The Shadow Photographers #8: Daah Oliveira

Today we have a very special photographer and Internet socializer- Daah Oliveira! She is the founder of the Clicks facebook street photography group which has exploded in members and participation, and serves as an inspiration to me every day. Hailing from Liverpool, England, Daah exhibits a very unique style and a dark sense of humor. Look out for her signature Rabbit-head, and enjoy.

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Q. Brief introduction please!

A. I am originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil where I started my photographer career 5 years ago but one year ago I moved to the UK where I am living at the moment. I have started photographing bands and consequently I have got completely involved in the art’s world which I absolutely love.

Q. First off, what got you started in photography? In street photography?

A. When I finished high school I wasn’t quite sure of what I wanted to be or what course to study at University so I decided to take one year break and enjoy myself as much as I could. Then I did, I had these friends which had a band and was always following their concerts. At first I was only helping them with all I could do and eventually I became a stage assistant. After a while the band started to become quite famous and they decided to record their first DVD. The photographer that was working with us also knew a lot about video and he was in charge of taking care of the DVD’s production. He knew how much I loved photography and then he offered me to stay with his DSLR camera and try to use it and be the photographer for that day. I had never used a DSLR camera before so he quickly taught me the basics of how to use his camera and I was thrilled for that. When he sent me the photos that I took on that day he also said to me that I should definitely go for it and become a photographer because he loved the photos of that day and kept thinking on what he said then I decided to enroll in a photographer course on the followed year. I’m glad I did because photography is definitely my passion.

Street Photography at first was only a project that I wanted to do because I had never imagined myself going on the streets and taking pictures of random people. When I decided to research all about street photography I realized that I had all the wrong impressions of what street photography was about and it was much more interesting that I thought it could be. I watched loads of documentaries, read many blogs and websites and after a while I decided to go with a friend to our first day of street photography session and I absolutely loved it. I realized that street photography wasn’t all about going to the streets and shooting every moment that happened. I only started to shoot street this January and I think I am still experiencing more and more… I noticed things that I don’t like, for example shooting portraits, it just don’t work to me and I thought that street photography was that, taking pics of people on streets. I’m glad that I was wrong.

Q. Do you mainly just shoot in black and white? What attracts you to B&W that makes your photos special?

A. When it comes about my street photography I try to mainly use B&W. I believe that the B&W adds an atmosphere to the photo expressing better what I want to show on my photos.

Q. It’s very hard to see the faces on your subjects, making the photos somewhat eerie and yet enigmatic at the same time. Do you do this on purpose? And why do you do it?
A. When I first started into street photography world I was in a period of experiencing every type of street photography in order to try to find which style would be more applicable to me. As a result, I realized that I don’t really like shooting portraits because it doesn’t say much about my style which I consider being more artistic and gloomy. I rather have one subject in my photos than being in the middle of busy places. It makes my brain stop and I completely close myself to think in a good photo to shoot.

Q. Why do you love street photography? What aspect attracts you to it?

A. I love being able to show my style on my photos, I love going in a street session and not knowing what to expect and how exciting street photography is. The aspect that attracts me most is the fact of how each photo tells a history by itself. I truly get in love for each of my photos because of the story that each of them tells to me.

Q. I always ask this: what’s the most interesting story you have from shooting?

A. Luckily (or not) I don’t have many stories to tell. Maybe there a few ones in which isn’t that interesting to other people but it doesn’t mean that they aren’t interesting to me. The story that I will always remember is when I was out in Liverpool shooting and I went down the docks in a Sunday which is a busy day there with loads of people. I was only resting my feet in one of the benches when I saw this couple arguing but at first I was just watching them and seeing how ridiculous the girl was being for flipping over the guy, hitting on him and when he said to her he was leaving she started to cry and ask him sorry, so he sat down and she started everything again… they did that for ages. I was quite scared of shooting this moment but I started to think that if she was doing that in public she probably wouldn’t even see me taking the picture of them… so I did. It was a funny moment and always will remember the scene as if they were in front of me right now. Other funny moment to me is when I recognized someone on the middle of the streets and I try to think where I had seen that person before, then I have a click in my head and I remember that I have a picture of that person.

Q. What subjects do you like to shoot? Or any specific locations? Why?

A. I like open places with good backgrounds and good illumination. Because I love the game that you can do with the lights, the shadows and shooting in an open place helps to call all the attention to the details. As I said before, I don’t like busy places because it is the complete opposite of my style.

