I spent some more time in New York a couple of weeks ago… I had planned on a formal, big lights, full on Street|Portraits set-up, but unfortunately things didn’t quite go according to plan… I wouldn’t say that it was a total and complete disaster because gear issues not withstanding, I did manage to get setup in SoHo to make a few images. During a normal Street|Portrait session I would say I generally average about a 5 to 1 rejection-acceptance rate when approaching people to make portraits.  That day was seriously about 25-1. At a minimum. Actually, I don’t think that I have ever been rejected so much in my life (and there were some surprisingly hostile rejections thrown in there).  It was kind of discouraging actually.  To this point my Street|Portrait sessions have been pretty smooth sailing.  Lots of interested and interesting people, lots of great interactions.  I really learned quite a bit from this flop of a session.  Better ways to approach, better ways to set-up, better ways to interact.  Anyways, live and learn, right?

A few of my favorite images from the setup:

I brought the little G10 again and kept it slung over my shoulder for most of the trip. My favorite street photography images are ones made in transition.  Images from planes, trains, street corners, sidewalks… Beyond that, I enjoy images that evoke a general feeling, a sense of place.  These kinds of images work best when viewed in tandem, collected and lumped together.  No one image has to be the greatest single photograph on the planet, but rather the hope is that each shot builds on the one before it, next to it, until you have a resonating, cohesive, emotive sense of place.  If you have been to New York, I would hope the images help you recall the sights and the sounds and the smells you have stored in your memory of the place.  Street photography works best when it sparks something already inside you.

So, in that context, here are a few images made in transition:

What do you think?  Send me an email at ryanwrites[at]gmail[dot]com or just click here

“Go Outside”

It seems that technology, perhaps more than anything, creates issues of scale… Global supply chains and communication networks and flight paths are causing our definitions of “neighbor” to flex to meet the reality of real-time, world-wide interactions.  I can talk to someone across the world, instantly. Hell, I can get nearly anywhere on this planet in 24-48 hours. Anywhere. Not to mention the fact that this computer that I am typing on is built with components that were manufactured all over the globe. Notwithstanding all of the political and economic ramifications of this connectivity, there is something, on a very personal level, that is both extremely compelling and incredibly unsettling about the realities of this world and they way that community and communication are constantly undergoing some sort of redefinition.

Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to spend some time with some friends up in the mountains in Colorado. This was a for real, carry-every-thing-on-your-back, hope-you-know-how-to-read-a-map, sleep in a tent, multi-mile per day hiking trip. We had a couple of guides and a map and some food. Well, one day we were out walking and it started to snow and then rain and then sleet. We were up walking along this ridge overlooking a large, snaking river. it was cold and it was wet and our rain jackets were, at best, merely taking the edge off. It got pretty intense and everyone scrambled for cover. I found an enormous fir tree on the ridge and ditched my pack and wedged myself up in the branches, pulling them around me for more shelter. The wind was whipping around us and everyone was just quiet as we looked out over the ridge…snow and sleet and rain moving silently in waves across the valley below. It was a stunning moment. Beautiful and still. I can tell you when you are wedged up in the lower branches of a thirty foot tall tree, when you are barely able to keep dry, when you are at the mercy of elemental things that are so far beyond your control that it is humorous…well, let’s just say your sense of scale begins to correct itself.  You begin to recognize that perhaps you occupy a smaller space in this world than we occasionally believe when we are back in our managed, manicured, wired little worlds…

Basically it comes down to this: when technology makes it so that we can long before we know if we should, I believe it will be increasingly important to make time for ourselves to step back and reflect. Make space to correct the issues of scale, make time to engage in some kind of analog, local interactions… Interactions where our “neighbor” really is in fact, our neighbor.

I don’t know, maybe we should just make some time to go outside. There is something very right-feeling about spending time outdoors.

I don’t mean to sound like and old man, but I seem to be having versions of this “ambient awareness”/”information overload” conversation with lots of my friends right now…

So, that said, here is a short film and a few images about a long walk in the woods…

Go Outside… from Ryan Booth on Vimeo.

So here is to making some space, right where we are now.  Maybe we could stop what we are doing and just go outside.

PS: I hesitated to bring my camera on this trip. So, I made a deal with myself that the very first time that I became obsessed with “missing a shot,” the first time that I disengaged with the people around me to make a photograph, that I would put the camera  in my bag for the rest of the trip. Thankfully that never came close to happening.

What do you think? Send me an email at ryanwrites[at]gmail[dot]com or just click here

Westheimer Street Portraits

I haven’t finished writing my NYC Street|Portrait post (it is coming!), but in the mean time, I must say, it was nice to be back shooting some portraits in Houston.  It was a quick set up and an even speedier turn around this evening, so I wanted to go ahead and get them up on the blog.

My friend Cody and I wrapped up an editorial shoot for a small magazine here in Houston and decided to go ahead and set up a Street|Portrait session with the little daylight we had left. We picked a section of Westheimer that actually attracts some foot traffic and, after getting permission from a clothing store owner, set up shop in the side alley of the store, right off the main drag.  Cody and I were joking around that as the project progresses, we are going to become very very good little salesmen.  When I get home, tired from a session, it is almost always as a result of having to convince people to stop to get a portrait made. Making that initial contact and pitching the “project” to strangers can be intimidating. I am always attempting to refine my approach…trying to find the best way to engage people to put them at ease (it is a strange proposition we are making) and to get them to open up.

Anyways, here is a rather typical Houston street corner on a late afternoon October day:

And here is my Street|Portraits partner in crime and occasional test subject:

Until next time, send me an email: ryanwrites[at]gmail[dot]com or just click here