I'm not usually a stationary. I prefer to move around finding the images rather than wait for them to come to me. That's my modus operandi. This particular thoroughfare though, next to McDonalds, gets superb light on a clear sunny day like this day. If I just lean on this lamppost,  hold the camera up to my eyes and keep it there as folk pass by I can get a good group of images. 

Doc Marts ! 

Young man with ferret. 

Not the first time I've photographed someone with a pet ferret but it's not a regular occurrence. I once took a photograph of a bloke with a Barn owl on his shoulder. There used to be a bloke around Covent Garden in London who walked around with a fox on a lead....... which was nice. 

Rhinoplasty 

I asked my Niece this week what Rhinoplasty was. I saw it advertised at a beauty parlour; having your nose done I'm led to believe. There's a lot of things I don't understand like electricity, logarithms and people who have collagen implants  in their lips, make them look like a baboon's arse, a bum lift to make their arse look like, a baboon's arse.  

I briefly worked as a delivery driver for a well known supermarket. You know the one, 'every little helps' I think it is. I delivered to one house in Sheffield and when the door opened I was a hit by a wall of stale cannabis. I could see straight into the living room and two young blokes were sat there in their vest and pants smoking large joints. One of them had a big afro haircut. It was a like a scene out of Pulp Fiction. I delivered to an old bloke in a sheltered housing flat near the M1 motorway. I say old but he could have  been about fifty. The small flat absolutely stunk of nicotine. It was literally clinging to the walls. I'm sure part of his delivery was about four hundred fags and some tins of baked beans. Another bloke got shirty when I refused to put his shopping in the fridge for him. Told him it wasn't part of my remit, no Sir ! Another bloke, bless him,  gave me a pound coin tip and told me " get thee sen an ice cream or someat wi it ".  

I love the way teenagers just sit down anywhere. 

Ricoh GR3 

I'm loving the Ricoh GR3 ( street edition). It's small and unobtrusive. I can keep it dry in my pocket and the image quality is excellent. It's not brilliant on the high ISO with the noise ( maybe I've not got the setting right ) but I can live with it. 

Colour or B & W, film or digital. 

I can't remember when it was I changed to colour from black and white. I have two thick folders of black and white  negatives which I rarely look at even though I've got digital scans of them all on cd's. My change coincided with my switch from analogue to digital. It was as much a practical economic decision as it was an aesthetic one. The cost of developing and printing film not to mention the time constraints was too much for me. If I didn't come out of the darkroom with an exhibition quality print then I wasn't satisfied and what was I gonna do with them all anyway ? It was no longer a viable option for me. No doubt about it I was influenced by other colour photographers but for me black and white somehow gives an immediate  nostalgic very much in the past quality to images. I didn't want that. I wanted a this is life right here right now feel. I wanted colours to clash and jar where they did that and I wanted things to look busy and unsettling. I decided to nail my colours to the colour work  post and no going back, not ever. I do sometimes miss black and white and don't get me wrong I love a good quality black and white  image. I  have more black and white photography books in my collection than colour. 

No doubt either that my time with shooting, developing and printing black and white gave me a thorough grounding in the technical aspects of photography and I got some images of which I remain proud.
Over the last few years there's been somewhat of a renaissance amongst the young, hip and trendy for analogue film which is great. It keeps photography alive and introduces a new generation to the joys of the medium. I'm all for it but whether you use film or digital, colour or black and white, it's the image that counts. 

Somewhere between

Get rich quick. Closing down sale. Buy one get one free. Offer closes tomorrow. Buy online. Postage free. Interest free loans. Free Cash. Buy now pay later. Crypto currency. Play to win. No strings attached. No deposit. Lonely, suicidal, depressed. Mental Health awareness. Phone this number. Liposuction. Implants. Body Contouring, Rhinoplasty. Nail Bar. Tattoos.  Women are Angry. Masculinity. Religion. In God we trust.  Jesus saves. Allahu Akbar. Heaven. Hell. Eternal damnation. Bet now. Free bets. Free spins.  Data mining.  Artificial Intelligence. The past. The present. The  future. Pizza. Burgers. Fast food. Junk Food. Health food. Medication. Alcohol. Drugs.   Steroids. Anti depressants. Obesity, Mobility, Boredom. Free Health insurance.  An endless stream of fizzy drinks. What are you looking at ? Politics. Terrorism. Racism. Division. Weapons of mass destruction. Missiles. Tanks. Drones. War ! what is it good for ?  Poison. I'm a Celebrity get me out of here. The Weakest Link. The Apprentice. Dragons Den, Who wants to be a millionaire ? What are you looking for ? It wasn't me. Innocent until proven guilty. Guilty until proven innocent. Miscarriage of justice. Public enquiry. The must play game of the year. How to quit smoking. Breaking habits. Climate change. Global Warming. Storm damage.  Seek and ye shall find.  The man without shadows promises you the world. Common People. The show must go on.

