit I wasn’t exactly thrilled by the idea (yes, really!), but I gave it serious thought as we were only at the start of our holiday. In the end, the fully manual mode seems to be working well, and I got confirmation that evening whilst editing the photos that it really is the AF system that’s on the blink. The GR III is half-broken, but it still takes great photos!

I’d never really tried manual focus with this camera before. Without a viewfinder or a focus ring, it’s virtually impossible. I use the depth-of-field data provided by the camera and the distances I know (arm’s length ~ 0.7 m…) to focus when I want to shoot at a wide aperture. It’s still zone focusing, as I can’t achieve precise focus. But it works quite well!

In fact, I feel as though I’m taking a step backwards and using the GR III just as I used to use the GRD IV years ago. I’m learning to keep the ISO down by deliberately reducing the shutter speed in situations where I know I won’t need 1/800s. For example, in fairly static situations. This helps me keep noise to a minimum. So I find myself adjusting the ISO more often depending on the situation. That’s what I used to do systematically with the GRD IV, which produced a lot of noise above ISO 400.

I don’t know if this is a long-term solution. But buying a new one is out of the question for the moment. The GR III may have lost a few features, but it still works! I’ve got a faulty LCD screen that’s still usable, no autofocus, and a speck of dust on my sensor. Hey! It could have been worse, couldn’t it?

All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GR III | 35mm crop.

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Me too! Well, I’m still working, but I’m very involved in my two children’s education and I spend a great deal of time with them on their homework and helping them catch up on their weaknesses – mainly in science. I studied science myself, and even though it’s been many years since my own secondary school days, a quick refresher is all it takes for me to guide them through maths and physics. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been very busy with Joachim, who, as well as his French A-level, had a new early maths exam. Since mid-June, I’ve finally been able to take a breather and let the children do the same. I’m very demanding and I’m probably not the easiest person to get on with.

Both children go to private schools, and it’s fair to say that their secondary schools put quite a lot of pressure on them, as they have a reputation to uphold and strive for excellence. Weekends are therefore very busy too, with all the homework to be done for the coming week. All this to say that I haven’t taken many photos over the last few months, what with being so busy tormenting my children by making them work… Last weekend, I went, with a light heart, to the Grand Boucan, the carnival held every year near Saint-Paul, a coastal town in the west of the island. St Paul has been hosting the Grand Boucan for three years now. It used to take place in St Gilles, but it was moved to a larger town because its growing popularity meant it was becoming difficult to accommodate in the small seaside town of St Gilles.

This is the second year I’ve been to the Grand Boucan in St-Paul. In fact, I’d forgotten to note the date in my diary, and it wasn’t until the day before the carnival that I realised the event was taking place this Sunday! I persuaded a photographer friend to come along with me. I love this sort of event because it brings lots of people together, all in fancy costumes. But it’s also a bit of a challenge because it’s very easy to end up with photos that aren’t particularly interesting. If I had to compare it to what goes on in the streets of St-Denis, I’d say they’re worlds apart. There’s just too much going on at a carnival, and the trick is to manage to extract something interesting from all that chaos. The most important thing for me was to arrive before the parade set off, as that’s my favourite part. In fact, we left shortly after the parade had sarted, my SD card full of hundreds of unremarkable photos – though, of course, with a few keepers.

This break gave me the chance to make up my mind about which camera I’m going to use in Malaysia. We’re leaving in a week’s time and I was still wondering which camera I was going to use. I came across some photos I’d taken in Thailand with my Fujifilm X-E2 and the 23mm f/1.4 (35mm equivalent, as it’s an APS-C sensor) and was blown away by the image quality produced by this camera, which is over 10 years old! I remember having a right good time with the X-E2 and I was really torn between it and the GRIII. Every now and then, I still use the Fujifilm, mainly with my 35mm f/0.95 lens. But this trip to Le Grand Boucan has definitely settled the matter. I’ll be taking the Ricoh GRIII to Malaysia!

