Viewfinder Magazine - Issue 2 - June 2011 by Viewfinder Magazine

Creative Photography June 2011 | Issue 02

S o u r ce : f l i ckr.com/nesster

The VF Team

Paul Murphy E ditor

Shoots on 18 film cameras from little plastic lens toys to pro SLR. Also shoots digital on a Canon EOS 450D. flickr.com/analoguepaul

Editorial

Street

Welcome to Issue 2 of Viewfinder Magazine, a magazine that celebrates all forms of creativity found in photography. This month we dedicate our pages to the fine art that is Street Photography. We take a look at a new collective of p hotographers called Dublin Street Photographers who strive to shoot the city of Dublin in its raw and pure form. Our featured photographer shoots with a particular flare for night, bar and street scenes. We interview Paul Freeney, Creative Photography June 2011 | Issue 02

S ean O’Flaherty C reative Editor

Shoots with a Canon EOS 5D and 450D and a 35mm Pentax SP1000. Is also not a stranger to the world of the Diana F+. flickr.com/seanof

who has been shooting street photography for over 30 years. Also, inside you’ll find our regular gallery of the best photographs submitted to us, here, at Viewfinder over the last month as well as the latest news and we take a special look at an old Soviet era camera. The Viewfinder team also produce a monthly podcast, which is a great accompaniment to this magazine so while you’re reading you can listen to us at vi ewfinderpodcast. com

- the VF Team

A ndy Doyle P odcast Producer

Canon EOS 7D expert but from time to time he swaps his DSLR for his old Praktica and Lubitel cameras. flickr.com/andywithcamera

Contributors Stephen Boyle, Brian Newell, Dermot Marrey (dublinstreetphotographers. com), Shane Connaughton (flickr. com/shaneconnaughton), Rachel Carrier (flickr. com/rachelcarrier), JEO Photogrphy (flickr. com/jeophotos), Victor Bezrukov (flickr.com/st-r-a-n-g-e), Sam Ingles (flickr.com/samingles), Nick Leonard (flickr. com/nickleonard), Tim Williams (flickr.com/bono66), Johnny Brian (flickr. com/52637134@N03), Laszlo Gerencser (flickr. com/thewrongdevice), Agnieszka Bernacka (flickr.com/redkoala1), Marc Miesyerus, Paul Freeney (flickr.com/ sebfotos).

Inside this month’s issue FEATURES

Fury with no Monroe clues Adult E n t e rt a i n m e n t p h ot o g r a p h e r A nton Fury is still none the wiser s i n ce CNN made p u b l i c, last m o n t h, the images he f o u n d o f M a r ilyn Monroe in 1980. Published on his blog on 4 J u n e 2 0 1 1 F u r y s t a t e d : ‘ I ha d h o p e d t o l e a r n s om e t h i n g a b o u t t h e s e p h o t o s / n e g a t i v e s, b u t a s o f t o d a y , I d o n ’ t kn o w a n y m o r e , t h a n I k n e w t he n . I h a v e g o t t e n d o z e n s o f ca l l s a n d e m a i l s f r o m all over the world… all from p r e s s . W i t h a l l t h i s co v e r a g e , I ’ m a m a z e d t h a t n o b o d y ha s a n y information. So, the negatives h a v e g o n e b a ck i n t o t he d r a w e r – a ct u a l l y a s a f e t y d e p o s i t b o x – w he r e t h e y ’ l l s t a y f o r p e r h a p s a n o t he r 3 0 y e a r s’. Fury had hoped that from C N N p u b l i s hi n g t he i m a g e s t ha t they would spark somebody’s m e m o r y , a n d t h e p h o t o g r ap h e r ca n b e i d e n t i f i e d . L .A . a r t d e a l e r D a v i d S t r e e t s , w ho h e l p e d F u r y d e ci d e t o m a k e t he p i ct u r e s p u b l i c sa i d : ‘ H o p e f u l ly someone out there, perhaps a n o t he r p h o t o g r a p h e r , w i l l b e

a b l e t o s h e d s o m e l i g ht o n t h i s .’ In 1980 Fury was at a garage s a l e i n N e w J e r s e y a n d p u rch a s e d a n e n v e l o p e co n t a i n i n g 33 negatives, for $2. A f t e r d e v e l o p i n g t he n e g a t i v e s i n hi s ho m e d a r k r o o m , he r e a l i s e d w ha t h e h a d s t u m b l e d u p o n . ‘ I co u l d n ’ t b e l i e v e w ha t I w a s se e i n g . I t w a s f r e a k i n ’ Marilyn Monroe!’ but for 30 y e a r s F u r y f a i l e d t o t r a ck d o w n t h e p h o t o g r a p h e r b e h i n d t he photographs. Needless to say this proved t o b e qu i t e a b i g t a s k , a n d a s F u r y s a i d i n a r e ce n t i n t e r v i e w w i t h t h e N e w Yo r k D a i l y N e w s : ‘ W h e n I f o u n d t he m t h e r e w a s no Internet, there were limited r e s o u r ce s t o r e s e a r ch t he m . ’ A cco r d i n g t o S t r e e t s, t h e i mages are from the early 1950’s when Monroe was only 24. This year she would turned 1985.