Somewhere between 

The process 

Back into town yesterday for a walkabout. I decided I wanted to skirt the edges to begin with followed by a bite to eat and a cappuccino. Strewth it was dull, overcast, cold and damp. This is my least favourite time of year. The only saving grace being the days are drawing out.  
 I've seen a number of social media posts from photographers out there keen to understand "the process" ? More posts about the process and less about gear please they implore. The process is basically quite simple. You pick up your camera, you go out and you take photographs, make images or whatever you like to call it.  That's the process. Simple enough isn't it ?  Basically I do just that, I go for a walk and I look. I guess over the years I've trained myself to look at things with a view to what I think will make a good image. To put four edges around a scene as it were. As Winogrand noted "Photography is about finding out what can happen in the frame. When you put four edges around some facts, you change those facts." 

That said I find it helps to have a mental list of what I'm looking for. My list is a starting point and not definitive. 

Urban decay
Isolation
Moral decline 
Mental angst
Joy 
Sorrow
Ambivalence 
Dystopia
Utopia

It's the hope that keeps us here. 

In light of the recent stabbing of a fifteen year old kid in Sheffield I wondered whether it was a good idea to go. What would the general mood be ? Would there be some tension and would that make street photography a bit tense ? I opted after some internal debate to pack to X-Pro2 rather than the smaller less visible Ricoh GR3. 

First port of call was Bramall Lane for some tickets for a couple of forthcoming games. A small flower and balloons memorial had been set up on the concourse as the victim was a United supporter. A group of teenagers from some Academy or other were gathered around the tributes  and seemed to be enjoying themselves taking selfies and photos while their teachers sat around and chatted. It looked more like a jolly outing than something far more serious. There didn't seem to be any reverence, quiet contemplation or inner reflection on the sadness of this murder and the consequences of knife crime. I could be wrong. I didn't hang about. Nor did I take any photos myself. Documenting this scene  didn't feel right somehow. I got my tickets and got out of there. 

I'm a walker not a hanger. I prefer to go looking for images rather than hang about on street corners waiting for them to come to me. I decided on a ball park circuitous route and set off taking in a cappuccino and a mixed curry on the way. I'm grateful to the two young gents who allowed me to get some images of them practising their 'parcour' skills and on reflection I should have got more than I did. Worked it a bit more. I thought it was known as 'urban running' or 'free running' but apparently not.  

Looking back at the days images It's clear to see that there was some restraint and hesitancy in my usual picture taking and I kinda wished I'd taken the smaller 28mm Ricoh instead. It forces you to get closer.  Below is a selection, of which the last two of the images I'm particularly pleased with.    

Self Doubt ? Moi ? 

A mate once said to me "If I told you I thought you were a good photographer you wouldn't believe me anyway, so I'm not going to". He was right of course. I was in my self pitying way seeking some sort of validation from another photographer whose work and skills I admired and envied. I see a lot of photographers on various social media channels who from time to time and continually are full of self doubt. They're work isn't good enough, they're not worthy, they might as well just pack the whole thing in and do something else, that kind of thing.  If I had a pound for these posts I'd have a lot of pounds. There are also people out there who will seek to exploit this feeling in order to self validate and raise themselves, particularly criticising others work, but less of these types. The thing is, I'll wager there isn't an artist / photographer in the whole world who at some point in their journey has not experienced this emotion. I mean Van Gogh cut of his own ear for heavens sake !

It seems to me that self doubt is inherent in being an artist/photographer. It comes with the territory. So how do you deal with this particular bogey man ? Maybe the first thing is to see it as a strength rather than a self defeating weakness because self defeating is what it is. By strength I mean by using it to continually assess your work against the criteria you set for yourself. You see by assessing your work by the criteria set by others you are setting yourself up to be continually seeking validation and in turn disappointment. By all means put your work out there and if you get likes and appreciation then great, that's nice but at the end of the day the worst critic will ultimately be yourself. Incidentally when you put work out into the public domain that work takes on a life of it's own. There are three parties involved, you the photographer, the subject matter and now the viewer and the viewer won't interpret  the work as you do because he or she has not invested the time and emotion that you have and they possibly don't known the back story.