This camera is so light that I can’t imagine choosing any other. Come to think of it, back in 2024 when I went to Thailand, I’d taken the Fujifilm X-E2 with me because I wanted to try out the 35mm lens, and I didn’t think I could use the GRIII with the 35mm crop. The only problem I’m likely to face is the GRIII’s rubbish battery life and the fact that the camera overheats. But then again, I’ve already done this in Vietnam in the middle of January when it was much hotter, and I’ve got 8 batteries (!!!) for my GRIII! Though it seems quite a few of the batteries are quite old and don’t hold their charge very well anymore… We’ll see. At worst, whilst we’re in Kuala Lumpur, I might pop out and buy a few extra batteries. Honestly, I hope Ricoh has sorted that out on the GR IV!

This week, I went for a wander in Saint-Denis three times and took the opportunity to take some photos. After the big fuss over the Grand Boucan, Saint-Denis seemed rather dull to me, but there’s still plenty going on there. I went for a wander round Vauban, a neighbourhood I know quite well, as I went to nursery and primary school there. The area has always been working-class, but it’s changed a lot since the 1980s. It’s even poorer than it was back then and has become a bit of a ghetto. Women who are no longer in their prime, offering their services, loiter on certain street corners. Some dodgy-looking blokes astanding guard in front of certain blocks of flats. During the day, I’m not particularly afraid to wander around the neighbourhood. But there are some street scenes I find hard to photograph, and God knows I’m quite daring.

It’s like a sixth sense that tells me it’s not worth it. I know people often say, shoot first, talk later. But I don’t want to get myself into a pickle. I think I behave differently depending on where I am in Saint-Denis. When I’m in the city centre, I’m quite carefree. Here in Vauban, my senses are on high alert. It’s a neighbourhood I’m not used to visiting, so I keep a fairly close eye on where the people around me are, and I’m a bit more careful with my belongings – for example, checking my bag to make sure it’s properly zipped up after changing the battery. I scan the street to spot interesting things to photograph, but also to anticipate any potential trouble. Some might say I’m worrying for nothing, but I’m what you’d call streetwise.

So, in a few days’ time, I’ll be off to Malaysia. Its big cities, its jungle, its idyllic beaches! I don’t think I’ll have a chance to hang out in Saint-Denis before I leave. I don’t know if I’ll have time to write a blog post from there, with the billions of photos I’ll have to edit!

All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GRIII | 35mm crop. Only two of them were taken with the Fujifilm X-E2 using the 35mm f/0.95 lens.

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Ever since I started doing street photography, I’ve always had my camera in my bag. It puts my mind at ease knowing it’s close by. I like having it in my hand, and when I go shopping or just pop into the shops, I sometimes have it on my wrist just in case… Some people have their smartphone in their hand; for me, it’s my Ricoh! When I go to concerts, I like to capture those moments. It’s not easy, but the stage with its lighting effects provides a nice backdrop.

Let’s get back to the concept of being in the right place at the right time. In street photography, that’s what we often tell ourselves when we’ve managed to take a great photo, as if we needed to justify ourselves for having captured a moment! I’m the first to admit it: I tend to offer that justification when people get a bit too carried away over a photo I’ve taken. I’ve always had this imposter syndrome, and not just in street photography. Those who know me a bit know full well that I’d never put myself forward, that I have no ego and that I’ll always downplay what I do—partly because I can be a perfectionist, or simply because I always see the glass as half empty…

If you take a closer look at street photography, the idea of “being in the right place at the right time” is just a load of rubbish. As if you needed that to take a photo. Yes, sometimes it feels as though all the elements have fallen into place and you simply had to capture that damn scene, as if it had been handed to you on a silver platter. But actually, that’s true of any photo you might take. We just tend to over-interpret certain things and explain why this particular photo taken there is better than others, or why those damn elements didn’t deign to line up as they should have…

It’s like saying I was very lucky to have taken this or that photo. A few weeks ago, I sent this photo to John on WhatsApp, explaining that there was a large billboard showing a video for a pay-per-view TV channel and that in the film being shown, there was a close-up of an eye, which appeared very briefly, and that’s what I captured at 1/2500 s.

