Have you noticed? Photographers who write are sometimes a pretty prolific bunch and negotiating through much of contemporary work about photography is about picking one’s way through the over-use of other photographers’ quotes. There’s one book on my shelf where the first quote arrives on the front inside cover flap, another is full of quotations annotated with some pretty good photographs. One reference is to another writer of things photographic whose own book - you’ve got it - is stuffed to the gunnels with yet more quotes. If I remember correctly, Susan Sonntag’s book ’On Photography’ devotes a whole chapter to quotations. Perhaps it’s a case of ‘if you haven’t got anything original to say’, quote someone who does. And yet, - occasionally, you come across a quote that really resonates. It’s a case of yes! That’s what I think, but expressed so much better than I ever could. One such quote for me is from Alex Webb, renowned Magnum photographer. Here it is:
“Street Photography is 99.9% about failure”. Webb goes on to state that you have to keep plugging away and that somehow at the end of the day, when you are tired and hungry, something magical often presents itself. It is as if you have to go through the failure and frustration in order to get to the good stuff. I know what he means. Recently, my wife and I spent three days in Bristol and I had the chance to tramp the streets for the whole period and just concentrate on what I love - ‘street photography’. Somehow, I managed to achieve not only Webb’s 99.9% failure rate but succeeded in notching up the extra 0.1%.
A couple of weeks later, in one day I bumped into Road Runner Top the subject of my last blog, a party of lads dressed as fairies on a bender, an artist who suggested that I visit his studio to look at his etchings (I didn’t) and Enric, a Catalan vegan hairdresser who kindly fitted coloured extensions in his hair so that I could photograph him. Plus, there was the young lady who was dressed up for a Halloween party and an Israeli tourist who was wearing multiple pairs of glasses and had goggles on her forehead. But, the highlight of my day was undoubtedly coming across a video photo-shoot featuring the sensational Gizelle Smith. On a piece of wasteland just off Brick Lane, this slight young woman had me entranced with the magical words of her song and the virtuosity of her performance. It is called ‘Sweet Memories’ and you can watch her here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkG0lBKUZB8
Sweet Memories indeed. Alex Webb is right, you can quote me on that.
David
“Street Photography is 99.9% about failure”. Webb goes on to state that you have to keep plugging away and that somehow at the end of the day, when you are tired and hungry, something magical often presents itself. It is as if you have to go through the failure and frustration in order to get to the good stuff. I know what he means. Recently, my wife and I spent three days in Bristol and I had the chance to tramp the streets for the whole period and just concentrate on what I love - ‘street photography’. Somehow, I managed to achieve not only Webb’s 99.9% failure rate but succeeded in notching up the extra 0.1%.
A couple of weeks later, in one day I bumped into Road Runner Top the subject of my last blog, a party of lads dressed as fairies on a bender, an artist who suggested that I visit his studio to look at his etchings (I didn’t) and Enric, a Catalan vegan hairdresser who kindly fitted coloured extensions in his hair so that I could photograph him. Plus, there was the young lady who was dressed up for a Halloween party and an Israeli tourist who was wearing multiple pairs of glasses and had goggles on her forehead. But, the highlight of my day was undoubtedly coming across a video photo-shoot featuring the sensational Gizelle Smith. On a piece of wasteland just off Brick Lane, this slight young woman had me entranced with the magical words of her song and the virtuosity of her performance. It is called ‘Sweet Memories’ and you can watch her here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkG0lBKUZB8
Sweet Memories indeed. Alex Webb is right, you can quote me on that.
David