Frankly, I had to kick myself to get back in front of my computer to type this Blog ! It’s been more than 5 weeks since I wrote anything. As far as Street Photography is concerned, I have to admit that I don’t do much of it. What’s more embarrassing is that I don’t miss it more than that … Since 2016, I’ve lived street photography 200%. It was part of me and in a way, it defined me. But for several months now, this flame that burned inside me has been dulling. Continue reading A short Blog
Lately I have been wondering whether I am not lacking inspiration in my work. I felt less like writing because I couldn’t find ideas to develop. Even with photography, I felt a certain weariness and nothing around me encouraged me to move forward as I have always done until now. Some of the bloggers I followed seemed to be suffering from a lack of inspiration just like me. Tim Huynh was absent for more than 6 months, John Harper who I love to read, started to be less present too.
Continue reading Running out of inspiration
I have already told you about this bus stop located right next to the Petit Marché in Saint-Denis, one of the busiest places in the city. It is a strategic point in the city because it is a gateway to the city centre. The bus central station is a few hundred metres away and the Petit Marché attracts a lot of people who go to buy meat, vegetables or fruits. This stop also marks the end of the city centre in a way. To the east of this stop, the shops become scarce until they are non-existent. If we continue further east, Maréchal Leclerc Street is home to buildings where mostly Comorian or Mahoran families are crammed together. For a long time, this part of the city had a very bad reputation. It seems that things have changed a bit, but it’s still a place where you don’t want to hang out at night… During the day it’s different, so you don’t have to worry.
Continue reading Sainte-Victoire Station
That’s what a Street Photography outing can be like. You stand at a busy spot and watch the interactions between people to find something to photograph. And frankly, there’s always something going on and if you’re attentive enough, you can capture some very interesting photos. Personally, it’s the bus stops that attract me. I always find opportunities for photos. But not just any bus stop. The ones that are particularly busy. I can spend dozens of minutes waiting without getting bored. There are also the pretty backgrounds. That’s kind of how most street photographers start. It’s pretty easy and success is almost guaranteed. At least as far as the form is concerned. It’s more complicated to do something with content. So yes, I spend a lot of time waiting in the street, but that’s not what I want to talk about today…
Continue reading The waiting game
It’s been a while since I’ve been on YouTube to see videos about Street Photography. It’s also been a while since Tim Huynh, one of the craziest Vloger, published anything. His latest video is about the last Italian Street Photography Festival. An uncompromising review of the finalists’ photos and also of the winners. You can see the video here. It gave me a chance to see what’s currently going on in Street Photography.
Continue reading Old school Street Photography
Since last week I decided to shoot, for a while, with the Ricoh GR3. I’ve had this camera for almost 3 years and I’ve hardly used it … It’s a little bit backwards that I’m using it, but I’m going to try to invest myself in it to get over its big flaws and try to get the best out of it. This Blog is called week 1. I will try to share my impressions with you over the next few weeks. As the holidays are approaching, it will be about Street Photography, but not only, because I have less opportunity to do it when I have the kids with me.
Continue reading Ricoh GR3 : week 1
I recently bought a used Ricoh GRD IV. Another one you might say… The previous one had been damaged in a stupid fall (Blog here). The camera had hit the ground hard and didn’t seem to have any apparent damage. I did notice that the left side of my pictures were still blurry. In addition, small dust spots had appeared. It was impossible to close the aperture beyond f4, otherwise the dust was visible. That’s why I went on the hunt for a new GRD IV. I found it on leboncoin. But there too, I realised that there was a problem when I used the camera at f 2.8. Still a sharpness problem that doesn’t appear at f1.9 or other apertures. The camera is usable but I don’t have to use f2.8.
Continue reading New beginning
I’ve been doing street photography for more than 6 years. That’s not much when I see that some people have decades behind them … I’ve also been blogging for 6 years. As soon as I started to share my photos on the internet, I felt the need to write too. Not necessarily to write about my photos but to talk about what I was doing in the street. It was like a kind of photographic notebook where I wrote down all the questions I was asking myself, my process of evolution as a street photographer. The first four years were very rich in content. It was during this period that I wrote, in my opinion, my most interesting Blogs.
Continue reading Looking back …
For some time now, I have been using my Fuji xE2 more and more, which was my first hybrid digital camera. I had switched from the D200 to the Fuji. Since I had entered the Ricoh sphere, the Fuji XE2 had been put back in the wardrobe. Even for photos of my family, the GRD IV was king. I think I started using my old Fuji again because Joachim asked me to take pictures of him for his Instagram account. Like all teenagers, Joachim puts himself on display in his photos. He literally poses and I thought I could use my old Nikon lenses which are better suited for portraits. That’s how I ended up buying the 7 Artisan 35mm at f0.95
Continue reading The best of both worlds
Sometimes things don’t add up to much… After work today, I wondered if I was going to go home before picking up the kids from school. I remembered that I hadn’t been hanging out in Saint-Denis this week. The weather had been rather capricious and we’d had a lot of showers over the last few days. But I forced myself to go anyway. Without much conviction I parked for lunch.
Continue reading Bee in the city
