PROGRESSIVE STREET QUESTIONNAIRE
1-Are you a professional photographer? Yes, I am a photojournalist with a local newspaper.
2-Why street photography? As a photojournalist, it is part of the job to shoot street photography, but mainly I love it because I love documenting life and it is a genre that I can do in my own time, how I want, and where I want. It is mine and only mine. I can be an artist.
3-How would you describe your photography style? Although I like shooting all types of street photography, I prefer the fine art part more. I love to include architecture and geometries, and living in Malta with plenty of harsh light makes it easier.
4: What makes a good picture, from your point of view? What do you look for in an image? A good image is a decisive moment, as Henri Cartier Bresson said, a facial expression, etc. But composition also helps in certain images.
5-How do you educate yourself to take better photos? I have done many courses locally and online and still do so when I find an interesting one. I look at other photographers' work and study their photos, read books and magazines etc. But the main thing is to practice, practice and practice.
6-Where in the world would you most like to photograph? Where there are people I love to shoot, like London, New York, Japan, and many more.
7-Who would you most like to photograph and what kind of pictures do you avoid shooting? A person that catches my eye, I want to shoot. I don’t shoot homeless and disabled people. I try not to photograph children, but sometimes you just can't help yourself.
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? So far, I have not been confronted with anything other than someone asking me to remove his image. The advice I give to my students is just to show the image to the person and ask him/her if they would like to receive a copy of it. If the person insists, just delete the image and move on, as another opportunity will come.
9-Your favourite street image of your own to date and why? My favourite street image is of a priest running down the stairs in Valletta. Apart from it being a very good image and winning competitions, it is also the image that I discovered that I was shooting in a genre called "Street Photography."
10-Your favourite piece of equipment? My favourite piece of equipment is my Canon R6 mirrorless camera with the Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. I know this equipment with my eyes closed and I do 95% of the work with it. But recently I bought the Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 lens, so I’ll go lighter and be less visible.
11- What are your favorite settings (Aperture. Shutter Speed, ISO, White Balance, Focus, Manual/Auto, Image Format – RAW/JPEG) for Street Photography and why? If it is daylight and outside, I always start with an aperture of 5.6, ISO 100, auto shutter speed, auto white balance, focus depending on what I am shooting, spot metering, RAW+Jpeg, and continuous shooting, but I change the settings during my street photography walk.
2-Is photography art? Photography is an art, especially nowadays with the technology in editing images, but even before this technology, photography was an art.
13-Black and White or Colour? I enjoy both, but I am primarily a black-and-white guy.
14-What are your thoughts on editing? A photograph always needs to be edited to improve it. I consider the editing process in street photography to be like the journalism rules, which are minimal. Crop, dodge and burn, contrast and sharpen are the only options.
15-Why do you share it with Progressive Street and who would you like to see showcased on Progressive Street? I love sharing on Progressive Street as I see high-quality images shared on it and it is very professionally run. It also gives us great opportunities like the ProgresFestival, being featured and much more. Who do I want to be showcased? Any good street photographers or emerging street photographers from all around the world.