1- Are you a professional photographer? Yes and No. I worked in the advertising department of a major United States retailer in their corporate headquarters doing a variety of photography-related jobs. I started out as a photographer’s assistant, then the darkroom manager and ended as a digital photo retoucher. I also did some freelance photography/corporate public relations shoots for Boston Store. I’ve been retired for 3yrs and now photography once again occupies most of my time and interest.
2- Why street photography? I’m a multi-faceted photographer. Street photography has always been my passion, but it is just one of many ways I observe the world. Before I switched to shooting digitally in 2011, I would shoot mainly street photography. Since switching I’ve been able to shoot a much wider variety of subjects. I guess my second love would be shooting urban landscapes, during the day and especially at night.
3- How would you describe your photography style? My style is thoughtful, looking for the absurd, sometimes incorporating humour and sometimes poignant. I am a careful observer, very patient, I look for odd things or special moments. I enjoy photographing at the staging area of parades or at festivals and fairs. Even though I’m not a photojournalist, I feel compelled to photograph at events that help shape the world, like political rallies ad protests.
4- What makes a good picture from your point of view? What do you look for in an image? Good composition, timing, lighting and using elements like humor and juxtaposition when appropriate. I usually look for everything that I just stated above when shooting. I try to fill the frame and often there are layers to my photographs. Because of this I often shoot with as much depth of field as possible which, I have to admit, doesn’t always work. I think this comes from me using a large format camera as a student. I also live in an area of the country that doesn’t see a whole lot of sun from November to mid-March so great light is not always an option for more than a third of the year. Lately I have been experimenting with judiciously shooting close to wide open.
5- How do you educate yourself to take better photos? Besides shooting almost every other day and always having a camera with me, I study the photographic images of others. When I was student earning my BFA in photography, I was told that a photographer needs to have a library. I took that advice and slowly built up my library over the past 40 years to over 400 books. I have the masters, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, and photographers I admire, such as Robert Frank, Elliott Erwitt, Garry Winogrand, Mary Ellen Mark, Lee Friedlander and Burk Uzzle. Their photographs have taught me a lot. Then, of course, there are all the photographers on Instagram, which is where I discovered the work of Mark Peterson, one of my favorite working photojournalists, as well as so many other photographers. Finally, there are YouTube videos where I can learn different techniques, find camera and equipment reviews, or explore the work of the greatest photographers and passionate amateurs.
6- Where in the world would you most like to photograph? I live in a very small village with a population of around 700. Milwaukee is fifty minutes from home, but rarely Provides worthwhile opportunities for street photography, except during special events. I did spend time in New York City and was able to photograph the Chinese New Year in China Town. There are a lot of events on my bucket list and almost all of them are in NYC. As much as I would like to see the rest of the world, there are still a lot of places in my own country that I haven’t seen.
7- Who would you most like to photograph and what kind of pictures do you avoid to shoot? There isn’t a particular “who”, but there are many “whats”. I really would like to do a long term project that would benefit a person, group or organization. Photographing in any large city is always a good time for me. I avoid shooting the homeless or those physically or developmentally disabled, unless it somehow benefits them. Since I’ve been doing volunteer work with the developmentally disabled for over ten years, I have strong opinions regarding that population and appreciate their challenges and accomplishments. Nor do I seek out individuals who are have any deformity or physical challenges, unless I can depict them in a positive light.
8- Have you been confronted by someone whose photo you took on the street? What would be your advice on how to avoid confrontation when doing Street Photography? Yes. In my over forty years in photography, it has happened only about half a dozen times and they seemed unavoidable. Once I was photographing in Chicago at an anti-nuke rally, when for no reason that I recollect, an elderly woman started hitting me repeatedly with her protest sign. Luckily, a police officer came to my rescue and told the lady to “Leave that young man alone”. Sometimes you just can’t predict how someone’s going to react. I recently started carrying business cards so if someone asks me why I’m taking their picture, I can explain what I am doing and why. I believe offering my personal information, that is on my business card, shows that I’m a serious professional and not some ill-intentioned person, taking random photos.
9- Your favorite street image of your own to date and why? I have been photographing for over 40 years. If I had to choose one image it probably would be the bodybuilder doing pushups in front of a goat at the Wisconsin State Fair. They used to do the preliminaries of the body building competition in an area adjacent to the animal husbandry area, but they no longer do. I like my photo image because it is so odd. It is an opportunity that I thought I would have for many years. I learned from this photograph to always cherish the events I shoot, because opportunities change.
10-Your favorite piece of equipment? I currently shoot with a Sony A7III and a 24–70mm Zeiss lens, or a 35mm prime. If I need to use a fill flash, I use my Godox V1. In the future, I would like to explore using the Ricoh GRIII.
11- What are you favorite settings (Aperture, Shutter Speed” ISO, White Balance, Focus. Manual/Auto’ Image Format -RAW/JPEG for Street Photography and why? Aperture: Whatever is appropriate for the image I want to create.
Shutter Speed Whatever is appropriate for the image I want to create.
ISO: I use the ISO that is the most appropriate for the conditions I’m shooting under.
White Balance: Almost always auto, and then tweak in post if need be.
Focus: I grew up using manual focus so a majority of my shots are manual. Sometimes I use auto to get me in the ballpark and then fine tune with manual. Image Format: Always RAW
12- Is photography art? Yes! Of course!! And the art world concurs!!!
13- Black And White or Colour? It depends. I started out before digital, shooting developing and printing almost all my images in black and white. If I were shooting color, it would be some type of chrome and I would shoot color specifically because I wanted that image to be in color. Now, of course, I shoot everything in color, and if I make the decision that it is stronger as black and white, I can always change it in post. Some images demand that they be in color and sometimes it’s the opposite.
14-What are your thoughts on editing? Almost every photographer, whether it be Ansel Adams or Eugene Smith, have edited their images. Ansel Adams, “Moonrise Hernandez,” was manipulated by Adams, the master darkroom technician. Eugene Smith would bleach areas of his prints to get the result he desired. Elliott Erwitt, for his shot of New York City,1946 (Chihuahua) used only 10 percent of the negative. Of course, it’s okay to edit an image. I have always looked at what comes out of the camera as a starting point. It’s what happens when you enhance the image by burning or dodging, sometimes increasing or decreasing saturation in certain areas that is what makes the image special. Ethically, I would never remove a person from an image, but with the new developments in Lightroom masking, I feel you should be able to use every tool to make your image as strong as possible. I come from an era, when if you had dust on a print, you would have to use a #00000 brush and painstakingly cover the spot with a product called SpotTone. Spotting a print was a whole art in and of itself. So many things have changed in the last 20 years. I’m so glad that what used to take a lot of patience, time and skill to do, or that was impossible to do, can now be done in a short period of time &/or with the simple click of a mouse or pen. For those people who create their images by editing in Photoshop, making composites and creating something unique, have my upmost respect because I know the skill that it takes to achieve those images.
15- Why do you share to Progressive Street and who would you like to see showcased from Progressive Street? When I found out about Progressive Street, I was excited that there was another venue besides Instagram that I could share my work with likeminded people. I have been making images for over 40 years, but still feel I am learning all the time. I feel I can learn by being part of this group. I’m so very impressed by all the photographers in your group, and being new to your group, I think it would be rather difficult to say who should be showcased. I know Batsceba Hardy and Eric Davidove, from World Street Photography and Instagram, but for now, the other members are unknown to me.