Stekki Issue No.19 - A Photowalk with Boris

素敵 STEKKI Photography & lifestyle magazine

19

Photo: Boris Kalita

2

Editorial

by Alfie Goodrich

N

othing excites me more on a chilly Sunday morning than dragging myself out of bed early to go do a photowalk with an enthusiastic student.

This is the stuff that keeps me real as a professional photographer of some 30+ years.

It’s easy to get matter of fact about photography when you’re doing it every day. People who know me know I have an exercise regime with my camera, to keep the muscles flexed and the brain snappy.

But, even with that to keep me fresh and fit, things can get staid.

Being around keen, passionate photographers who are hungry to learn and who will have interesting questions for me: that’s the best Sunday morning workout.

Ahead of our walk, Boris and I had Zoomed and chatted a little about things.

The day we met up, we had a loose plan of what to do and where to go. To be honest, I knew the area we’d be in would work and was just keen to see how the first hour unfolded.

Boris is an astrophysicist with doctorates and stuff like that. There’s obviously quite a lot about photography that is also physics. I had a good idea the day would be interesting but until I see how someone reacts to where we are. Until we have one or two photos from that space we’ve taken together. I really don’t know what’s going to unfold.

We had a great day together. The first hour, I think, totally blew Boris’ mind. We didn’t walk nearly as far as we thought we might.

But, to be honest, still farther than we needed to as we were looking at the world in front of us in such detail and having so much fun, we could have done the workshop in one street.

Immediately I’d suggested we make this magazine from the day’s work. And Boris and I made it together, online, so he could see the whole process from soup to nuts: what to shoot, how to shoot it, previsualising the layout of the magazine and interrelationship of images whilst you’re actually making them.

Great fun. Happy days. Hope you enjoy what Boris made. I did

Everyone is different. Every person.

Every photographer. A large part of the excitement of being an educator is the process of adapting the delivery of knowledge to each student.

Alfie

3

4

5

6

02 A Tokyo Backstreet Safari words and photos by Boris Kalita

Tokyo feels like it contains a handful of big cities overlapping each other within its confines. Every corner and every street is bustling with life. Unsurprisingly hence, an outsider like me has found it quite challenging to relate to it and feel at home.

Photography usually was the medium through which I had bridged this gap in other cities that I had called home. But Tokyo seemed impossible to put into photographs. There was just too much happening. Everywhere. All the time.

7

With my time in Tokyo running out before I left for another place, I found out about the photowalks Alfie guides within the city. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and hence just came with the mind-set to have fun. Alfie had planned for me to walk through the streets of Akihabara, a place I had always walked past, multiple times.

It had been interesting for me before, but I had never tried to see it through my camera.

What followed was me learning the vocabulary of street photography through some extremely helpful suggestions and guidance. Alfie taught me a lot, while also allowing me to experiment at my own pace.

As I clicked away, I attempted to learn the methods and perspectives he was sharing and put them into my photographs. Although there was an immense amount of information coming my way, at no point did I feel fatigued. I was basically being taught photography in exactly the way I didn’t even know I liked, which speaks

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

volumes about Alfie’s skills as a teacher.

Over the next few hours I started seeing Tokyo in a different light. The cacophony of lights, shapes and people made way into a well choreographed stage play that I had the opportunity to photograph. On top of that I was getting to discuss photography with a person who is not only an expert professional photographer of the highest order, but also a true photography lover.

Over the day, I was not only learning how to take photographs, but also how to think about photography and understand this art form better.

Meanwhile my eyes and my mind were slowly getting accustomed to the new vocabulary and outlook Alfie had taught me.

I felt calmer and confident enough to sporadically transition into the realms of

15

black and white photography. Stripping away the color really requires one to understand the subjects in the frame. I was of course in no way close to that level of expertise.

But under Alfie’s watchful eye I was starting to understand when and where to use this tool to make a photograph work in black and white.

As the day came to a close, I knew that I had one of the best experiences of my life thanks to Alfie and the city of Tokyo.

I felt differently about the city. I felt I got to know it a bit better. But the experience wasn’t over yet.

In a week, Alfie and I sat through compiling the pictures I had taken and placing them in this online magazine.

16

17

18

19

20

The closest thing I had previously experienced was putting together videos to make a movie on the editing table.

Half baked ideas distributed among the different clips coming together to make a cohesive story.

Similar was this experience with Alfie. The process of going through the photographs of my day in Akihabara and placing them in a specific order to create a narrative.

The stage play I saw on the streets of Tokyo that day was now a movie.

Boris Kalita

21

03 Where Did Ya Go?

by Alfie I’ve been in Tokyo a while so I know a few places to go and see some interesting stuff.

How I usually play it with students (especially early on a Sunday morning) is to try and combine interesting and easily accessible. In this case, starting at Akihabara made sense.

Not a fan of Akiba, to be honest. But a huge fan of a whole bunch of routes to walk away from Akiba. Ha. On this occasion, that would be along the Sobu Line railway tracks towards Asakusabashi. ...contd

22

23

24

25

26

I love this area. Especially how the railway creates a large portion of its character.

It’s a regular haunt for me and I know there’s always going to be plenty to shoot, whether it’s street, macro, portraits or whatever.

We really didn’t stray too far that day.

Down to Asakusabashi, over the main road and along the river to Yanagibashi. From there up into Bakurocho a little then west again, ending up at a great used camera store I know in Iwamotocho.

Boris had the long lens bug again by the time we parted company and we picked him up a super good value 200m f/4 Pentax M42 thread 1970s lens. Plus the M42-Canon adapter to get it working on his EOS-R. Great end to a super day.

27

04 Hey, Show Me The Map! You can find our route and details of the camera shop we visited, on this map: https://shorturl.at/gswMS

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

05 Workshops Alfie does a lot of one-to-one teaching and when time allows, small group workshops.

For details of his one-to-one lessons and to get in touch, visit:

Over the years he’s done a lot of group workshops, all over the country, through his Japanorama business and in collaboration with the likes of Hasselblad and ProFoto.

www.alfiegoodrich.com/photography-lessons-intokyo-japan/

He also does courses - typically of 15hrs or 30hrs duration, usually done in 3hr chunks which are tailored to each student.

36

37