Feature: Dublin Photographers

DSP

A brief look at a new collective of street photographers shooting Dublin city.

Dublin Street Photographers www.dublinstreetphotographers.com

Founded in February 2011, Dublin Street Photographers a r e a co l l e ct i v e o f p h o t o g r a phers working long term to d e f i n e t h e ci t y o f D u b l i n u s i n g s t r e e t p ho t o g r a p h y . I t i s co m p r i s e d o f s i x m e mbers, Stephen Boyle, Brian Newell, Dermot Marrey and t h e t h r e e m e m b e r s o f t h e V i e wfinder team. E a ch p h o t o g r p he r , i n t he co l l e ct i v e , b r i n g s t h e i r o w n u n i qu e s t y l e t o o b s e r v e , e x p l o r e a n d s e a r ch f o r s o m e t h i n g n e w o n t he s t r e e t s o f D u b l i n , a n d t o t r y a n d ca p t u r e a l i t t l e p i e ce o f

t h e sp i r i t o f t h e ci t y , a s i t e x i st s today. To use street photography t o ca p t u r e t h e e ss e n ce o f a ci t y o r a co u n t r y i s f a r f r o m n o v e l . Ro b e r t F r a n k d i d i t f o r 1 9 5 0 s A m e r i ca , W i l l i a m K l e i n d i d i t f o r N e w Yo r k i n t he sa m e p eriod, Brassai did it for Paris in the 30’s, and Henri CartierBresson did it for Europe. Some of the biggest names in the business were, or are, street photographers. T h e r e a r e co u n t l e s s b o o k s , w e b s i t e s, d o cu m e n t a r i e s a n d exhibitions dealing with street

S treet

photography from every corner o f t he g l o b e . I t i s p r o b a b l y t h e m o s t d i f f icu l t o f a l l p h o t o g r a p h y ’ s g e n r e s to keep shooting new, unique and interesting works. It is a good time to undertake s u ch a n i n i t i a t i v e , i n D u b l i n , co n s i d e r i n g h o w i t h a s ch a n g e d s o m u ch o v e r t h e p a s t 3 0 y e a r s or so. Dublin Street Photographers a i m t o m a k e i m a g e s t h a t d ef i n e t h e ci t y a s i t i s n o w , i n i t s r a w a n d p u r e f o r m , a n d s ho w e l e m e n t s o f t he ci t y t h a t s o m e h a v e n e v e r se e n b e f o r e .

Featured Photographer This month’s most inspiring photographer is a street/bar/ night/life photographer.

Shane Connaughton www.flickr.com/shaneconnaughton

GALLERY

Gallery An exhibition of the best photographs submitted to Viewfinder Magazine this month. Picture: NYC Block Drugstore Photographer: Rachel Carrier Camera: Polaroid SX-70 Film: Impossible Project PX 680 Color Shade Beta Test Film Flickr: rachelcarrier

24 30 years on the street At the O’Connell Monument

o n e o f t h e p h o t o g r a p he r s c r e id i t e d w i t h t h e i n v e n t i o n o r d i sco v e r y o f s t r e e t p h o t o g r a p h y , Henri Cartier-Bresson. ‘His book The Deci s i v e M o m e n t i s a m i l e st o n e in photography apart from the f a ct t h a t t h e three words ‘ T h e D e ci s i v e Moment’ sum u p S t r e e t P h otography for m e .’ ‘I also love the work of M a r t i n P a r r , h i s b o o k T he Last Re so r t : Photographys of New Brighton is as good

‘‘ You

representation of Street as you w i l l f i n d a n y w h e r e .’ Paul, however, doesn’t try to t h i n k a b o u t hi s i n f l u e n ce s w hi l e o u t s ho o t i n g the streets ‘the a d r e n aline is rushing a n d I a m co n ce n t r a t i n g o n w h a t I a m t r yi n g t o ca p t u r e a n d cr e a t e .’ ‘I love the f a ct t h a t w he n y o u ca p t u r e a m o m e n t o n t he street, it wasn’t there a moment b e f o r e a n d i t ’ s g o n e t h e m om e n t a f t e r . It ’ s t h e r e a n d c a pt u r e d f o r e v e r . I t i s co m p l e t e l y

wouldn’t go into a kitchen and ask a chef what oven he used

’’

