street photography

Fairy Tale Star Talers Falling in Chicago

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You might know the fairy tale Star Talers by the Brothers Grim. In all illustrations (at least the ones I know) one sees a girl standing, looking up to the sky, her hands holding her skirt up, collecting the star talers that fall from the sky. The air is full of sparkles and it looks quite magical.

Now there can be star talers sparkling the air even in Chicago. Photography enthusiast Satoki Nagata photographed at night, using an off camera flash that turned the falling rain and snow into stars falling from the sky.

Try it for yourself, go on night photo safari in your hometown or suggest it in your
photography course class, or create a team building experience and see what stars you can illuminate. The light needs to fall in a certain angle on the rain or snow. So don’t give up when the first photo is not a success. Just keep going and it will turn out well.

Happy snapping!


Ute Sonnenberg for
www.rohoyachui.com

Street Photography: A Hype?

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It seems that street photography is currently very popular and appealing. Maybe because of the easy access cell phone cameras, those allow us being on photo safari as soon as we leave home and let us discover the street photographer in us. Or is it the freshness of the moment captured, preserved for the future with often a touch of humor? Our daily life is the inspiration for our photography and one doesn’t need a photography course to do it, enjoy it and produce great photography.

Well, there are two photographers who collaborated to create an awesome street photography book called
Berlin+Wien. The photographers are Kay von Aspern and Christian Reister. Their photographs were recently celebrated at the Burjuar in Berlin and will be shown in a new exhibition in Eigensinnig in Vienna that opens May 1st.

Inspired? Keep enjoying snapping wherever you go and capture wonderful moments of awe and joy.


Ute Sonnenberg for
www.rohoyachui.com

Street Photography: Inspiration

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As a response to an earlier post about Bill Brandt’s street photography, Steve Kenny and Jeanette DeMain provided some more inspirational street photographers to be worth looking at and they really are.

There is
Jacob Riis, a Danish American who lived from 1849 to 1914. He is also called a social documentary photographer, trying to help the impoverished in New York City with his photographic and journalistic talent. So, he might be best characterized as a social reformer with a camera as his tool. His focus might not have been on composition and light in the artistic way, yet he saw a different light, the light in people and he wanted the light of these hidden away impoverished people and their life situation to be visible for all.

jacob-riis-photography

Swiss born and after World War II to the US emigrated photographer
Robert Frank is another inspirational photographer, capturing the spirit of America in his book The Americans. He saw American life as overemphasized on money and America often as a bleak and lonely place (Wikipedia). While trying to capture the soul of America as he experienced it, he wielded a great artistic eye, reflecting in the composition of his photographs.

robert-frank-photography

And then
Dennis Hopper, an artistic multi talent. His snapping away is not only capturing famous people he was socializing and working with, his photographs also capture the spirit of time whenever he saw it. It might be even harder to acknowledge the photographic talent of Dennis Hopper when on most of his photographs are celebrities and one thinks its already a good photo because of that, yet they are also well composed and just taken at the right moment.

dennis-hopper-photography

Between all these men finally a woman,
Vivian Maier. Maier was a amateur street photographer who worked as a nanny in Chicago for 40 years. Her photographs remained unknown until they were discovered by John Maloof, a historian and collector only two years before she died. He said about Vivian Maier, “She was a Socialist, a Feminist, a movie critic, and a tell-it-like-it-is type of person. She learned English by going to theaters, which she loved. She wore a men's jacket, men's shoes and a large hat most of the time. She was constantly taking pictures, which she didn't show anyone.” Now look at her photos and see how great they are.

vivian-maier-photography

All these examples of great photographers, their journeys and their art can be of great inspiration to all of us. They show that art happens just in front of us, on our doorsteps, in our daily lives, we only need to start seeing it. And they show also that street photography is an important part of history, telling the story of time and people and sometimes they change the lives for some people too.

So, as mentioned in the earlier post, go out and snap away, make street photography part of your photography courses, go on photographic safari in your home town and find new Big 5 everyday!

Thank you Steve and Jeanette for the inspiration.

Keep enjoying photography!


Ute Sonnenberg for
www.rohoyachui.com


Bill Brandt: Pioneer of Street Photography

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In the age of cell phone cameras probably all smart phone users are street photographers, snapping around wherever they are, collecting an amazing body of work about our society.

In the early 30s of the last century when street photography was not known, the British Photographer
Bill Brandt started documenting British life with his photography. Not only the subjects of his photography have a great value, also his eye for light and composition is amazing.

Maybe there should be an art-street-photography part in every photography course and should the students go out on photographic safaris through their town or village to capture daily life in a stunning way.

Be inspired and enjoy snapping arty street photos!


Ute Sonnenberg for
www.rohoyachui.com