When I was first introduced to the Brief 'Street Photography' I was quite nervous, I already knew about several Street Photographers from basic research and had viewed some street photographs in college, I looked at Henri Cartier Bresson's work and also Julien Legrand's. Having seen their work before and knowing how impressive it is, this is why I felt nervous; and also because I had never had the opportunity to experiment with film photography before. After being introduced to the darkrooms/developing and printing, I felt a little more eager to learn more and more; I must admit I was a little put-off at first when I got told all the information about the process' of film photography. However, with time it all became less daunting, I do agree with the saying 'It will become more clear when you start doing it yourself'.
I picked up a book from the library called 'The Darkroom Handbook" by Michael Langford, which also helped me a lot with assessing black and white negatives and checking whether the exposure was over or under exposed. Three out of my eleven rolls of film I shot were unsuccessful, one of them due to allowing the emulsion surface of the film to come into part contact with another surface - probably another loop of film. The second roll was unsuccessful due to not loading the film correctly and the third was underexposed, therefore, too dark to print any of the negatives.
During the process of developing my film I learnt about processing faults, such as if the developer has been exhausted - which is what happens if you use the same solution over and over again. Also if the film has uneven patches then it is likely that I had agitated the developing tank too roughly whilst developing.
During developing I started printing, after being introduced to an Enlarger, Timer, Bromide paper, Contact board, negative carrier, view finder. I began with contact sheets, doing test strips to show different exposure times and assessing which is best for your photograph/contact sheet. I feel like I struggled with my contact sheets; getting the right exposure, and redoing it over and over - I still don't feel completely satisfied with my contact sheets. However, I think having a contact sheet for each film I produce is necessary, so you are able to sit and identify your images one-by-one and choose the shots you want to print- also saves paper.
As I started enlarging my images 91/2 x 12 resin paper, I began by making a lot of faults - such as unwanted edge detail that distracted what I wanted the focus point of my shot to be, also obstruction, where the corner appears vignetted which did not appear on my negative. An unequal boarder was also a common fault; however I made mistakes the whole way through, but I learnt more and more each time, because I had knowledge of my faults and took more time to make sure they would not occur again - even though I think printing as a whole is quite difficult and the more I seemed to print the more I felt unsatisfied with my images as I was being too picky and paying too much attention to detail ( this is also a good thing ).
Over time I believe I have became more knowledgeable with my film camera (Pentax k1000), and developing and printing as a whole considering I went from knowing nothing at all about the specific field of photography.
After going out and shooting more, I also grew more confident infront of people, as I feel that relating to the brief it is an important part to be interacting with people and getting amongst street life - even though some people do not like their pictures being took!
Another vital part of my brief was to decide on the final five shots I was going to hand-in, I wanted my images to fit together and also look good together, I printed over 45 prints of street-life, and found it quite confusing to pick the five which I thought worked well together and portrayed street-life from my eyes. Anyhow, I decided on these five shots below, mainly because of different shadows and lighting in each shot, they all seem to work together really nicely.
'Out into the street'
This shot was taken during shooting my fourth roll of film, I took the shot from the inside window of The Claradon - I seen the man walking along the road and thought the shot would be quite appropriate. I like the dirt marks on the window and the darkness of the left hand side of the shot; I think the black and white contrast of puer darkness to light creates quite a dramatic effect.
'Street flow'
I selected this photograph secondly, I took this shot in York. I like the sense of business created in the photograph, as the people are walking in different directions; which exaggerates street-life. I also like how the male at the front of the shot is in soft focus to the background. I feel it fits with the shot above because there is a male model in the window of the shop and in the first shot I took the shot from inside, looking outwards at the street. This shot looks at the street and inside the shop window.
'Workers'
This image was took whilst shooting my last roll of film, the man on the ladders was not best pleased that his photograph was being taken - as you can see from his facial expression as he was climbing down the ladders. Similarly to the two shots above the photograph includes windows, however, I particularly liked this shot as you can see the reflection of the church off the window, which made the shot more interesting. I also like the natural expression on the mans face and feel quite pleased how I have portrayed Street - life in the photograph.
'Street shadows'
This shot was taken during my third roll of film, again the picture inclues windows (glass of the bar and the busstop), I like the reflections on the floor and shadows coming from the busstop. I also think the contrast works quite well as the image isn't too light or too dark.
I also like how when you look into the image, you look onto the empty street, and I feel it fits well with the people waiting at the busstop stood still, it creates quite a still, calm mood.
'Busstop faces'
This shot is the final shot I decided would fit nicely with the four above, it was also taken from my fourth roll of film. I like the natural facial expressions of the elderly people stood in the busstop. It it the same busstop from the photograph above, however, this shot is totally different as it does not focus on shadows, but more on figures of people and street reality.
I like the light photo, I think it creates a sense of space within the photograph. When I look into the shot I look to the centre of the image; which looks as if it could be divided into four sections equally; I quite like the composition of the shot.
Overall, I feel as though my final five prints work well together, and that they portray street photography. If I was to begin the brief again I would of taken more time to do my contact sheets, and also shot more rolls of film in various different places; and get more close-up shots of peoples faces - like Bruce Gilden - As I feel he captured Street-life in a completely different light to me.
I have really thoroughly enjoyed learning to use different chemicals whilst developing and printing; and intend to print and take photos a lot more than before now I am knowledgeable about the film camera.
Street photography as a whole has opened me eyes to seeing the world in a complete new way; witnessing and shooting the street when before all I did was walk through the street, unaware of the beautiful photographs I could have been capturing.