Feature: 30 Years on the Street

V i e w f i n d e r m e e t s t re e t ph o to gra ph e r Pa u l F re e n e y to d i s c u s s w hy h e l ove s c a p t u r i n g l i fe o n th e s t re e t s . Wo rd s : Pa u l M u r phy P h oto s : Pa u l F re e n e y ‘I followed a girl down to C o r k , i n 1 9 7 9 , a n d li v e d t he r e for about a year and a half, and b o u g h t m y f i r st S L R a Ri c o h K R5 ’ t ha t ’ s h o w P a u l F r e e n e y , a Dublin native, began his life as a street photographer. For over 30 years he has gone through different phases o f t e ch n i qu e , a d v a n ce i n g h i s s t y l e a n d a b i l i t i e s a n d ho s t i n g t a l k s a n d p h o t o w a l k s o n t he photographic genre. T h e r e w e r e g a p s i n t h e p h ot o g r a p h y o v e r t h e y e a r s p a r t i cularly with the untimely death o f h i s R o co h K R 5 , a t t he h a n d s o f a f r i e n d w he n h e r e t u r n e d t o D u b l i n i n t h e 1 9 8 0 s . A n O l y mp u s O M 1 w a s i t s s u cce s s o r . H o w e v e r , a f e w y e a r s l a t e r , t he co s t s o f f i l m a n d p r o ce s s i n g b e ca m e t o o m u ch b u t ‘ d i g i t a l h a s m a d e i t s o a cce s s a b l e f o r e v e r y b o d y n o w , s o I g o t b ack i n t o i t .’ N o t w a n t i n g t o d i scl o se w h a t digital gear he is now using Paul isnsits that ‘you wouldn’t g o i n t o t h e k i t ch e n o f a r e s t a ur a u n t t o a s k t h e ch e f w h a t o v e n h e u se d .’ A f a i r a n p o i g n a n t p o i n t t h a t t he p h o t o i s a l l t h a t matters. When Paul started shooting ‘ S t r e e t L a n d s ca p e s ’ a s h e r e fers to them as he admits that ‘ I w a s s ho o t i n g s t r e e t p ho t o graphy before I even knew what i t w a s ’ . ‘ I s h o t o n a n y f i l m , t he ch e a p e r t h e b e t t e r , m o st l y b l a ck a n d w h i t e .’ H i s i n s i p a t i o n co m e s f r o m

Picture: Georgetown Photographer: JEO Camera: Holga 120N Film: Ilford HP5 Plus 120mm ISO 400 Flickr: jeophotos

unposed and spontaneous. I ca l l w h a t I do pure street photography b e ca u s e it’s unposed, it’s n o t s t r e e t p o rtrature. The people are never aware t h a t t h e p h o t ograph has been t a k e n .’ ‘ Yo u see o n t h e i n t e rnet videos of people going u p i n t o p e op l e ’ s f a ce s a n d s h o o t i n g t he m , that’s not street, t ha t ’ s photographing p e o p l e ’ s r e a ctions to the ca m e r a . ’ Almost all of Paul Freeney’s street photography is s h o t f r o m t h e h i p , ( a t e ch n i q u e d i s cu s s e d o n p a g e 4 2 ) , ‘ I n e v e r m a k e e y e co n t a ct ’ i s h o w Paul attributes the anonimity o f t h e ca m e r a i n t he s ce n e a n d y o u ca n s e e f r o m h i s i m a g e s t h a t t h e ca m e r a , a n d p h o t o g r ap h e r , a r e co m p l e t e l y s e p e r a t e f r o m t h e p ho t o g r a p h .

Grafton Stroll

Paul doesn’t look for the ins t a n t g r a t i f i ca t i o n f o u n d o n t he b a ck o f a d i g i t a l ca m e r a t o s e e

‘‘ I split them up and sent them into the streets ’’

i f h e h a s ca p t u r e d t h e i m a g e o r not. He sometimes waits a few h o u r s b e f o r e l o o k i n g b a ck a t w h a t h e ca p t u r e d .

P a u l a l so a cknowldges that street p h otographs ca n also b e co m e a h i st o r i ca l d o cu m e n t . A s t r r e t p h o t ograph that is n o t n e c e s s a ri l y g r e a t i mm e d i a t e l y ca n b e co m e a n i m p o r t a n t h i s t o ri ca l d o cu m e n t , particularly in a city like Dublin where the st r e e t s h a v e ch a n g e d beyond recognition over the past few d e ca d e s . Paul’s style a n d t e ch n i qu e has seen him being saught o u t b y ca m e r a cl u b s t o g o v e t a l k s o n t h e p h o tographic genre. I’ve done ten photowalks to d a t e , t he l a s t o n e I d i d , I r e n t e d a r o o m i n a ho t e l , 1 7 p e o p l e s h o e d u p a n d w e d i d a n ho u r and half workshop on street p h o t o g r a p h t a n d t he n s p l i t t h e m u p i n t o g r o u p s a n d se n t t h e m o u t o n t h e st r e e t s . F o r m o r e i n f o o n P a u l F r e en e y p ho t o w a l k s v i s i t f a ce b o o k . co m / p a u l f r e e n e y p h o t o a n d f i n d

Viewfinder meet with Dublin based street photographer Paul Freeney to discuss why he loves capturing life on the streets. 35

34 TECHNIQUE

Shooting from the Hip

Technique: Shooting from the Hip

Shooting from the Hip - Capture your subjects without them even knowing. Words and Photos: Andy D oyle. Shooting from the hip allows a photographer to capture an image, often at close range, without alerting the subject that they’re being photographed. The best street photography is all about getting candid shots of everyday life, so a technique that catches people unawares is perfect. It’s easier than it sounds, it’s fun, and the photos you’ll capture should be more honest representations of your subject than if you alerted them to the presence of a camera by raising it to your eye to com pose your shot. You’re choice of camera isn’t hugely important, but your choice of lens is. A wide lens, somewhere between 24mm and 50mm, will help to minimise motion blur, widen your depth of field, and let you get close enough to be able to properly visualise what your camera is seeing. While your choice of camera isn’t hugely important, if you like film cameras, the older Twin Lens Reflex camer as such as a Rolleiflex or Lomo Lubitel lets you see what you’re shooting through a viewfinder on the top of the camera. To passers by, it will not be apparent that you’re taking a photo.

