A Good Photographer

On August 22, 2024 By themichaellamcollectionIn Commentary, PhotographyLeave a comment

It was only yesterday (August 21, 2024) that my friend Nikhil shared a post from Quora in which the answer in response to a query about whether a certain artiste was a good singer was “A good singer is one that people enjoy listening to and want to hear more of. That is the only definition that actually matters”. Simple, and accurate. The same applies to every artform.

So, when identifying “good photographers” we apply the same reasoning, it will be those whose photographs are appreciated by others and more photographs from the photographer are usually anticipated or sought out.

Guyana has many good photographers, their appeal varying depending on the appeal of their style etc. When it comes to Street Photography, I would say that the field is quite smaller, but still with diverse enough styles on offer.

Today (August 22nd, 2024) is Street Photography Day in honour of the man considered to be the father of Street Photography as we know it, Henri Cartier-Bresson. I’ll share two of my more recent Street Photography images, one taken almost three weeks ago at Mon Repos Market, and the other, taken yesterday with the idea of posting it today for Street Photography Day. In both the aspect to be looking at are the actions, postures, or the impression you get, from the people in the frame.

Mon Repos – 24-1303 | Mon Repos Market, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, Guyana.

While Henri Cartier-Bresson is considered the father of modern Street Photography, many others have contributed to the development of the genre over the decades, including but certainly not limited to Dorothea Lange, Lee Freidlander, Vivian Maier, Gordon Parks, Jamel Shabazz, Brandon Stanton, Saul Leiter and Bruce Gilden.

From the late 1800s/early 1900s to today, the approach to Street Photography has changed, influenced not only by artistic endeavours, but also by the changing times, changing attitudes, and of course, the camera itself. The bulkiness of the early cameras would have put many limitations on the approach to Street photography, while the development of portable cameras in the early 1900s, photographers were more mobile, with the ability to take the equipment out in the streets without the need to lug large equipment around and setup for the shot.

As cameras got smaller, more affordable and more easily accessible, and with the development of coloured film, the approach to Street Photography changed with the times.. Today, we not only have the left-over DSLR Cameras, but also newer mirrorless cameras, standard compact cameras, and the modern mobile phone with built-in cameras that can often rival many compact cameras.

Most of my Street Photography is done using a camera that is smaller than a standard Business Card, and about an inch thick. It allows me to stay somewhat unobtrusive, and be more likely to catch the candid moments I’m on the lookout for. Although being unobtrusive for me is hard, since I look oriental (that being a very small portion of Guyana’s population), and I inevitably wear some sort of Hat, for which I am relatively well known.

Traversing the Transept – 24-1321 | Church and Carmichael Streets, Cummingsburg, Georgetown, Guyana.

If you’re a Street Photographer, or even have some inclination in that direction, are are a fan of the genre, have a Happy Street Photography Day, and enjoy taking those Street Photos.

I think I shall go home after work and browse through that Vivian Maier book that I’ve neglected for a little while.

There were (and sometimes even “are”) times in my photographic journey when I’ve wondered whether I was a Good Photographer, at this point, my friend Nikhil would thump me upside the head just for thinking it, since there are people who like my photography, and many have remarked about my absence from the local scene recently. I acknowledge, based on the opening premise of this post, that I am a Good Photographer. Cheers to all you Good Photographers out there!

Balance

On August 21, 2024 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

In a post-pandemic world, just surviving feels like a balancing act that is doomed to failure, with cost of many goods more than double what they were in 2019, but salaries and income maybe a percentage point or two more than back then. But, that has little to do with photography, unless you do photography for a living, which, thankfully, I don’t.

Supermarkets are nice to shop in, if you can afford the added cost that usually accompanies many of the goods there, especially fresh produce, so many still visit the various public Market places, and if you’ve followed my Street Photography, you probably know I frequent Mon Repos market, and it usually makes for some good Street Photography. Fresh produce abounds along with many other stalls, and the variety in people and activity makes for a good walk with a camera almost any Saturday.

