In a lot of ways this image is not realistic: it is not in colour, it is not especially sharp, it is dark and grainy. But for early morning on the bus in November, it is extremely realistic.
Category: Street
Fatigue
Five days a week I am on the TTC, early. The image today was taken this morning on the Kipling bus, at about 6:50 a.m. You haven’t seen fatigue until you see transit riders at this time of day, and today was no exception.
Pedestrians Under Glass
Every now and then it’s fun to throw an iPhone photo into the mix. I took this image on the way to a meeting in downtown Toronto yesterday, timing it to get the pedestrian framed in the reflection in the building.
Rush Hour
Today’s image is another street shot taken with my Voigtlander Vito B. It was around 5 pm on a weekday at Yonge and Bloor here in Toronto, and a mass of people were going home, like a tide going back out to sea.
Coming Home
I think I’ve found the perfect street photography camera for me, and ironically it is one I have had since the early 1970’s: my late father’s late 1950’s Voigtlander Vito B. I have not put a roll of film through it since early 1977, and I am happy to report it still works just fine 🙂
What makes it great for street photography in my mind is a feature it lacks — it has no built in rangefinder, just scale focus. This lack forces me to trust zone focusing and hyperfocal distance, getting it ready ahead of time, and then just bringing the large, bright, unencumbered viewfinder to my eye. For today’s image, it was maybe 2 seconds to see the scene, and quickly fire off the frame.
I have left this camera sit idle for far too long; it’s nice to be home.
A Gift of Luck
If you shoot lots of frames, you are bound to get lucky, in terms of getting more in an image than you expected. After two days of being more or less housebound due to back pain, I made it out this evening to have dinner with my two daughters, and on the way home I quietly snapped a frame “from the hip” with my iPhone and the Hipstamatic app, at Broadview Station. When I looked at the frame I was struck by a dividing line that bisects the image, through the woman’s head. I like it!
On the Edge
I like taking pictures of people on public transit here in Toronto, and as I have a long commute to work, I have plenty of opportunity! I take the pictures on the sly most of the time, and an iPhone is perfect for this stealth photography. I also like the look of the various Hipstamatic vintage effects. I don’t know for sure if this woman realized I was taking her picture, but I think she realized on some level that something was going on — her look is unsettling, and fascinating, and I like the random hand forcing its way into the image
Making Connections
I was out with my Polaroid camera today, and on three different occasions I was stopped by a smiling passerby, asking questions about the camera: how old it was, where do I get film, etc. It was like being out walking one’s dog, as a means for initiating conversations with strangers (and as an introvert, I often find this very difficult to do!). I have also gotten the same reaction when out with a Rolleicord Twins Lens Reflex.
If a goal of photography is connecting with people, then these vintage cameras help me fulfill that goal!
(Street busker shot in Kensington Market 22 July, 2012, Polaroid 100 Land camera, Fuji FP-100C instant colour film)
Background
One more image of Keira from our Kensington Market shoot. We both saw this background at the same time, and immediately gravitated to it. The iconic Metropolis robot heads, and the frame, slightly askew which frames Keira’s head were an interesting combination — there is a lot going on!
Keira in Colour
As a follow up to the last post, here is one of the colour images from the shoot with Keira at Kensington Market. Although black and white is my “mother tongue” when it comes to photography, there are times when the language of colour is the only thing that will do, and I believe this is one of those times. I love the pink and blue neon sign with Keira’s auburn hair, both glowing, and capped off with a touching expression.
(Nikon FE, 105mm/f2.5 Nikkor lens, Kodak ISO 200 Colour Negative film, processed using JOBO C-41 kit, post work done with NIK Color Efex Pro 3)
My Third Eye 