Andy Doyle takes us through one of the most popular techniques used in street photography.

‘‘ You’re choice of camera ’’

isn’t hugely important

DSLRs with flip out screens offer a similar advantage. Some would say, however, if you can see what you’re shooting, you’re not shooting from the hip. Technique The technique described here is a personal favourite of mine, and should work well for any one, but experiment with your own techniques and find one that works for you, your cam era, and your environment. Set Exposure Manual exposure

recommended. You’ll likely be moving towards your subject, and you subject might also be moving, so a fast shutter speed (1/200th of a second of faster) will prevent unwanted motion blur. Focusing on the move, and without looking through the viewfinder is tricky but using a narrow aperture will give you a wider depth of field, which means that your focusing doesn’t need to a accurate to get a sharp image. Unfortunately, a fast shutter speed and a narrow aperture will make your image darker, so a higher ISO might

be needed to compensate. Of course, higher ISO’s introduce noise/grain into your image, so you need to find a balance be tween motion blur, soft focus, and noise/grain. With practice, making this trade-off will be come second nature to you as you gain a better understanding of your camera’s capabilities. Set Focus/Autofocus Autofocus can be a helpful aid, but it can take to long to focus when shooting from the hip. If you are using it, see if your camera has an AF lock feature.

AF lo ck a l l o w s y o u r ca m e r a t o autof o c u s o n ce , a n d t he n l o ck in th e f o ca l d i s t a n ce . E v e n a s your ca m e r a m o v e s , t h e f o ca l distan ce w o n ’ t ch a n g e . Wh e n a p p r o a ch i n g your subje ct , d e ci d e e a r l y o n h o w f a r away y o u w a n t t o b e w h e n y o u take y o u r s h o t . T h e n , i f y o u ’ r e using m a n u a l f o cu s , s e t y o u r chose n d i s t a n ce o n t h e f o cu s ring o n y o u r l e n s . If y o u ’ r e u sing au t o f o cu s , a i m y o u r ca m e r a at a s p o t o n t h e g r o u n d t h a t ’ s the r i g h t d i s t a n ce a w a y , f o cu s on it , a n d l o ck i n t h a t f o ca l distan ce .

Compose Composing your shot is the m o s t d i f f i cu l t p a r t o f s h o o t i n g from the hip. Without being a b l e t o l o o k t h r o u g h t h e v i e wfinder, you’re probably not goi n g t o b e a b l e t o g e t t he e x a ct co m p o s i t i o n y o u w a n t s t r a i g ht o f f t h e ca m e r a . T r y t o f r a m e your shot slightly wide, so that i t ca n b e cr o p p e d t o y o u r d e s i r e d co m p o si t i o n l a t e r . Shoot Yo u ’ r e a p p r o a ch i n g y o u r s u bj e c t w i t h y o u r ca m e r a s e t u p f o r t h e co r r e ct e x p o s u r e , a n d w i t h a 43

REVIEW

Lomo Smena 8M

The Lomo Smena 8M is possi bly the most iconic and famous camera in the Smena family. While the fist in the Smena line rolled off the Soviet production line in the Lomo factory in St. Petersburg, in 1952, the Smena 8M was a chile of the late 70s and early 80s. The Smena name translates roughly into English as ‘young generation’ and that’s exactly what this camera was for. It’s light plastic body with a coated glass lens, provided a simple, easy and affordable way for 46

young people, interested in photography, to start out their life in picture taking. To call this a toy camera, would be a big mistake, it has so much more to offer than the simplicities found in toys. It is a fully manual camera, with most of it’s controls built into the lens mechanism, that will teach any aspiring photographer about shutter speeds, apature and even flash photography. The camera is operated by its large ring to control shutter speeds, which are bulb, 1/15,

Review: Lomo Smena 8M

1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250 second, the apature control is at tached to the glass of the lens and has the options of f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16. To focus the Triplet 43, 40 mm lens you turn it in the desired direction within the range of 1m to infinity. Then the shutter is cocked with a lever beside the shutter speed ring and to release the 3 blades diaphragm shutter you press the shutter release button on top of the camera. For flash the camera is equiped with a PC socket allowing for flash synchronisation at ev ery shuitter speed. The camera is uses 35mm film and has a film wind and rewind knobs and also a film counter wheel just above the door on the back of the camera. The viewfinder is in the left hand top corner of the camera, looking from the back, which means for a slight movement of the camera upwards and left in order to capture the desired frame as this is not a through the lens type viewfinder. The camera makes for very exciting picture taking, the lens gives this lomo a unique contrast and saturation that, aprticularly when shooting colour, makes a scene pop out of the negative. While it is not a rangefinder camera and you need to focus by judging the distance from the camera to the subject when everything goes correctly this camera actually makes stunning photographs. It’s light and compact size also makes it a perfect cam era to carry around on all oc casions, as opposed to chunky SLRs and lenses, of medium

A real classic, low budget, gem from the old Lomo company.

