The catch up

So many months have passed. Four months, to be exact.

I was lucky enough to be a part of 3 shows from September to October, so I haven't posted much since then. Being invited to participate in shows is a very cool moment, but then you realize all the work you need to put into it.

Since then, I have found my artistic direction and, more importantly, my creative voice.

It will surely be color, as that was a creative choice early in the year (make sure to read about it here: Case Study with Phil Penman) and leaning into the works of Saul Leiter and Alex Webb.

The trick was how to be influenced but not replicate. I took down all the aspects of what I like about their work. I tore down and deeply dived into each of their images. Once I had all my notes, I took the primary aspects of each piece and slowly started to implement items into my work. It is still an ongoing practice, but I am 80% there.

The funny thing is I am sure it will evolve again.

3 reasons you should slow your shutter speed.

So first, what I'm talking about;

I'll explain; if you set your shutter to a slow speed, let us say, for example, on my image, it was set to 1/12 seconds; you can blur your image.

You may have noticed that the people walking down the stairs blurred to the point where some may even appear to be ghosts.

So here is three reasons why we would want to slow your shutter:

#1. Create movement instead of freezing an object; we can help emphasize the natural movement that occurs in life.

#2. Create tension; something that seems out of focus forces the observer to work harder to translate the image.

#3. Lastly, it’s just fun to change things up.

There are many other ways to get creative with slow shutter speeds; this is to get your mind working.

Thanks for all the support,

Now you can just get out there and get creative.

John

Primarily / Primary colors?

Why primary colors? Why primarily colors?

These are the two questions I have been asked the last week.

Well, I'll explain it, if you don't mind. First, let me say I love Black and White photography as well; as a matter of fact, I owned the Leica monochrome for a while. I did a whole piece on NYC (link above) in Black and White. So why the shift?

I reached out for some mentorship (I’ll post something on that later this month), and the result was to work on my color work which is pretty good at the moment.

So I looked through all my images, did some art history homework, and came across the whole Bauhaus movement of 1919. It was fitting as it all started in Germany, and I knew I had a link with the tool I was working with (Leica cameras). As I dove deeper into the rabbit hole, I noticed it focused primarily on primary colors.

So here we are at the brink of my color movement, taking everything I know about art history, design, and photography and owning my space as the color street photographer.

I have some of my best shoots for purchase in my shop.

Thanks for all the support,

John