Photography for me includes being about the engagement with whatever the subject matter/scenario might be. Observing it, feeling it, looking for the patterns, the balance, the composition. Predicting the decisive moment.
I enjoy many genres of photography, but the one I am most likely to be found doing when looking for a reason to be playing with my camera would be Street, for it oozes opportunity, there’s always something new and interesting to shoot, lots of the unexpected and plenty to engage with.
I approach it simultaneously from two perspectives: 1. Looking for the random which unfurls with its own energy, at its own pace and 2. *Kind of set it up…
What I’m always looking for is firstly the light, there are so many variations that that suffice to say, a light which attracts me.
Within that light I look for the ‘backdrop’ which appeals to me the most, in Brick Lane, this would typically be the street art.
So when I’m happy with the chosen ‘scene’ within the desired light, I can await the human dynamic to enter and balance my composition… *Some times the ‘right’ person is elsewhere on the street, so will have a chat with them and invite them to play. Most say yes…
My favourite lenses, in order of preference, are a 35mm, 15mm (uncorrected fisheye) and 50mm, all fast primes.
Anything longer and you’re too far from the action and unlikely to capture any real emotion (though I sometimes shoot portraiture with an 85mm but still find it a bit tight, losing much of the all important environmental context).
Robert Irving