NEWS

Sony World Photography Awards 2012 The Sony World Photography A wards has opened its doors for entries. This year, there are five competitions available to submit your images to, includ ing a new Yo ut h competition aimed at young photographers under the age of 20. This year also sees the expansion of the Moving Image Awards to include six new cat egories due to the huge popularity of the inaugural Moving Image Award in 2011. Other new categories that have been introduced, include Nature and Wildlife in the Pro fession al competition and a Low Light category in the Open com petition. A full list of the com petitions and their categories can be found at www.world photo.org/competitions/. The Awards are open until Wednesday 4 January 2012 and the winners will be announced and receive their respective

P i ct u r e : C o p y r i g h t : © J a m e s C h o n g co u r t e s y o f S o n y W o r l d P ho t o g r a p hy A w a r d s 2 0 1 1

awards in late April 2012. The winner of the L’Iris D’Or Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year Award will also be revealed and present ed with $25,000 plus some nice camera equipment. The overall Open competition winner will receive $5,000 plus camera equipment. A collection

of entries and winning images will go on display in Somerst House, London, as part of the Worldwide Photography Festival in April and May 2012. The Worldwide Photogra phy Festival will tour the globe in 2012 although not all cities that it will be visiting have been announced.

World’s most expensive camera A Leica O-Series camera from 1923 has become the world’s most expensive camera after being auctioned for an unex pected $1.9m. The camera was re portedly the first ever camera exported by Leica as it was sent to New York to the patents office. The camera was described by the Westlicht A uction house as being 7th in the series of 25 cameras produced to test

the market in 1923. AP reported that the camera went to a ‘private Asian

collector after a nail-biting, 20-minute bidding process. Good news for those o n the analogue side of the ana logue vs. digital debate but it is perhaps worth noting that whoever paid this much money for the camera, is, un fortunately, most likely never going to run a roll of film run through it. Pictured is a Leica O-Seri es replica camera which was manufactured by Leica a few years ago. 5

Fury with no Monroe clues Adult Enter tainment photographer An ton Fury is still none the wiser since CNN made public, last month, the images he found of Mari lyn Monroe in 1980. Published on his blog on 4 June 2011 Fury stated: ‘I had hoped to learn something about these photos/negatives, but as of today, I don’t know any more, than I kne w then. I have gotten doz ens of calls and emails from all over the world… all from press. With all this coverage, I’m amazed that nobody has any information. So, the negatives have gone back into the drawer – actually a safety deposit box – where they’ll stay for perhaps another 30 years’. Fury had hoped that from CNN publishing the images that they would spark somebody’s memory, and the photogra pher can be identified. L.A. art dealer David Streets, who helped Fury decide to make the pictures public said: ‘Hopeful ly someone out there, perhaps another photographer, will be

P i ct u r e : A n t o n F u r y

able to shed some light on this.’ In 1980 Fury was at a garage sale in New Jersey and purchased an envelope containing 33 negatives, for $2. After developing the nega tives in his home dark room, he realised what he had stumbled upon. ‘I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was freakin’ Marilyn Monroe!’ but for 30 years Fury failed to track down the photographer behind the photographs. Needless to say this proved to be quite a big task, and as Fury said in a recent interview with the New York Daily News: ‘When I found them t here was no Internet, there were limited resources to research them.’ According to Streets, the images are from the early 1950’s when Monroe was only 24. This month she would have turned 85.

FEATURES

DSP

Dublin Street Photographers w w w .d u blinstreetphotographers.com

Founded in February 2011, Dublin Street Photographers are a collective of photogra phers working long term to define the city of Dublin using street photography. It is comprised of six mem bers, Stephen Boyle, Brian Newell, Dermot Marrey and the three members of the Viewfinder team. Each photographer, in the collective, brings their own unique style to observe, explore and search for something new on the streets of Dublin, and to try and capture a little piece of

the spirit of the city, as it exists today. To use street photography to capture the essence of a city or a country is far from novel. Robert Frank did it for 1950s America, William Klein did it for New York in the same period, Brassai did it for Paris in the 30â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and Henri CartierBresson did it for Europe. Some of the biggest names in the business were, or are, street photographers. There are countless books, websites, documentaries and exhibitions dealing with street

photography from every corner of the globe. It is probably the most difficult of all photographyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s genres to keep shooting new, unique and interesting works. It is a good time to undertake such an initiative, in Dublin, considering how it has changed so much over the past 30 years or so. Dublin Street Photographers aim to make images that define the city as it is now, in its raw and pure form, and show elements of the city that some have never seen before.