Q. What gear do you use?

A. I use a Nikon D7000 with 50mm lens and for my blur/motion photos I use my 18-135mm.

Linda Wisdom- from Clicks

Q. You helped found the group Clicks on facebook; tell us more about why you made it, what it is, and so on!

A. At the first the group was created for a competition that I ran on my fan page. The theme was B&W reflection and loads of people were participating of it. Most of these people were street photographers so when the competition was finished I decided to rename the group to B&W Reflections and most of them kept participating of the group even after the competition closed.

I always see amazing pictures on my feeds and I keep a folder on my computer of pictures that I like or I used to post on a friends’ wall a picture that I knew that they would like so I started to think ‘why not create a community page and share this with more and more people?’. This was the main reason why I created CLICKS’ page and I enjoyed that I had the group already there and decided to change the name of the group as well. Everybody in the group seemed to love the idea and then people started to post more, new people started to participate of the group and it is really motivational to see all these interaction going on over there. I also wanted to make a good group of friends to share experiences, critiques, knowledge, etc.

Q. Any links/pages/portfolio you want to share with us?

A. FB page: https://www.facebook.com/daaholiveiraphoto

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daaholiveira

Clicks Page: https://www.facebook.com/clickstreet

Q. If you had to pick just one piece of advice to give aspiring photographers/street photographers, what would it be?

A. To go out and shoot street with no rules on mind or fear. Experiencing is the best way to learn.  🙂

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&&Phil, love those pictures? Share this article, comment, like, or tweet it!

Which is your favorite?

Hey guys, I’m submitting my works to the B+W Photographer of the Year contest, just to see if I can make it =P

Here’s the hard part: I can only choose 3. Which are your favorite 3?

The little girl who could

Boy, Pondering

Lost in the City of Light

The Children of Light 2

XXL

The Coming of Age

Stride

Just Married

Into Forgetfulness

smile

Float Me Away

Bubbles or Kiss

They Live in Another World

A Fragile Bond

Let’s go on an adventure

Still Life with Boy on Wall

Il Bruno, Il Macho

Thanks so much!

&&Phil

As always, please comment below, like, or tweet! The more the merrier!

What is Street Photography?

Helen Levitt

Just what is street photography?

Well, let’s look at it from the technical point of view:

Although this is an inaccurate graph (I’m a marketer, not an engineer), this roughly manages to capture what the focal length ranges are used for. But as pros will tell you – you ain’t a photographer til you’ve tried all the combinations. A friend on Google Plus uses only 300mm for his street photography. In most cases, however, street photography falls within the 28~50mm range.

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s see what others have to say.

Turn down the lights class. Take a look at the video below, from XperiaStudio:

“A good to me… is something that makes me think, laugh, and make me ask questions.”

As the two above explain, you can’t really force a good picture. You just have to feel it– and you’ll know it when you have something.

Robert Doisneau

Another explanation comes from Kai Wong of Digital Rev:

“A matter of carefully picking out a slice of interestingness from a completely random series of events that are not under your control. That is what makes street photography new and exciting every time.”

-Kai Man Wong, DigitalRev

Kai Man Wong

Had enough videos? How about a book?

Thomas Leuthard, 85mm

Thomas Leuthard, of 85mm fame, loves his 85mm range (usually reserved for “portraits”!) and has published several books about street photography. In “Going Candid,” his first book, he tries to classify street photography as:

“…the optical capture of someone’s personal view of an everyday moment in public.”

-Thomas Leuthard, 85mm

Garry Winogrand

Then there is the father of Street Photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson himself. As he explains it,

“To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.”

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Interestingly, I’ve had a lot of family members related to photography. My uncle ran a camera shop that would develop film, very basic– Tri-X and Portra were their usual customers. My grandfather had a Leica M3 (which I unwittingly inherited) that he would polish over and over again. One of my grandfather’s friends does an exhibition every once in a while. But no one had ever taught me how to handle and use a camera.

Vivian Maier

Having observed so, so, oh so many people lift their cameras to shoot the Hawaiian scenery or their loved ones with their point-and-shoots, I thought– there must be a better way. To tell a story. To arouse suspicion. To incite anger. To make the viewer laugh.

