You’re not close enough
Last night I found this youtube channel called Walkie Talkie where Paulie Baldonado walks around all day with another NYC street photographer and talks to them about how and why they take pictures.
It was surprising how they work. I’ve heard people say “if your photos aren’t good, it’s because you’re not close enough” and I was familiar with photographers like Bruce Gilden who pride themselves on their very close, semi-confrontational style. I didn’t realize how pervasive that style is though.
Lots of the photographers Paulie walks around with shoot very quickly, not taking much time to compose their shots. They mostly shoot film on Leica M6’s and rarely, if ever, use the viewfinder. Some of them shoot 5 feet away or closer and use flash.
It’s fun to watch, and also fun to realize how different their style is from mine. I’m not super comfortable shooting that closely, I will in a pinch, but watching these photographers helps me realize that I’m shooting for different reasons.
Whereas they’re very focused on photographing interesting people in interesting settings, I just want to enjoy making nice pictures. If they have people in them, that’s great, if not, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I will say… there’s a part of me that has self-doubt. I wonder if I’m avoiding shooting fast and close because I’m not drawn to it or is it partially out of fear?
While what they’re doing looks fun, in a way it feels played out. Sometimes there’ll be 3 or 4 photographers working a single corner. How does anyone differentiate themselves like that?
I guess I could say the same thing about bird photography. Or about any other genre. It’s hard to differentiate and not many people do. That said, there’s plenty of room to be creative and have fun and that, for all of us who don’t have to make a living off photography, is what matters most.
The pictures below don’t have much to do with any of the thoughts above, but it’s what I have from the past couple days, so here they are.