Market – 24-1170 | Mon Repos Market, East Coast Demerara

There are times when I come upon a scene, and while I can draw my own conclusions about what’s going on, its much more fun to elicit the views of others from the same image. While much of my Street Photography tends to be in black and white, some scenes demand to be left in colour, and I think this was one of them, this next photo was taken on a walk down Quamina Street (formerly Murray Street) in the Cummingsburg ward of Georgetown.

Quamina – 24-1177 | Quamina Street, Cummingsburg, Georgetown, Guyana

On the corner of Quamina Street and Waterloo Street, there’s an old house, right downstairs at that house is “Battery Man”, who purchases old, used batteries for their “lead” content. I got quite a suspicious look out of him when I walked by casing the place for a good photo. After taking the photo, I smiled and said “Good Day” and went on my merry way.

Battery Man – 24-1178 | Waterloo Street, Cummingsburg, Georgetown, Guyana.

I think its just this type of variety of subjects that draws me to Street Photography when I’m not indulging in Landscape / Seascape photography. There’s life in the images, as well as stories that seem obvious, but also stories that others can infer for us.

As usual, click on the images to see them in the Gallery along with other images in the collection.

Back to the Market

On January 5, 2023January 5, 2023 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Practicing Street Photography in a market is good way to get into it, especially if your choice of street photography is candid and geared toward images with lots of “life” in them. I have found that it has its setbacks as well as its advantages, as does everything.

If you are not a regular visitor to the market, you will likely stand out, making it more difficult to take those candid shots, more difficult to remain unobtrusive, and less likely to get those shots that you see; you and your camera will stand out. Its important to remember that, while taking photographs in public is legally permissible, its important to respect others, especially if they look you in the eye and say “don’t take my photo”, simply smile and say “no problem”, a smile will often defuse most situations.

Untitled 22-2129 – Shot with DXO ONE Camera

In the haste to get some shots, I may come away with a less than desirable image, it may be crooked (sometimes fixable by rotating), it may be that feet get chopped off, or it may be a little soft, not quite as sharp as I’d like, but sometimes, the content of the image is enough that some of these are forgivable or that they may even add interest to the image; sometimes, very rarely, a bad image is sometimes just a bad image.

All Walks – 22-2116 – Shot with DXO ONE Camera

On the plus side, most market goers are busy checking the produce and looking at what’s on display, and may not notice that camera in your hands; market vendors, as well as regular patrons may be busily engaged in passing conversation, or discussions on the produce and price, and your camera may pass by unmentioned.

After walking a few times through these busy markets, you will likely get the hang of it, and may even come out with a few images that you’ll like. I sometimes come away with some I love, with more than a few that are acceptable, and lots of ones that never see the light of day.

Prrickly – 22- 2131 – Shot with DXO ONE Camera

Street Photography isn’t the sub-genre for everyone, and even in that sub-genre there are different styles and techniques, approaches and processing methods that help each photographer stand out. Stepping into the streets to take photographs was very daunting to me, but over the years its gotten a tad bit easier. I always thought of myself as more of a seascape, cityscape, landscape type photographer, those scenes tended to be devoid of people; in taking photographs during the Mashramani celebrations over the years steered me to the vibrance and life-filled frames that are possible – and although I prefer black and white street photographs, some scene will lend themselves to colour better.

Keep shooting and sharing folks! Click on the images to see them in the gallery along with other Street Photography Images.

At the ready

On May 20, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Walking around with a DSLR tends to intimidate people around me, or at the very least make them change the way they were behaving; their attitude, their posture, their general demeanor changes when they see a camera. It might also be my own approach, I am more comfortable dealing with scenes where humans are incidental or just a part of it rather than the main subject.

I’ve talked about my experience with the DXO One before, its just so small and handy that once you get the hang of it, you can get some images that would otherwise be missed. I was out on a walk with some other photogs, big DSLR in hand and saw a couple sitting on the seawall with a motorcycle a bit past them. I slipped the DXO One out of my pocket in case it panned out to be a good shot….