Picture: St e p he n B o y l e

P i ct u r e : A n d y D o y l e

Picture: B r i a n N e w e l l

P i ct u r e : P a u l M u r p h y

Picture: De r m o t M a r r e y

P i ct u r e : S e a n O â&#x20AC;&#x2122; F l a h erty

Shane Connaughton w w w.flickr.com/shaneconnaughton

Self-Por trait

FACT BOX: N a m e : S h a n e Co n n a u g h t o n N a t i o n a l i t y : I r i sh Location: Dunlaoighre, Dublin Website: f l i ck r . co m / s h a n e co n n a u g ht o n Favourite Camera: I only have one so it has to be my Pentax K 1 0 0 0 a n d t e m p r e m e n t a l s e co n d h a n d S o l i g n o r 6 0 - 3 0 0 m M a cr o lens I found somewhere. Favourite Film: Fuji Superia 400 Colour. Favourite thing to Photograph: People I don’t know. Person you would most like t o P h o t o g r a p h : I t ho u g ht I g o t a s h o t o f J u l i e t t e B i n o che i n M cD o n a l d s o n e l a te n i g h t , o n ‘ r e f l e c ti o n ’ t h e n e x t d a y i t w a sn ’ t s a d l y , s o t h e r e a l J u l i e t t e B i n o ch e i n M cD o n a l d s so m e t i m e ! I ’ v e n e v e r really thought about this to be honest. I n s p i r a t i o n : T h e t w o p h o t o graphers who’s work i really like are Anders Petersen for the way h e ca p t u r e s m o o d a n d E n r i q u e Metinides for his timing and drama. Interests outside photography: M u si c, t h e f o o t b a l l , b l e a k G e r m a n f i l m s , S co t t i s h d e t e ct i v e d r a m a s , B B C Ra d i o a n d m u s i c a g a i n .

I walked into a bar somewhere abroad one night, I had my camera with m e, that’s the first moment I think I really started taking photographs. Street photography, night time photography, bar photog raphy, whatever way you want to label or classify it. It started as a hobby and it will always be a hobby of mine. Most of the shots I take are of strangers. Bars are probably my favourite place to shoot, the dimmer the better, I only use ambient light, no flash, none of

that nonsense. You’ve always got such a range of characters in these scenes, people having a great night and others having the complete opposite, people are always less inhibited and I like observing these things. I try to capture the mood and atmo sphere, and create a story out of the picture. I only like to shoot sponta neously, sometimes you have to be a little patient and bide your time. Yeah, you get the odd out of focus, blurry, shot but maybe

that’s the way it’s meant to be. Sometimes it looks more interesting that way. It’s all chance. But, I’d rather take a shot than say five minutes later, ‘why didn’t I just click the button?’. There’s never a reason not to. Take Another Left an ex hibition by Shane Connaughton & Diarmait Grogan, takes place from 7th-12th July 2011, in the Block T Gallery, 1-6 Haymar ket, Smithfield Square, Dublin. http://2011.photoireland.org/ program/take-anot her-left/ 23

GALLERY

P i c t u r e : N Y C B l o ck D r ugstore P h o t o g r a p h e r : Ra ch e l Carrier Camera: Polaroid SX-70 F i l m : I m p o s s i b l e P r o j e ct PX 680 Color Shade Beta Test Film F l i c k r : r a ch e l ca r r i e r 24

Picture: Georgetown Photographer: JEO Camera: Holga 120N Film: Ilford HP5 Plus 120mm IS O 400 Flickr: jeophotos 25

Picture: Bus to Nowhere P h o t o g r a p h e r : V i ct o r B e z r u k o v Camera: Pentax Spotmatic F Flickr: s-t-r-a-n-g-e

Picture: 1-0 Photographer: Sam Ingles Camera: Pentax ME Super Film: Fuji Sensia Slide Film 200 Flickr: samingles 27

Picture: Elvis P h o t o g r a p h e r : N i ck L e o n a r d C a m e r a : K o d a k 3 5 m m S u p e r S a v e r D i s p o sable Camera F l i c k r : n i ckl e o n a r d

Picture: Crazy Photographer: Tim Williams Camera: Canon AE-1 Film: Ektar 100 Flickr: bono66 29

Picture: Abandoned Barn Photographer: Johnny Brian Camera: Holga 120N F i l m : R o l l e i Re t r o 4 0 0 S Flickr: limnidytis 30

Picture: Untitled Photographer: Laszlo Gerencser Camera: Kodak EasyShare ZD710 Zoom Flickr: thewrongdevice

P i c t u r e : C â&#x20AC;&#x2122; M o n T i g e r! P h o t o g r a p h e r : A g n i eszka Bernacka Camera: Nikon D60 Flickr: redkoala1

Picture: Reflections Kyoto Photographer: Marc Miesyerus Camera: Nikon F65 Film: Fuji 400

