As well as enjoying macro photography I get a real buzz from action sports photography. As the official photographer for Céret’s hosting of the national swimming competition: La Coupe de France, catching the speed of the athletes with my camera, was almost a sport in itself.
Street photography is another love of mine and it is a real luxury, when I have the time, to just go out with my camera, people watching, observing the light. I don’t find street photography easy though, and I am definitely ‘work in progress’. But if you want to see street work from someone who does create wonderful images, visit www.mariasciandra.com. Maria’s work is colourful and thoughtful and I love the detail which catches her eye and how she makes the mundane beautiful. When I first came across her website I kept it open on my desktop for days, I derived so much pleasure from revisiting her photos.
Travel work is always exciting. Maria is based in central Mexico, and a favourite place for me for photography, is Dubai. When I used to live there, some mornings, after dropping my son off at school, I would go out to the desert to mingle with the camel trainers. The atmosphere was great and the jockeys would be actively requesting, almost begging, that their photo be taken. The same was true at the vegetable market and I would often return back to deliver the printed photos for them to keep. Their distribution would cause quite a commotion! In both of these situations my camera was a means for me to connect with people with whom I would never otherwise have interacted - and they were the most warm hearted welcoming people you could wish to meet. It wasn’t unusual for me to be offered a refreshing slice of water melon as I laughed and joked with the traders.
Last week at the local market here in France, a trader told me I should always ask permission when taking photos, even when just taking general shots of the stalls. He was very direct in his opinion but was also very pleasant, so I took his advice, and for the rest of the morning I asked every time before pressing the shutter. In truth, I was rewarded with some very pleasant conversations and people were generally very gracious - whether I was wanting to photograph them or their garlic! This week I fell off the rails and when photographing some carrots on a stall, without first asking, I was literally screamed at by the trader and told to stop! So I will revert back to requesting permission, even for the carrots!
For the below photograph I would have preferred to have a caught a more candid image. However, by making contact with the people we had a delightful exchange. They were curious to know WHY I would want to take their picture. I explained that I wanted to document how, during the 6 months’ of café closures, due to the pandemic, people would buy take-away coffees and then sit on walls and window sills with their friends in a quest for some social interaction.
This photo taken in front of La Mairie, the Town Hall, is far from being technically perfect but it is one of my favourite photos because it totally encapsulates this difficult period we are living through and emphasises our innate need to connect with others.
I am not great at street photography, I’ll make progress and meantime it offers me some wonderful encounters with people. And there is something rather pleasurable about observing people, all the while watching how and where the light falls. So it’s not all about perfection, it's about making memories, enjoying our cameras and having great conversations with strangers. And it’s about not letting ourselves be pigeon holed. Stepping out of our comfort zone teaches us to react quickly to changing light, adapting focus for moving subjects etc. all of which can be applied to our other styles of photography.
So a really mixed bag for this blog this time - and I hope you will enjoy Maria Sciandra’s photos as much as I have.
Instagram: swimming.in.focus.
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