Critical Theory & Photography

Beware – I’m about to get heavy (there are also some fairly graphic photographs). This is a bit of a personal exploration, feel free to come along for the ride. While photography is my passion, my career is teaching, and I am currently engaged with my Master’s in Education, undertaking research based on Critical Theory. Sometimes my passion and study ideas start to combine….

The Cobbler, the Hunter and the Fisherman.

Below is one of my favourite characters, from one of my favourite places. Let’s take a walk down some of the older lanes in Shanghai, we will see a pattern emerge of cobblers at the end of alleyways (called Shikumen in Shanghai). The Shikumen are very narrow alleyways, with small houses built in either side. Washing and cooking facilities are often outside and bathroom…

My Lens Culture Submission

I recently entered a competition through Lens Culture. I didn’t win, but lived to see another day. Critique is a vital aspect of improving your photography and when you enter a LensCulture event there is alway an option for receiving critique. These guys know there stuff, so it is worth listening to what they say.  Here are the pictures I entered and the comments…

Wins, fails and bits inbetween

OK, a break from my 10 tips list – heck this is the Internet, go google, there are thousands out there already. This post is more a what have I been up to kinda thing. As ever, life is full of failures and successes, on good days the success wins. Fail! I tried a podcast, realised towards the end I was holding the phone…

Street Photography #6 Try Using a Fixed Lens

Spoiler – bit of a rant here…. Just about managing to get a pagespics tip out before the weekend. There were a couple of choices I was playing with today. The first was ‘Don’t buy a Fujifilm X100f, all the reviews say they are great, so there must be something wrong with it’. The second was ‘Don’t read DP Review and PetaPixel – they…

Street Photography #5. Re-visit your old photos.

  OK, this could be a tip, or you could view it as a challenge. I have recently joined my third cohort with the Arcanum and am working with Glenn Guy, a travel photography guru. See his website HERE. Thus far I have taken to shooting most of my work for this group using 35mm film, however, after trudging again to the camera mall…

Street Photography #4 Buy Books

Buy books, do something different, develop your own style and steal ideas… hopefully this is a post that will point newbies and seasoned Street Photographers to sources of inspiration. I try to develop my own style but I probably never will. I get bored too easily and always want to try something new. Lately I have been getting back into film. Portra 400ISO and…

Street Photography #3 Work A Scene…

This has to be one of the most important, yet often overlooked areas of Street Photography. You may be nervous when shooting a scene or a person, I know that I am. It is perhaps these nerves that give us a small dose of adrenalin, the ‘hit’ of getting a good shot. Unfortunately this adrenalin rush can push us into a ‘fight or flight’…

Street Photography #2 Have Fun…

This is where it gets strange. I’m writing 10 tips within ten tips – it is all going to get a little Inception influenced. Hold on…. spin that top. Find people who are looking chilled and relaxed. Point your camera at them and wait for them to get annoyed, then take the photo. Collect these photos and publish them in B+W, add lots of…

Street Photography #1 Shoot Events.

OK, for my next 10 blog posts I am going to publish 10 tips. This will keep me active and hopefully give a little bit back to our beautiful community of Street Photographers. These posts will, as ever, contain my usual rants and raves and go on and off subject. I make no apologies… I have recently been asked to photo a couple of…