I took about two images on the approach, but as I drew alongside, I saw a man walking in the distance and snapped two more, and was quite pleased with one of them. Having a camera at the ready definitely works out better sometimes 🙂

I guess my point is, as a photographer, we have to be at the ready at all times, because seconds, or fractions of a second makes the difference sometimes.

To see the image along with other images in the Black and White gallery, simply click on the image above.

Supermarket

On March 31, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Supermarkets are usually very busy places, especially during the hours I can shop in them. During this time when people are trying to practice social distancing, its probably not surprising that I can actually get shots that are not too “busy” 🙂

Cleaning (and hopefully sanitizing) the shopping environment.

What caught my attention here was the slight distortion that the cold frosted door caused to the image of the man there as opposed to the clarity of the man beyond the door.

Tilted images are not my thing, but sometimes they are necessary and sometimes they work.

Some people can’t leave their children at home, so it becomes necessary to take them into potentially dangerous areas. Who would have thought that we would ever describe a supermarket as a potentially dangerous area…

Inside supermarkets are not easy to shoot, at least not for me, the lighting is not optimal, being relatively low light, especially in narrow aisles, the diversity of images may not be as ideal as out on the streets, and the space tends to be cramped, luckily, these allowed for some space due to a sparsity of people. 🙂

As you might notice, there is no prevalence of masks, not because Guyanese are conscious of the actual dangers of that, or the possible benefits, but because its not part of our preventative measure, just like staying at home isn’t….

The WHO recently reiterated its position on who should wear masks and when, as always, its about educating ourselves on these things.

Click on the images to see them in the Gallery along with other photographs “In the Streets”.

Around the Block

On March 25, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Yesterday I decided to literally take a walk around the block, just to see how the COVID-19 and its repercussions might be affecting the neighbourhood (my work neighbourhood, that is). So as not to waste the opportunity, I walked with my DXO camera as well.

As street photography goes, nothing great, but a few decent ones 🙂

You probably can’t see it, but in that vendor’s section is some Nenwah Husk, used my many a Guyanese as a body scrub.

Being the lone Chinese walking around I kinda attract unnecessary attention, this lady kept a close eye as I walked by; good thing I didn’t sneeze or cough.

This rastafarian on crutches carefully made his way along the pavement, but was very observant of all the stalls he passed, might have been looking for Nenwa. 🙂

In her hand is a bag of sliced green Mango, I can only assume that maybe it also had “loud pepper and salt”

Almost as if COVID-19 were not on our shores, these gentlemen were busy “gyaffing” and the topic as I passed was all politics, aka GECOM-20

Less people than normal during midday, but still enough, and as you can see, not much social distancing occurring.

Click on the images to see them in the Gallery along with other images “In the Streets”

Five for the weekend

On February 29, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

The powers that be decided to declare Elections Day in Guyana a national holiday, so we have a long weekend.

I decided to share five photos from my last month’s walking about, whether you see anything in them that appeals, or shows diversity, I can say that these show people, the quintessential “man in the street”, or if we’re going to be politically correct, “person in the street”, the people who will be affected by the outcome of Monday’s vote, and any events that may occur because of the elections, the parties and the electorate’s response. These are the people for whom “life goes on”, regardless of what happens.

Babies Day Out - 20-0528 — Babies Day Out – 20-0528

20-0551 | Coconut Vendor on Main Street, Georgetown, Guyana

20-0557 | Robb Street, Georgetown, Guyana

20-0558 | Robb Street and Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown, Guyana

Hope you like one or two of those. Click on them to see them in the Collection along with many more images from my album “In The Streets”

Photographic OIL and GAS

On January 25, 2019 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, thoughts2 Comments

Now that I have your attention, this is not about the oil off our coast or anything to do with the oil and gas sector; this is about photography – Photographic Overall Inspiration Lapse & Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

It may be interesting to see what photographs result from the new-found Oil, but for that we’ll have to wait. This post is about the a little slump I’ve found myself in and a little about some images resulting from a bit of new gear (no, I don’t suffer from Gear Acquisition Syndrome, that’s click-bait too)