30 years on the street V i e w f i n der met street photograph e r Pa ul Freeney to discuss why h e l oves capturing life on the s t re e t s . Words: Paul M ur phy Photo s : Pa ul Freeney. ‘I followed a girl down to Cork, in 1979, and lived there for about a year and a half, and bought my first SLR, a Ricoh KR5’ that’s how Paul Freeney, a Dublin native, began his life as a street photographer. For over 30 years he has gone through different phases of technique, advancing his style and abilities and hosting talks and photowalks on the photographic genre. There were gaps in the pho tography over the years partic ularly with the untimely death of his Rocoh KR5, at the hands of a friend, when he returned to Dublin in the 1980s. An Olympus OM1 was its successor. However, a few years later, the costs of film and processing be came too much but ‘digital has made it so accessible for every body now, so I got back into it.’ Not wanting to disclose what digital gear he is now using, Paul insists that ‘you wouldn’t go into the kitchen of a restaurant to ask the chef what oven he used.’ A fair and strong point that the photo is all that matters. When Paul started shooting ‘Street Landscapes’, as he re fers to them, as he admits that: ‘I was shooting street photography before I even knew what it was’. ‘I shot on any film, the cheaper the better but mostly black and white.’ His inspiration comes from 36

At the O’Connell Monument

one of the photographers cred ited with the invention, or discovery, of street photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson. ‘His book The Decisive Moment is a milestone in photography apart from the fact that the three words ‘The Decisive Moment’ sum up Street Pho tography for me.’ ‘I also love the work of Martin Parr, his book The Last Re sort : Photographs of New Brigh ton is as good representation

‘‘ You

of street as you will find anywhere.’ Paul, however, doesn’t try to think about his influen ces while out shooting the streets ‘the adrena line is rushing and I am con centrating on what I am trying to capture and create.’ ‘I love the fact that when you capture a moment on the street, it wasn’t there a moment before and it’s gone the mo ment after. It’s there and captured forever. It is completely

wouldn’t go into a kitchen and ask a chef what oven he used

’’

unposed and spontaneous. I call what I do pure street photography because it’s unposed, it’s not street portraiture. The people are never aware that the photograph has been taken.’ ‘You see on the Internet, videos of people going up into people’s faces and shooting them, that’s not street, that’s photographing people’s reactions to the camera.’ Almost all of Paul Free ney’s street photography is shot from the hip, (a technique discussed on page 42), ‘I never make eye con tact’ is how Paul attributes the anonym ity of the camera in the scene and you can see from his images that the camera, and photographer, are completely separate from the photograph.

Grafton Stroll

Paul doesn’t look for the in stant gratification found on the back of a digital camera to see

‘‘ I split them up and sent them into the streets ’’

if he has captured the image or not. He sometimes waits a few hours before looking back at what he captured. He also acknowledges that

street photographs can be come a histori cal document. A street photograph that is not necessar ily great immediately can become an im portant historical document, particularly in a city like Dublin where the streets have changed beyond rec ognition over the past few decades. Paul’s style and technique has led to him being sought out by camera clubs to give talks on the photographic

genre. I’ve done ten photowalks to date, the last one I did, I rent ed a room in a hotel, 17 p eople showed up and we did an hour and half workshop on street photography. I then split them up into groups and sent them out on to the streets. For more info on Paul Freeney photowalks visit facebo ok.com/ paulfreeneyphoto and find him on flickr at flickr.com/sebfoto

The United Faces of Dublin

Head Shop

Saint Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day 2011

Opposites

Wearing the trousers...

To see more of Paul Freeneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work visit flickr.com/sebfotos 43

TECHNIQUE

Shooting from the Hip S h o o t i ng from the Hip - Capture yo u r s u bjects without them even k n ow i n g. Words and Photos: Andy D oy l e . Shooting from the hip allows a photographer to capture an image, often at close range, without alerting the subject that they’re being photographed. The best street photography is all about getting candid shots of everyday life, so a technique that catches people unawares is perfect. It’s easier than it sounds, it’s fun, and the photos you’ll capture should be more honest representations of your subject than if you alerted them to the presence of a camera by raising it to your eye to com pose your shot. You’re choice of camera isn’t hugely important, but your choice of lens is. A wide lens, somewhere between 24mm and 50mm, will help to minimise motion blur, widen your depth of field, and let you get close enough to be able to properly visualise what your camera is seeing. While your choice of camera isn’t hugely important, if you like film cameras, the older Twin Lens Reflex camer as such as a Rolleiflex or Lomo Lubitel lets you see what you’re shooting through a viewfinder on the top of the camera. To passers by, it will not be apparent that you’re taking a photo. 44

DSLRs with flip out screens offer a similar advantage. Some would say, however, if you can see what you’re shooting, you’re not shooting from the hip. Technique The technique described here is a personal favourite of mine, and should work well for any one , but experiment with your own techniques and find one that works for you, your cam era, and your environment. Set Exposure Manual exposure

recommended. You’ll likely be moving towards your subject, and you subject might also be moving, so a fast shutter speed (1/200th of a second of faster) will prevent unwanted motion blur. Focusing on the move, and without looking through the viewfinder is tr icky but using a narrow aperture will give you a wider depth of field, which means that your focusing doesn’t need to be accurate to get a sharp image. Unfortunately, a fast shutter speed and a narrow aperture will make your image darker, so a higher ISO might

‘‘ You’re choice of camera isn’t hugely important’’

be needed to compensate. Of course, higher ISO’s introduce noise/grain into your image, so you need to find a balance be tween motion blur, soft focus, and noise/grain. With practice, making this trade-off will be come second nature to you as you gain a better understanding of your camera’s capabilities. Set Focus/Autofocus A utofocus can be a helpful aid, but it can take too long to focus when shooting from the hip. If you are using it, see if your camera has an AF lock feature.

