This simple and inspiring course I first wrote in Swedish with my Street Photography buddy Daniel Eliasson. This English version helps any photographer who likes to take pictures of people. Tips, knowledge and inspiring exercises, all wrapped into a 20 day, less than three minut e-mail course. And of course – it’s free of any charge.
There is also another way of taking the course and that’s here on my site. Just click on the meny at the words “Street photography – un introduction”.
Sometimes a shot is technically not even close to perfect, but still it stirs in your mind – as a forgotten memory of sorts. Out of focus, unsharp and still mindful. As the late night in Amsterdam…
The third of my friends in my street photography community (Gothenburg area) that I’ll like to introduce is Mats Johansson. As many of us, he’s got another job full time and take pics wherever he go (as he travels a lot). No matter whether you call Mats an amateur or not, he’s got that great eye for interesting pics.
Öppen bar (Open bar). Amsterdam April 2015
I saw one of Mats exhibitions last spring, where he declared that anything urban interests him, sometimes it’s street art, sometimes street photography – quite often a combination of the two. In his own words:
– To look for and catch moments, views and interesting meetings in a urban environment is magic, especially with lots of people and movements in them. It’s the mix of documentary and art that fascinates me.
” Kunst on wheels”. After a week with looong work days in Brussels I walked towards the Central Station. Lovely weather, with lots of people. At the stairs up to Kunstberg/Mont des Art I saw three skaters. Shot several pics, of which this is one. The guy really liked to show off, both tricks and tattoos.
Daniel Castro is the second of Street Photography friends I thought I’ll introduce to you. He’s always looking for that documentary style, wherever he shoots – on the street or at concerts and events. Daniel’s always looking for a new angle and really like to shoot with a flash.
At the moment having an exhibition att “Crippas café” in Gothenburg, the pics there are half from the street, half from concerts – all of them telling a story, Daniel style.
In the Gothenburg area (Sweden) there are several really good street photographers, we kind of blend and mix in an unofficial photography network. I thought I’ll introduce some of them to you. First up is Agneta Dellefors Rydén. Pic in top is called “selfie”
– It’s happening here and now. You don’t notice it, but there’s an non-staged play constantly going on, lacking both director and script.
It’s her own words, at a exhibition she’s currently having at Scandinavian Photo in Mölndal, just south of Gothenburg. If you’re close by, I strongly recommend you to go there. One reason is that almost all pics are better printed and hung on a white wall, but the main reason is of course that she’s a great photographer.
Her eyes spot both details and whole pictures, and her imaging is just as good. I believe she’s really good at the postproduction as the exhibited pics all are balanced, funny or intriguing – and sometimes all of that. She was kind enough to let me publish two of her pics from the exhibition. The one below is a real favorite…
Silly or not, I’m glad that someone else like to share my pics. Sometimes (on Instagram) I add the hashtag #Shootoff and some of those pics get shared. These are the latest nine pics that got shared by Shootoff. And my normal 20-40 likes/pic add upp to a little more. Nice.
Can you guess which of these nine that got the highest acclaim?
Always hearing from people that one is better than the other. I just question if maybe not both have a place?
Talking about color or black and white. Nowadays people have very set opinions on either or. I really think most pictures have a meaning, even if the possible interested audience might vary.
Here a simple example on a pic where I’d hate have to choose just one and then pitch the other.
To a street photographer of today, one thing stand out – the smartphone. Wherever I look, someone’s looking down into a cell phone.
There’s both pros and cons with this, First, people look down a lot and for me – always looking for eyes an eye contact – it’s boring and frustrating. Second, the blueish light from the screen help light people faces. And most don’t see me right away (I might have the time to take more than 1-2 pics).
Here are three very typical examples, all from Gothenburg:
Street photography isn’t that hard. And especially never as hard as many seem to think. And the true benefit is meeting all nice and beautiful people. As the pair I show you here. I took some portraits of hr, mainly because I really liked her necklace. But they were happy and easygoing. And really liked what I was doing.
GFN Street Photography 