Then it came to me– summarized in the words of National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson:

“…to take useful pictures, instead of good pictures… The main rule is, don’t be boring… Break all sorts of rules… Pictures are supposed to affect us, to connect us, to excite us… Photos of things and people we will never again see again in our lives.”

-Jim Richardson, National Geographic photographer.

He framed it perfectly.

Eric Kim, “Jazz Hands”

Every time I step behind the viewfinder today, I think to myself– “Is that something we may never see again in our lifetime?”

To cut to the chase, I feel that the goal of street photography is not only to take photos of things we find interesting, things that arouse our emotions– the key ingredient being people. People by themselves, people interacting with other people, people interacting with animals or objects– it’s the relationship (or the lack thereof) that I feel make street photography so powerful. Whether the setting be a bucolic countryside, or the busy streets of New York, I find The Experience in itself is crucial too– it helps the photographer learn to anticipate and look for events that he or she desperately wants to share, and this is what I find street photography so enamoring. But don’t forget, maybe what the photo means to you– whether it be the subject or the event that was happening– may prove to become your most powerful photos.

Phillipe Han, “Exit Stage Left”

&&Phil

Disclaimer: All photographs are owned by their respective photographers, copyright and all. Please don’t sue me.

Steve Huff’s Review of the Pentax K-01

Steve Huff’s Review of the Pentax K-01

A thorough review of the Pentax K-01 from our good friend Steve Huff, unobstructed by marketingspeak or advertising bull. Although the Fuji X-Pro 1 and Olympus OM-D have been in the limelight, Pentax has been the dark horse of the race. Check it out.

The Shadow photographers #1: SH Roh

In these series I hope to introduce some of the most compelling street (and non-street) photographers who have inspired me to start or keep shooting. The double entendre is that Street photographers tend to experiment with and work with available light (which tend to be shadows), and also tend to stay hidden out of “popular” photographers (dominated by studio photographers, landscape photographers, etc). I hope that you will enjoy discovering these hidden talents as much as I do. Remember, there is always a street photographer near you, somewhere…

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Today I am pleased to introduce to you SH Roh from South Korea. A designer and full-time photographer, SH Roh works in Korea as a full-time designer and photographer-for-hire. I am constantly inspired by his photography of special events and settings– for he has a unique eye for subjects and unusual lighting, especially in concerts, musicals, and other events for which he is hired. He has mastered both extremely dark, grave photos but portray equally well bright subjects. I always see his Nike+ running feeds (Today I ran X miles…) and am convinced he is secretly preparing for a triathlon.

SH Roh has held numerous exhibits in the last few years, each with a special theme and unique purpose. He has recently experimented with overlaying text on top of photos– an unusual inclusion in the post-processing world. Whether he is on a new project with his Nikon D3, shooting in the streets with his Fuji X100, or sharing a picture of his latest meal, this photographer is certainly one to follow. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing this humble photographer, and hope you will enjoy his works as much as I do.

Q. Can you tell me more about yourself?

A. Hello. I am Roh Sh, a photographer. I majored not in photography, but in Korean language and literature. I am currently working full-time as both a designer and a photographer. I especially like capturing photos of musicians, and am also involved in design in the same area.

Q. When did you start taking photos?

A.  I began when I was very young. I happened to chance upon a film camera, and I’ve taken pictures ever since.

Q. Can you tell me what your shooting style is like?

A. It’s a bit difficulty to narrow down my shooting style to just one style. However, when I am working, I hope that people can hear the music in my photos. Rather than a still picture, I like motion in my photos– that’s probably how I describe my own style.

Q. What equipment/gear do you use (camera, lens, flash, tripod, etc.)?

A. Normally these days, I tend to bring along my Fujifilm X100, and for special events (photographing musicians or need a special lens for the setting I will be shooting in) I use my Nikon D3. Lenses change depending on the situation.

Q. Your photos tend to be very dark (both in exposure and subject). Is there a special reason for this?

A. I don’t try to capture a specific emotion of any sort, but I used to try and incorporate sad memories– parting with a person whom I admire, or parting ways with a loved one– so I unintentionally end up incorporating these feelings into my photos and essays.

Q. Do you feel there is a big difference when you take pictures for a job, versus for enjoyment (i.e. street photography)? What specifically makes it different for you?