Compose Composing your shot is the most difficult part of sho oting from the hip. Without being able to look through the viewfinder, you’re probably not go ing to be able to get the exact composition you want straight off the camera. Try to frame your shot slightly wide, so that it can be cropped to you r de sired composition later. Shoot You’re approaching your sub ject with your camera set up for the correct exposure, and with a 45

TECHNIQUE

Image before cropping

Image after cropping

certain distance dialed in. Your camera should now be hang ing over your shoulder, around your neck, or in your hand by your side. When you approach your chosen shooting distance, try your best to visualise where the camera is pointing. Aim it at your sub ject, and take your shot. Since you c o m p o s e d your shot slightly wider than needed, you’ll need to use pho toshop, photo editing software of your choice, or an equivalent

‘‘ Try

darkroom technique to crop you r image. If you’re using a computer, keep in mind that when you crop, you reduce the resolution of your image, so try to use the composition that will require the least amount

your

best

resolution. It takes practice to be able to visualise what your camera is seeing, so don’t give up if your first few images turn out badly. Practice by taking photos of ob jects on the street. Bins, lampposts, and parked cars make good test subjects. Be ing able to shoot without using a viewfinder is a handy skill to have, and is a lot of fun, so get shooting and submit your re sults to the magazine.

visualise

where the camera is pointing

of cropping. Using a modern dSLR, you should be able to crop considerably, and still end up with an image of usable

’’

Image before cropping

Image after cropping

REVIEW

Lomo Smena 8M

The Lomo Smena 8M is possi bly the most iconic and famous camera in the Smena family. While the first Smena rolled off the production line in the Lomo fact ory in St. Petersburg, in 1952, the Smena 8M is a child of t he late 1970s and early 80s. The Smena name translates roughly into English as ‘young generation’ and that’s exactly what this camera was for. It’s light plastic body with a coated glass lens, provided a simple, easy and affordable way for you ng people, interested in 48

photography, to start out their life in picture taking. To call this a toy camera, would be a big mistake, it has so much more to offer than the simplicities found in toys. It is a fully manual camera, with most of it’s controls built into the lens mechanism, that will teach any aspiring photographer about shutter speeds, aperture and even flash photography. The camera is operated by a large ring to control shutter speeds, bulb, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, & 1/250, the aperture

control is attached to the glass of the lens and has the options of f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, & f/16. To focus the Triplet 43, 40 mm lens you turn it in the desired direction within the range of 1m to infinity. Then the shutter is cocked with a lever beside the shutter speed ring and to release the 3 blades diaphragm shutter you press the shutter release button on top of the camera. For flash the camera is equipped with a PC socket allowing for flash synchronisation at every shutter speed. The camera uses 35mm film and has a film wind and rewind knobs and also a film counter wheel just above the door on the back of the camera. The camera makes for very exciting picture taking, the lens gives this lom o a unique contrast and saturation that, particularly when shooting colour, makes a scene pop out of the negative. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s light and compact size also makes it a perfect cam era to carry around on all oc casions, as opposed to chunky SLRs and len ses, of medium format cameras. Far from the unpredictabil ity of toy cameras, this entry level plastic bodied camera gives photographers full con trol over capturing a scene. A little known fact about this little Soviet beauty is that it be came a controversial and some what contraband item in the U nited States after a Smena 2 camera was found in the apart ment of Lee Harvey Oswald following the assassination of president John F Kennedy.

Submit to the Magazine How to submit your work to Viewfinder Magazine: Flickr: flickr.com/groups/viewfindermag/ Tumblr: viewfindermag.tumblr.com Email: submissions@viewfindermag.com

Submission Guidelines 1. By submitting an image to the magazine, you give us permis sion to use that image on our website and in our magazine. 2. Pictures must be at least 300dpi and at least 2000 pixels on the shortest side. 3. Pictures can be taken on any camera, analogue or digital. 4. If submi tting analogue work please have the camera and film type included in either the metadata, tags, or caption.

5. Your submission may be refused without reason, as due to the nature of the publication we cannot contact everyone in dividually to explain why work was not accepted. 6. We cannot pay photogra phers for their work; any mon ey earned from the Magazine is immediately put back into im proving the magazine and the accompanying podcast. 7. You can only submit your own work. Work that is found

to have been taken from some one else will not be accepted. 8. By submitting a photo you are assuring Viewfinder that you are the sole copyright owner of the photograph and as such should any question about ownership arrive after publication of the image you are accepting full liability and res ponsibil ity if it turns out that you are not the copyright owner of the photograph.

Source: flickr.com/nesster