I considered myself extremely lucky because my attention wasn’t on the content displayed on the billboard, but on the woman in the foreground whose gestures had caught my eye. The billboard was just something I’d noticed, nothing more. In the end, the most important element of the photo is that eye, which reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984.

When the interviewer said to the professional golfer, “You sure got lucky out there today”, he replied, “Yep, funny that, the more I practice, the luckier I get!”

That’s what John told me. So, luck? Being in the right place? At the right time? Yes, a bit of all that, but to reduce a photograph to just that is very simplistic. I brought that luck about by having my camera in my hand at that moment, by spotting the situation and framing it correctly, and by pressing the shutter at the right moment. I’m not saying that luck doesn’t exist in street photography. I’m the first to say that photographers should stop adopting this attitude of claiming that everything was under control within the frame when they took a photo. I find that extremely pretentious and untrue. I’ve written about this before, saying that many things emerge when I edit my photos, and I always find that exciting. That’s when, for me, the photo really comes to life.

I’m going to go back to last weekend’s music festival for a moment. Even though there are plenty of interesting bands and artists at this sort of festival, there’s always one act you’re looking forward to more than the rest. An artist who makes you think, “I’d really like to go that night” rather than any other. And this weekend, it was a completely mad young artist: Miki. There were several stages and the line-up meant we had to juggle between different venues. To tell you the truth, Gwen and I cut short the end of a gig to walk the 200 metres that separated us from the stage where Miki was due to perform. The crowd was already quite dense and, like a snake, I slithered my way through the people to get right in front of the stage at a reasonable distance to get a good view.

As I explained, I always have my Ricoh on my wrist, ready to snap away. I love taking photos at concerts. I bumped into the festival’s official photographers with their Sony cameras fitted with lenses so fast they could shoot in the dead of night without any trouble. In short, knowing how the Ricoh GR III performs in low light, I was no match for them. But I like working within the constraints the Ricoh imposes on me. It’s always a challenge to get a shot when the light is lacking.

Right in the middle of the concert, the rain started to fall and lashed our faces; I was just about to put my Ricoh away when Miki decided to make her way down into the crowd and literally walked right past us, stopping just behind us on a wheeled concert platform. So there we were, right next to Miki as she performed one of her songs in the rain.

I forget about the rain and the risks I’m putting my Ricoh GR III through. And that’s when I take a photo which, as usual, will really come into its own when I edit it later at home. The rain, the backlighting, the spotlights like two menacing eyes…

So what? Just being in the right place at the right time? Yes, but as I said, that’s rather simplistic in the end. If you don’t take into account that we left before the previous concert had finished so we could get a good spot. If you don’t take into account that I took it upon myself to keep taking photos despite the rain. Not to mention the settings I’d decided to use several days beforehand to be more responsive. In short, if you don’t take all these factors into account, then yes, I was in the right place at the right time!

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

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For the past few weeks, I’ve suspected I’ve got G.A.S. I can’t stop fantasising about certain cameras, particularly the Fuji X-E5, which came out last year and which I find absolutely gorgeous. So what, am I going to buy a camera just because it’s ‘gorgeous’? I own an old predecessor to the X-E5. I bought the X-E2 in 2016, which was 10 years ago. To put this camera into context, let me tell you that it has 16 MP, no touchscreen and no tilting screen, but it has one brilliant feature: a pop-up flash. Pfff, I can already hear some of you grumbling about how weak this flash is – though it’s not really a flash at all. Well, in my opinion, it’s super useful and helps brighten up the foreground when the light’s running low. You’re not going to cover a wedding or a major event with this pop-up flash, but it’s more than just a gimmick. I regret that manufacturers are increasingly abandoning the pop-up flash. Since the X-E3, Fuji has removed it from subsequent models. Ricoh has done the same, moving from the Ricoh GR II to the GR III…