The second thing is, and this has always been my belief,  that as a photographer you should seek not validation and criticism but a mutual dialogue with friends and fellow photographers whose work you respect and you know will help you glean out the essential milieu of what you're trying to achieve. 

I've posted the below image to illustrate this article. It's ok but probably nothing to write home about but I like to think it's a metaphor  for the lonely path that being a photographer/artist can sometimes be. The footprints in the snow represent all the others that have gone before and the various directions that you can take as an artist/photographer. The rectangular imprint of the bus at the bus stop and the tyre tracks of the  bus and other vehicles have already left as in "that ship has sailed !". If you look closely you can see someone in a red hat stood in the bus shelter, another metaphor perhaps ?  By welcoming a mutual positive critique of your work these things can be teased out as part of the discussion. By doing this you are more likely to improve as a photographer and be assured of your own self worth. What more validation do you need ? 

Leave a comment below ! Careful Now ! 

All the  world 

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,

William Shakespeare 

Had a brief conversation on another social media channel recently after I posted one of my images. A reply came back that my image was somewhat boring, well really !!  The conversation proceeded in which it was suggested tacitly that my work and that of others in the genre of street photography e.g. Peter Dench, Martin Parr and so so many others etc etc was tiring and done to death. Furthermore there's further work out there that is "gaining traction". Gaining traction with whom I wondered ? Mmmmm ? Gallery Owners ? Curators ? Publications ? Visual Academics ? 

I looked at the critic's work on his (it's always men) website as I always do in these instances. There's a kind of 'well let's see what you're made of then sonny' thing with me. I can't help it. I'm a bloke too.  I'm all for photographers and artists pushing the (envelope) medium forward into new realms previously unchartered, challenging the norms as it were. His work as artist slash photographer is  interesting and no doubt  relevant. Challenging preconceptions, asking questions etc. Isn't that what a lot of artists do these days ? I've explored this area myself so I'm not knocking it. On the contrary I think there's always something to learn and appreciate from it. Generally speaking I like although I do wonder about its longevity in the art world.  

So I'm sorry if I've failed to entertain you. If my images are boring,  but you see I'm not here for your benefit. I'm not particularly interested in my work gaining traction with whoever ? Trying to climb the greasy pole of photography acclaim is like pissing in the wind as far as I'm concerned. It's a wall that I refuse to bang my head against.

I do photography because I love it. I decided some time ago that I would document my home town following in the rich tradition of documentary and street photographers that there are past and present. My home town is accessible to me and if my work is derivative of others then so be it. There's only so much you can do in this genre isn't there ? That said I personally believe that photography will always provide us with infinite variables. You see everything changes, nothing stays the same. The world turns, time moves on and All The Worlds a Stage !    

Unstoppable Me, let's be Frank 

As a street photographer you find yourself in a ( some might say unique ) position of seeing people in a way they don't see themselves. The below image is a case in point.
I know the gentleman sat on the Motability scooter, I've photographed him before and we always have a brief chat. The other gentleman is most probably waiting for the wife who is in the shop shopping. Men of a certain age invariably wait outside for the Mrs and I've had a number of conversations with men doing just that.  I have no qualms about including my shadow in the image either.  

For some reason the below image what I did take yesterday reminds me of the cowboy in New York by Robert Frank taken in 1955 

I like trees ...generally speaking.  

I think it was the golfer Nick Faldo who said " the  more I practise the luckier I get". Wise words. Yesterday's amble in the local park was very much that. Practise in light, colour, shape, texture, composition and perhaps most importantly looking. Learning to actually look at things sharpens your picture taking wherever you may be. Furthermore you begin to realise what you actually look at and maybe why ? Looking at the selection of images below I notice that the main focus of attention is trees that are misshapen, broken, a little bit at odds with their surroundings. What does this say about my motivations ? Why do these attract me ? What are the deeper meanings to these images if indeed there are any ? Is there some deeper psychological thing going on here ? I can't necessarily answer these questions but it's interesting to think about them. By asking these questions I believe that it leads to an improvement in my own image taking. By lifting my imagery beyond the mere picturesque eye candy pictures so that there's something more going on, something that requires understanding and further contemplation. This is what I try for in all my photography whether it be documentary, landscape, topographical or street. 