A. I think even within a “job” photo, there needs to be further categorization. For a client-based photography job (ad photo or commercial photo, including performances), the client usually wants to blend my characteristic style of color and traits into their subject. Other than that, I don’t realize a specific difference between my jobs versus my so-called photography for enjoyment. The reason for this is, photography is about the study of the subject and its reinterpretation. And if you put those together, that’s an exhibition. That’s why I try to find subjects in my “leisure” photos (snapshots) and reinterpret them, so if we have to find a difference between them I guess it’s a difference in the depth of the photos.

Q. You take a lot of photos of musicians, how is it different from just normal snapshots? What inspires you to take their photos?

A. To take a musician’s photo, you need to draw out their unique characteristics. Especially during concerts, there are moments that will repeat themselves so I can never let my guard down and get absorbed into the shoot. It seems obvious, but I tend to listen to the artist’s works tens, if not hundreds of times before I go into a photo shoot. I want to find the right timing in the beat of the music and find myself the shot I need, and usually is the key to getting results I can be proud of. I love music, and I coincidentally was hired to take photos of the Jarasum International Jazz Festival– and that’s where I started. Rather than trying to subtly portray the music I try to get energetic and vibrant shots, and through that I’ve discovered more musicians both directly and indirectly, which has allowed me to expand my career further into the musician’s realm.

Q. I know you recently held an exhibition. What was it about?

A. For my first exhibition in 2012, I held an exhibition called “Great Expectations” for a month in the Modern Art Museum (inside of Hongik University). One of the reasons I prepared this exhibition was that although I’d used many subjects and had held many exhibitions, I’d never used the Pansori (Korean musical performance) as a subject. I wanted to add the fleeting aspect of photography with the theme of continuity, and went to visit the Pansori performers themselves. Then I received the lyrics for the performance and engraved the lyrics on with gilt (gold leaves). Many visited, and I received feedback saying that it was a very meaningful exhibition. I was fortunate enough to be called back by the Jeonju World Sound Festival for an extended exhibition.

Q. What’s your advice for newly aspiring photographers?

A. Many ask “how do you take good pictures”– I get that question a lot too. That’s when I suggest– take many photos! This doesn’t mean take more for the sake of taking more and increasing your shutter count, but rather cherish each picture you take along with the experience and unique subjects brought by it. In addition there are a lot of “Photoshop retouching” books that are released by the waves these days, but I suggest instead find a photographer you like and buy their photo book– and imitate them. I think that will be a better way to study and improve your photography.

You can see more of SH Roh’s works at www.rohsh.com, and follow him on twitter @rohsh.

As always, Like me on Facebook (near the top of the article too!) or follow me on Twitter for the latest updates! A comment is also much appreciated, sir or madam. A coffee for thee (or cookie, if thou prefers) shall be in order when we meet.

&&Phil

My First Roll of Film (and the 10 Pictures I’m Not Embarrassed Enough to Hide)

One sunny Wednesday morning I walked into my local film developer and lo and behold– $15.14 to get it developed and put on CD. I still can’t get used to the idea of having to pay so much for the process, but maybe I’ll swallow that pill soon enough.

The location of shooting was in Berkeley, CA and I shot 37 exposures of a Kodak 125 Plus-X (PX). But before babbling on and making excuses, here are 10 keepers I won’t hide underneath a rock. Because, you know, the rest are that good. Really. I just don’t want to show it to you, that’s all. Mm-hm.

Without further ado, here they are:

“Bear Rider”

“Still Life of Law Student”

“Heart of Darkness”

“Better Together”

“Awkward”

“Afterhours”

“Architects of Love”

“Two bears, two men”

“One Way Runner”

“We Have Questions to Ask You”

Some lessons (painfully) learned, for those shooting a film camera:

• Overexpose rather than underexpose. Not that perfect is bad, but if you need to grab a shot quick and you’re switching around the aperture, turn the dial towards the larger exposure meter. I lost too many shots because they were too dark.
• I should buy a meter stick. No really, I should. It’s not because I’m American, I really don’t have a sense of what a meter is yet, so I can’t pre-focus correctly. That and I look like a pervert if I keep pointing the camera at my subject until they come into focus (which, in itself is a millisecond).
• Picture looks washed out? Up the contrast dial on Lightroom/Photoshop and that should help it a bit. No other dial on LR/PS will help a film photo.

Man, developing is expensive. But a film/negative scanner is even more expensive ($600?! What did I just read!?)

&& Phil