A few weeks ago, we were in the west of the island and we had a drink on the beach a couple of times to watch the sunset, and I only had my Ricoh GR III with me. Well, I can tell you I really regretted not having that flash! I took a few photos of friends against the sunset and they were rubbish… Whereas with the flash, those photos would have been brilliant! A stunning sunset with a flash to bring out the people in the foreground. When I use the Ricoh GR III on the street, I rarely need the flash, but if I had it, I’m sure I’d use it on certain occasions to do more creative work using that artificial light. Not necessarily right in people’s faces! That’s not really my thing, the Gilden-style aggression…

So there I was, browsing for Fuji X-E5s on something like Gumtree, wondering how much this little treat would set me back. The worst part is that this week, at work, a colleague who’d gone to see the lava flow from the volcano – which is very active at the moment – had brought his camera in to edit his photos. And I immediately saw that it was a Fujifilm X-E5 with the 23mm f/2.8 pancake lens (which is equivalent to a 35mm lens as the Fuji is an APS-C camera)! Yep, that body is dead sexy, and with the pancake lens on it, it’s got a bit of an X100 VI vibe. Anyway, I had a go with it and found it feels nice to hold. It’s slightly thicker than the X-E2 I own. On the other hand, you can tell the camera is heavier than the X-E2! I had a look online and sure enough, the X-E2 weighs 300g body-only and the X-E5 is 450g! Wow, that’s quite a weight gain! It’s like me after the Christmas holidays!

So what’s the story? Did Jeff give in and upset his bank manager by buying this little gem? Well, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer… No, I don’t intend to buy it. Quite simply because I wouldn’t know what to do with it! I hardly ever use the Fuji X-E2. It’s more of a fun camera that I’ve fitted with a 23mm f/1.4 and a 35mm f/0.95 (35mm and 50mm full-frame). Two fully manual lenses just for my own enjoyment. I did some street photography with the TT Artisan 23mm in Thailand because I wanted to try out the 35mm and I didn’t have anything else. You can see the results here. Mind you, that was before I realised I could use the Ricoh GR III’s 35mm crop… Since then, the GR III has become the only camera I use. I don’t like to complicate things for myself on the street, and I can’t see myself taking photos with any other camera.

Another point in the X-E2’s favour is that, despite its modest 16 MP, it’s still a camera that produces some truly stunning photos. Of course, the X-E5 outperforms it when light is scarce, and its 40 MP allow for plenty of cropping. But I avoid using the X-E2 when the light is rubbish, and I’m not a fan of cropping (apart from the 35 mm crop on the Ricoh GR III, but that’s a different story…). So no, no X-E5. My X-E2 is sexy too, even if it’s 10 years old, and what’s more, it has a pop-up flash! Which, of course, the X-E5 doesn’t have!

I don’t really understand people who rush out to buy the latest version of their favourite camera as soon as it’s released. Whether it’s the Leica Q3, the Ricoh GR IV or the Fujifilm X-E5. I’m only mentioning these cameras, but it’s the same for all brands. It’s as if, the moment the latest version of their camera comes out, the old one becomes obsolete… In fact, the same thing happens with smartphones. We live in a consumer society that can’t seem to be satisfied with what it has. I’d only consider buying a Ricoh GR IV if mine were faulty and I had to replace it. And even then, I’d look into it to see whether upgrading to the IV is worth it or not. If not, I could always fall back on a second-hand Ricoh GR III…

Basically, I’m not ready to swap my Ricoh GR III / Fujifilm X-E2 combo just yet. Fuck the G.A.S!

PS: I actually wrote this blog post a good month ago, but as I’m not exactly the most diligent person, it took reading John Harper’s latest blog post to finally kick myself into gear and publish it… All this to say that this whole X-E5 business is well and truly dead and buried!