Fear of trees is known as Dendrophobia. The word comes from the Greek word "dendron" for tree and "phobos" the Greek word for fear. Someone with dendrophobia may have extreme fear or anxiety when thinking or seeing trees. I'm really glad I don't suffer from this. We have a lot of trees where I am so life could be quite difficult. Looking back through my archive I have a lot of images of trees.  Being English my favourite is the Oak and I'm partial to the Crack Willow ! 

Do you like trees ? Have you got a favourite tree ? Anything else you want to say ? Let me know in the comments below ? 

A little crazy

" Ya never gonna survive unless you're a little crazy " - Seal 

              I reckon you got to be a little bit crazy to be a ( street ) photographer.  A little bit mad, a little bit crazeeee yes Sir ! I think you've essentially got to generally like people. I don't mean everybody. There's some real scumbags out there. You don't have to like them all. Just be curious about them. Be curious about their lives and how they live day to day. Be a bit nosey. Have the curiosity of a child. Ask questions. What ? Why ? How ? When ? Everyone has a story. I'm talking about ordinary people. Life can be really mundane at times but that doesn't mean yours has to be. Embrace it. 

The light was superb again yesterday. They don't come often at this time of year so you got to make the most of them. I found my self following the light around town. Long shadows, difficult exposures. I keep my camera settings as simple as possible. I enjoy the results of seeing how my camera handles lighting situations. Keep it simple. KISS

If you're looking for a dam good documentary about street photography check out this one on You Tube. It's about New York photographers and quite probably one of the best documentaries on the subject you'll find. Check it out.                                                                                                                              Everybody Street ( 2013 )

Making the most of opportunity

       I wouldn't normally make a portrait image with a 28mm lens but if that's all you got. I took out the Ricoh GR111 mainly because I felt like it and it was a foul weather day. The wide angle isn't  a portrait lens, that would be anything from 90mm to 135mm. The wide angle distorts as you can see here, but you work with what you go don't you and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity with this gentleman. Actually I like the result. You don't tend to see pipe smokers anymore and I made a point in saying so. I've probably seen and photographed about three in the last ten years. My Dad used to smoke a pipe so I know a little bit about it and it enabled me to start a conversation. He used to smoke St Bruno Flake tobacco and he had about four pipes which he kept on a pipe rack. This bloke had smoked a pipe all his life. I had a girlfriend who when my Dad told her he didn't inhale she replied "that doesn't matter you'll get throat cancer instead". She was a nurse at the time and blunt like that. You should have seen the look on his face. My Dad thought the world of her.
        I'm really pleased with this portrait so I am. 
       It was grim out there today but the maxim that there's no such thing as bad weather just the wrong clothing was in order. I agree with this up to a point. Some good work can be achieved in bad weather. You just gotta put yourself out there !  

Writing about photography 

            My last blog post was I decided a bit trashy so I've amended it slightly. It's not easy writing about photography. After all I'm a photographer not a writer. If I wanted to become a writer I'd become an author. 
            I was once told that you should never explain or describe your images. After all if you have to explain them, are they any good ?  Surely they should explain themselves ? A photograph is merely a set of symbols, the science of semiotics.   So what then, if indeed you are going to write about your images, should you write ? Certainly not 'the woman's coat was very red'. Definitely not !

           I've found that there are probably only a handful of photographers who are capable of both making great images and writing about photography successfully and I'm not talking about those who can write about gear and the practicalities of wielding a camera,  going out and about. The what I did next kind of writing.  I'm talking about those who can  in depth analysis write about the subject. A writer who can take an image and peel back the layers of meaning of that image, the context of it, the nuts and bolts of it.  Most of that writing tends to be writing around the subject. One writer who immediately springs to mind is Geoff Dyer whose book on photography The Ongoing Moment has been out for a while now. Anyone getting seriously into photography will at some point be directed to Susan Sontag's On Photography also Regarding the Pain of Others  followed by Roland Barthes' Camera Lucida. You may also be pointed in the direction of John Berger and particularly Ways of Seeing, About Looking, A Fortunate Man, Hold Everything Dear and Understanding a Photograph.  These tend to be required reading particularly if studying the subject at University but there are others and I would recommend any of these as essential background reading. Photographers Bill Jay's Occams Razor is worth a read if you can get hold of a copy as iLeslie s Henri Cartier-Bresson's The Minds Eye.  Another photographer and writer of note Robert Adams' Beauty in Photography and Why People Photograph are good reads.

