Hunting in the streets

When I was trying to do “proper” photography, in the beginning, I thought that having people on my picture would ruin it. I don’t like taking pictures of myself or of my friends in front of famous places. It’s an unobtrusive way to say “I was here”. I find this fairly stupid. If I take the picture of the famous place, then surely I was there, no matter if I’m on the picture or not.
By extension of that, there’s no need for me or my friends to be on any landscape picture… In that case, why would I want somebody I’ve never seen and I’ll never see again on my picture?

So for a while, I sticked with landscape pictures with as few people as possible on them.

And I started taking concert pictures. I started trying to catch the musician’s expressions, and ideally, a small part of their soul. And I slowly realised that pictures of people can sometimes carry much more emotion than a picture of a tree…

So there’s something about taking pictures of people in the street. I had no idea how to do it, but many photographers managed to take amazing pictures. Of course, they weren’t exactly anybody… They were people like Henri Cartier Bresson, Sabine Weiss or Vivian Maier (if you’ve never heard of her, I strongly suggest to check the website that was made after her and to discover her amazing story).

But damn, they were good! Take a camera (and films, if you’re using film camera), go down the streets and take amazing pictures of people. You’ll probably come back with a lot of rubbish, as I did (and unfortunately still do). First, I realised that in order to take a picture that shows emotion, you need to find emotion, both in your heart and in people. It means you have to open your eyes and start looking at the world differently. It’s an exercise that’s not easy…

And then, when you see what you’re looking for, you need to actually take the picture. You want to remain discreet, but how can you do that when you’re holding a pretty big camera? There’s a trick: nowadays, everybody carries a fairly big camera. Everybody takes pictures… and nobody cares. So you should be able to get pretty close to your subject without him or her even noticing. And if he or she notices, the person might care if you take the picture or not… The trick is not to hesitate and to dare… I’m not the best at that, but I’m learning…

Like for the naked man, dare and you got 2 over 3 chances to get what you want.

Here are a couple of my (poor) attempts at doing that.

You’d better check Vivian’s website, too.

Back

Ok, last year, I came around the end of my PhD and did not have much time anymore to take photos and to post. Time passed. I finished my PhD, I passed (I’m now a doctor), I started a new job in Rennes… and still did not post anything… I needed a new start, which I slowly got. I had to build new contacts, which is quite difficult. I went to a few gigs, but was either very disapointed by the pictures I took or by the concert.

But I have a couple of ideas of articles I could write. So you should see some activity here in the next few weeks… Mountain photography, HDR (pros and cons), film photography, my new gear, street photography, … Plenty to come, in short!

Give Yourself to Me (the Infadels)

I had my first concert at Koko as an official Koko photographer, a week ago. I had been contacted to take pictures for the Club NME night. NME is possibly the most famour rock magazine in UK and in the states, and Koko is a really good concert venue. It looks like an old pink theatre (yes, pink!). We can say it’s the english equivalent of La Cigale, a live venue in Paris. I’ve been taking photos as an official photographer for a few gigs, now. But this one was definitely a first. It was my first big assignment. Most concerts where I took photos (I think I could say all of them) did not have this famous fence that separate the band and the photographers from the rest of the world. To me, it means that the bands I usually take pictures of are closer to their audience, in all meanings of the word “closer”. I was not sure I was a big fan of gigs were there are fences. And now I’m pretty sure of that I like to be part of the crowd of music fans. I like to take pictures of bands whose music make me feel something. This fence is some kind of an anesthesiant. When you go over the fence – and that you do not get kicked out, since you have this magic photo pass -, you get in another world, where you’re not here for the music anymore but just for the pictures. The really good thing, though, is that because you’re here for the pictures and because you’ve been selected, the musicians give you special gifts. Camera in hand, set, ready? The musician does something crazy. It might be raising his hands to the sky, as if praying the god of Rock to do something. It might be jumping just in front of you. But they’re posing, possibly more than if you’re in the middle of the crowd. They give the audience the music and give you pictures. But it’s not my world. I take nice pictures when I’m moved by the music. When I’m IN the music.

So we’ll see. I’ll go back to Koko in the end of May to take pictures of Wax Fang. And this time, I’ll make the most of it!

Picture: The Visitor, support band of the Infadels, at Koko, April 23rd.

Up from the ground (Ilene Barnes)

I wrote it a bit earlier, I wanted to talk about what brought me to concert photography. I was studying in Brest when I met one of my friend’s father, Hervé Le Gall. A funny, passionate guy. One day, after a (very nice) lunch at his place, he started talking about concert photography to a friend and me. He told us his story. He told us how he went from taking pictures that he would only allow himself and his wife to see to taking pictures that are used as some DVD covers (like Rokia Traore’s). He told us about how a concert photographer has to hunt his prey. Find the right place, get ready, and wait patiently till the right moment to shoot. He told us about how he first showed his pictures to a friend, and then to a concert place’s owner, and he showed us his amazing pictures.

He told us about many anecdotes. He had stars in his eyes when he talked about it. He made me dream. For a few years, I just listened to his tales, not having any good enough camera to try myself. But that’s why one of the first things I took pictures of when I got my 400D with a Tamron 17-50 2.8 were concert photos. Thanks a lot, Hervé!

Sandra Nkake by Hervé Le Gall

Rokia Traore by Hervé Le Gall

The Do by Hervé Le Gall

Herve’s photo blog (in French)

Herve’s concert photos