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During our trip to Boucan, there was a bit of a swell when we laid our things out on the sand, and I could see the lifeguards busy at work with the nets. Since the shark crisis, which happened over 10 years ago, swimming has only been permitted within designated swimming areas marked out by floating nets. The area is quite large, providing a safe zone. It also makes the lifeguards’ job easier as they monitor the swimming area. Some say it was better before, without the nets… Admittedly, I remember trips to Boucan where we could swim as we pleased and marvelled at the stingrays just a few metres from the shore. But that was before the shark crisis…

For many years, people have been accustomed to swimming within these famous nets. It was also strictly forbidden to swim anywhere else, with the exception of the lagoon, which was protected by the coral reef. In recent months, the regulations have changed slightly. The last shark attack was in 2019, and the Prefect has decided to relax the rules by allowing people to swim anywhere, provided they do so wearing a mask and flippers! Basically, you’re being asked to take responsibility by keeping a watchful eye on your surroundings and watching out for sharks!

Well, I might as well tell you that we’re already seeing things getting out of hand, and very few people have flippers and masks. Since we can’t put a police officer behind every swimmer, I’m just waiting to see when the next shark attack will happen! They’re still out there! Reports of shark sightings are frequent, even near the nets. Every morning, before allowing swimming, the nets are checked (for holes!) and the area is also combed through. In fact, this summer, on two occasions, swimming areas within the nets were closed to the public because a juvenile shark was spotted inside the nets! In heavy swell, swimming is also prohibited because, with large waves, the nets don’t really fulfil their purpose and swimming can also be very dangerous.

That was certainly the case on that lovely sunny day in March. I went to check with the lifeguard and was told that swimming in the open sea was prohibited that very day. The only option left for a dip was the Boucan swimming pool! The pool was packed with young people there to have fun. It’s a place I really love for taking photos. Up until now, I’d take my children there and take photos of them. Naturally, I’d make the most of it to snap away happily and do a bit of beach photography. But the problem is that my two boys have reached a stage in their lives where all that matters is their bloody smartphone. You even have to drag them to the beach, and they’re bored stiff and can’t wait to get back to flop onto the bed and scroll through loads of rubbish on their smartphones… The only way for them to have fun at the beach would be to be with their mates. But then again, we’re not going to rent a 120m² house just so they can bring their mates along!

So there I was, sitting on a rock by the pool, taking photos of half-naked teenagers without the slightest pretence that I was simply documenting my children’s holiday! Gwen, who was splashing about in the pool, even told me I looked a bit odd taking photos and that all I needed was a trench coat to complete my pervert’s outfit. Anyway, we street photographers are generally seen as weird and dodgy types. Let’s just say that at the beach, with all those naked bodies, the setting doesn’t exactly work in our favour.

But whether at the beach or elsewhere, I always go about it the same way. When I spot a scene with potential, I stay there trying to figure out how to make it interesting by adding elements, or taking some away… As you well know, it’s called: working the scene. I know some people find it lacks spontaneity and don’t like it. Personally, I don’t do it all the time. But sometimes, I have to wait for that moment that will give me THE photo.

A few weeks ago, I took a short series of photos in the town of Saint-Denis. I didn’t spend much time there, but just long enough for the elements to fall into place and give me this photo.

The other photos aren’t great, but they helped me get to the shot I wanted.

At Boucan Canot beach, it was the same story. There was a lot going on. It was almost too much. Things were moving too fast and it was chaos, with people walking into the frame and overlapping with others. It was difficult to get a clear, clean shot. I had the idea of photographing someone falling or jumping into the water. I wanted to capture that precise moment when they entered the water. Why? Simply to capture that moment of extreme tension and also to add movement to the photo. Of course, without using burst mode. I know that quite a few street photographers use this mode so they can then boast about having captured ‘the moment’! I find that ridiculous; you haven’t captured anything at all, you’ve just fired off a burst and picked out what interested you… You might as well film the street in 4K and extract images from it. The following photos are forgettable. They do, however, give you a sense of the chaos that reigned at the swimming pool.

But they served as preparatory work for the one I managed to capture in the end. Once I’d taken that one, I packed up my gear because I knew I’d got the photo I’d be looking for.

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

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