Biographies and Auto Biographies of photographers are always interesting but surprisingly few. I can think of only four at present; Don McCullin's auto biog  Unreasonable Behaviour, Diane Arbus ( biography) by Patricia Bosworth, Henri Cartier-Bresson (biography ) by Pierre Assouline and Mapplethorpe by Patricia Morrisroe. Patti Smith's book Just Kids  about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe is also a good read. 

All this said I like to think any reading is all grist to the mill when it comes to making images. Furthering your knowledge, being inquisitive about the world. Photography is very much about being inquisitive isn't it. A favourite author of mine for example is John Steinbeck and anything by him is well worth taking time out for in my humble opinion.    

All this said if reading is not your bag then You Tube is a wonderful and wholesome resource for your photography education. I can certainly recommend the series of Show and Tell by one Stephen Leslie whose videos are informative, irreverent, quirky and thoroughly entertaining. Walkie Talkie with Paulie B are also worth spending time with, mainly shot in New York.  That should keep you going for a while.

Please feel free to recommend any other reading in the comments section below.  

Pass me that scalpel. 

This Blog seems to have  become a daily occurrence doesn't it ? Don't worry  it won't last I can assure you.

I'm just starting to read Under The knife by Arnold Van De Laar a Dutch surgeon in Amsterdam. It's a book of remarkable stories from the history of surgery and it promises to be a wonderful fascinating albeit at times gruesome read. Santa bought it me for Christmas. The first chapter is about seventeenth century surgeon  Jan De Doot, Smith of Amsterdam who cut out his own bladder stone. Yes ! really ! Can't wait ! 

Years ago I attended a talk by a medical photographer who worked at the local hospitals taking pictures of all sorts of injuries, ailments and diseases for their medical records and such like. I especially remember the photo of the woman's foot that had been run over by a double decker bus on Pond Street, Sheffield. All blood and bone. Some of the skin disease photos weren't very pretty either. Another standout memory was  that he'd been asked to photograph a hysterectomy operation by the Hysterectomy Surgeon who was putting together a kind of DIY manual of how to perform hysterectomies to send to surgeons all over the world who lacked the training facilities or consultation of other more experienced surgeons. He showed us the resulting book, a large colourfully printed book of a step by step guide to performing a hysterectomy. 

I've just added a portrait section to this site which you can find in Lightworks under Chesterfield Portraits. I was inspired to do so yesterday after watching portrait photographer  Harry Borden's You Tube video about the annual  Taylor Wessing   National Portrait Gallery photo  portrait competition. I entered it once and never again. As far as I'm concerned, not only is it a massive faff but it's little more than a money making scam of which I want no part. No part I tell you !  Harry has similar concerns but he's a little more polite about it than I am . 
I don't think I could have hacked being a professional  portrait photographer of the rich and famous to be perfectly honest. Patience seems to be definitely a virtue. Waiting eight  hours to get a photo of the likes of Hilary Clinton is surely enough to test the patient of a saint and I don't think I'd have had it for sure. I don't think so. Though I appreciate when you're trying to earn a living out of this craft and you're only as good as your last commission then you're very much at the mercy of those you're seeking to capture.  My mate Nick Lockett he's a superb portrait photographer. He's photographed some celebrities in his time I can tell you. He's a superb command of lighting as well as being able to charm the birds out the trees and a bloody nice bloke. Not that I'm ever likely to get the opportunity but I'm not that fussed about photographing the celebs.  I once saw Julian Clarry browsing around Chesterfield Thursday market and Tory politician and egg enthusiast Edwina  Currie coming out of the Tourist Information Centre. I once had tea dressed as a badger with John Craven, filmed for Songs of Praise which was interesting !   I've been in the presence of quite a  few others as well in my time in my job as Stately Home Guide.  Below is a little list in no particular order of well known people who I would like to photograph If I got the chance. 

Chris Wilder - Manager of Sheffield United FC 
Sean Bean - Actor and Sheffield United supporter 
Judy Dench - Actress
John Cooper Clarke - Punk Poet 
Damien Hurst - Artist ( might be tricky so this is an outsider ) 
Paul Heaton - Singer songwriter and Sheffield United supporter 
David Beckham - footballer and fashion icon
Maggi Hamblin - artist. I think that could be interesting. 
Paul Weller - Singer, songwriter 

Below a favourite portrait from my own collection. 

Curiosity 

              I'm just going to write the first thing that comes into my head. I think the literati call it stream of consciousness writing ? Apparently Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road this way fuelled by drink and drugs. He wrote the introduction to Robert Frank's The Americans originally published in France as Les  Americains because he couldn't get a publisher in the States. It was a bit too close to the bone for the Yanks. An outsider looking in.  If you find a French copy going for a reasonable price then get it immediately. It's worth big bucks.  Robert Frank also did the album cover for the Rolling Stones album The Cocksucker Blues so that was nice ! 
As I write this convicted felon and rapist Donald Trump is being inaugurated in Washington. I wish he was being something else but life's not a bed of roses is it ?  Can't have it all roads ! The thought of his sweaty orange arse writhing about on top of Stormy Daniels is enough to put anybody off their dinner isn't it. A sickening thought. I try not to.  Apparently he's promised to deport ten  million illegal immigrants, amongst other things. That's going to cost an arm and a leg isn't it ? It remains to be seen whether he achieves that but by the end of his term he'll swear blind he has anyway,  even if he hasn't. If he wasn't so wealthy he'd be on a motorway flyover somewhere shouting at pigeons or telling people in town when they can get on the bus, or off it. A few weeks ago I was told there's a place in Sheffield where you can stick your cock through a hole and get it sucked off ?  Playing Russian roulette with your John Thomas ain't my idea of a good time I can tell ya. Still it takes all sorts to make a world ?   A photographer friend of mine when he was homeless used to doss down in his mate's porn studio, also in that  fine city. What goes on eh !  The wife didn't know what MILF stood for until the other day. I find that refreshingly reassuring. I didn't know what it stood for until a couple of years ago either come to think of it. 

Town was filthy today. Cold, wet, dull, drab and other things.  January is my least favourite month. February is only marginally better. The nights are drawing out. There's a faint light at the end of the tunnel.   The good news is that I saw my friend Eileen and she agreed I could use an image of her for the cover of my next issue of Hipper Street, the Portrait issue. 

Je T'Aime T- shirt 

The Law ( I fought the law and the law won) 

             If you're serious about this thing sooner or later you will be stopped by someone be it police, security guard, traffic warden, gob shite  or member of the public. Consider it a street photographer's right of passage if you like. In the wake of terrorist events there's a lot of paranoia out in the public domain and there are times it can feel intimidating. Nevertheless we photographers have the right to be out and about with our cameras and it helps to be conversant with the law. The following is for guidance only. The  law is subject to change so do not take this as legal advice and don't blame me if you get banged up for the night. 

The following is applicable to the UK only. Make sure you are familiar with the law in other countries as well as local traditions and customs. We don't want you being accused of stealing someone's soul now do we ? 

Anti Terrorism 

Amongst other things I've been told I could be a terrorist. They come in all shapes and sizes apparently ?  This from a fat bloke controller  on Sheffield Railway Station. Misunderstanding of anti-terrorism legislation and Date Protection Laws is frequently cited as an excuse to stop us photographers. The latest guidance from the Metropolitan Police states: 

"officers have the  power to view digital images contained on mobile phones or cameras carried by a person searched under S43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to discover whether the images constitute evidence that the person is involved in terrorism. Officers also have the power to seize and retain any article found during the search which the officer reasonably expects may constitute evidence that the person is a terrorist. This may include any mobile telephone or camera containing such evidence" 

Furthermore the guidance states that officers do not have the power to delete images or destroy fil at any point during the search. The deletion or destruction of a digital image can only take place if it is sanctioned by a court order. 

1. Street Photography is not illegal 
   There are certain restrictions on photography on private property but there are non on taking photographs on public land.
   
   
2. You do not need permission to photograph buildings on public land 
   The only exceptions to this are Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square and any Royal Park. There is no general requirement to get permission to photograph on public land. 
   
   
3.  There is nothing to prohibit photography of buildings on private property if the photographs are being taken on public land. If it's private property on private land then you will need permission from the property owner. 
   
   
4. A police officer, traffic warden or security guard cannot delete your photos. 
   A police officer may prevent you from taking photos in certain limited circumstances but they cannot delete a photograph. 
   
   
5. Invading someone's personal space and obstructing their passage down the street may constitute harassment but there is nothing stopping taking a photo of another person in a public place. You don't need their permission. Don't let them tell you otherwise. 

Further 

The more you go out on the street the more practise you will have at reading a situation or a person's body language. However the best of us can always get it wrong. I know I have ! If you do get into any situation try not to be intimidated but do  try and be as polite as possible. Don't take risks with either with your person or your gear. If you're asked to delete it might be safer to do so but it's your call. Most people I find are curious. Indeed many people don't think they're worthy of anyone else's interest and are actually quite lonely. You might find that once they start talking you can't get away. However time invested will reap rewards in the long run.  Explain with a smile what your about and what you're trying to achieve e.g. I'm a photographer and I'm documenting my home town/ area etc. If you frequent the same area the more people who get to know you, what and why you do it,  the easier it will become to make work. Try and get their buy in. Be charming and flattering e.g. I do like your/ couldn't help but notice your  jacket, t shirt, hairstyle, tattoos, large feet etc etc can I get a photo? 
In time you'll find your own way of negotiating these situations. It takes practise and courage and a bit of bravado so know what you're about. Know yourself and know why you're doing what you're doing. 

Finally it has to be fun ! Otherwise what's the point ? 

Enjoy. 

Feel free to leave a comment below. 

Have you found Jesus ? 

The light in town was superb today. I love this low winter sunlight at this time of year. The warm tones, the deep long  shadows. I wore my new Merino  wool socks what Santa did bring me, rated at 2.5 Tog. I thought I'd give em a road test and I packed the Fuji X-Pro 2 coz I don't want it feeling neglected. I think it was happy to be out. A photographer friend of mine reckoned it's as good as a Leica. Still I wouldn't like to think I'd travelled through life never having owned a Leica. I'm currently hanging my head over a Leica Q3 43 viz a vie the 43mm lens but at about five grand it'll have to wait. Maybe later on this year when me boat comes in. 

I got talking to a bloke, or rather he started talking to me, who told me amongst other things that an ex lover used to own British Rail and she was responsible for paying everyone's wages; " you should have stuck with her" I told him.  I've seen him around and photographed him before.  You can't miss him and he's well used to being photographed. He tends to adopt the same pose each time.   You see you just never know who you're sitting next to on the bus do you ? Turns out a bloke I know knows Gerry Adams and gets a Christmas card from him every year. If you close one eye and look through a misted window I reckon he looks a bit like Jesus, Gerry Adams that is. 
An associate of mine kindly agreed to write an introduction to my next issue of Hipper Street …..which was nice. I'm planning it being a portrait issue. 

I enjoyed myself today. Below some images from the day. God the light was fantastic today !  

High Streets 

Space man I always wanted to be loved 

I see that Jeff Bezos has entered the space race ? Obviously not content with occupying the Amazon. Rich boys with rich toys eh ! It was ever thus.  You'd think with all that money he'd put it to some use like feeding the world, homing the homeless or addressing climate change. Come the collapse of humanity, human existence as we know it, only the very rich will be able to bugger off into space anyway. God knows what they're going to find there ? God maybe ?  Might not be a bad thing.  The rest of us will have to make do and mend. Back to life back to reality, back to the land and hunting for our suppers. 
Speaking of rich blokes, that's going to end in tears isn't it, Musk and Trump. I'm suspecting it will all be played out very publicly and what fun it will be. Two grown men with massive egos  tearing each other apart on Twitter or X if you prefer. I can't help thinking Trump is a deeply unhappy, psychologically flawed man. He's upset the  Mexicans,  now turned his feeble minded attention to Greenland and Canada. What next ? the Falklands ! The American Dream turned nightmare.  If he wasn't so rich he'd be on a motorway flyover somewhere shouting at pigeons or in a town telling people when they can get on the bus. There used to be a man like that in my town. He was harmless enough, but then he wasn't President of the Dis United States.  
Some people think Musk is a genius but I don't. Albert Einstein, he was a genius; certainly couldn't be classed as witless, he claimed atoms were the littlest. How do you define a genius anyway and who decides ? Is there a genius organisation ? An International Tribunal of Genius who meet every year to decide whose the next genius to join their esteemed ranks of other world genius ? Incidentally the singular of genius is genius. Who knew ? 

I was in town walking up the high street,  on the corner was these youngsters trying to sell Broadband. A woman I suspect a Grandma was pushing a pram up the slight incline " hello have you got a minute, ave you got broadband  ? asked the cheery young wannabe business man  in his tight fitting suit,  "no love I'm blowin out my arse ere ! " she replied and carried on. I had to laugh. Made my day. 
 

The itch needed scratching. I had to scratch the itch. First outing of the new year. I needed to road test my new street photography gloves what Santa did bring me. A pair of waterproof gloves that you can pop your thumb and forefinger out the ends so you can press the shutter and work the controls and they even have a bit of Velcro to fasten each of the  ends back. Great in cold weather. 

I took the X-Pro 2  35mm lens ( 50mm equiv ) out in favour of the Ricoh GR 11128mm lens because it's not been out for a while and I didn't want it feeling neglected and getting jealous with the Ricoh. My intention was that I'd look for abstract stuff, reflections, bright lights that kind of thing, nothing too risky. I'll take it easy I thought to myself, play it safe. A homeless geezer started talking to me and requested I take his photo so he could use it for the authorities. He showed me a painful looking ulcer on his back. I've no reason to doubt that he didn't have stab wounds on his legs either from trying to defend himself. I don't photograph the homeless per se unless I can do a collaborative portrait with them as I did in this instance.  I reckon they've got enough on their plates without me pointing my camera in to every shop doorway.  

I've been thinking for a while of doing a book entitled " Women are Beautiful" in tribute To Gary Winogrand's book of the same title but I probably won't. Still you never know. I've seen it read somewhere that Winogrand was a misogynist ?  I thought he was a photographer ? Well really !!  

Not Gary Winogrand 

Experiment 

Learn to experiment with your camera. 

Andy Greaves - Back end of a Horse 

Lucien Freud ( Artist ) - Skewbald Mare ( Back end of a Horse ) 

All the lonely people. 

Where do they all come from ? 

Music for Street Photographers 

Here's my street photography playlist. 

This is not an exhaustive list. I'm sure there are many more so please feel free to contact me with your own favourites as long as it's not Mariah Carey or Cliff Richard ! 

On Every Street - Dire Straits 
Hometown Glory - Adele 
Chasing Pavements - Adele 
Strange Town - The Jam
To be Someone - The Jam
Going Underground - The Jam 
Mirrorball - Elbow 
Lippy Kids - Elbow
Where the Streets have no name - U2
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones 
Subterranean Home Sick Blues - Bob Dylan
Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
Beasley Street - John Cooper-Clarke 
Evidently Chicken Town - John Cooper-Clarke 
People are Strange - The Doors 
Picture This - Blondie 
The 59th Street Bridge Song - Simon & Garfunkel 
Hanging Around - The Stranglers  
OK Computer - Radiohead 
Karma Police - Radiohead 
Common People - Pulp 
Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen 
Walking Down Madison - Kirsty MacColl
Miss Sarajevo - U2 
Cars and Girls - Prefab Sprout 
A day in the life - The Beatles 
Mercy Street - Peter Gabriel 

What am I looking for ?

"When we remember that we are all mad, mysteries disappear and life stands explained"

Mark Twain

I feel the term street photography is just a convenient pigeonhole in which to locate the bulk of my work which is why I use it. It's not a term I'm completely comfortable with tbh. I'm not trying to disassociate from the marvellous genre that it is but I'm looking for more than just the instant hit, the quick visual eye candy. I'm not necessarily looking for the decisive moment or the indecisive moment for that matter. What I am trying to do is create a sustained body of work which hopefully will stand the test of time. I like to think a lot of my images won't be appreciated for another thirty years if they're ever going to be appreciated  at all, in the same way that we look back at images from the sixties, seventies, eighties etc  now with a certain amount of nostalgia, pathos and regret? 

For me the world is absurd, surreal and ambiguous and this is what I'm looking for when I go out. I'm not trying to make people look ridiculous, poke fun or treat them with contempt  On the contrary I generally like people and I want my images to ask  questions specifically about how life is lived ? I'm not necessarily concerned with themselves as individuals, more as a metaphor for society as a whole and life in general. I like my images to be multi layered and meaningful. I like my images to be able to get up and walk around a bit. 
All this does not mean that I'm certain about my work and its quality. I'm not and never have been. That's for others to decide but I'm not interested in doing this for an audience despite the fact that here we are on this Website. 

As daft as it sounds I think one of the reasons I take photographs to remind me I'm still alive ?  It's a bit solipsistic I know but I need to know I'm still here ? I feel the need to document that I'm engaging with the world and that  I'm in it.  

Bye for now 

Andy 

What's in the bag ? 

What's in the bag ?

These days I'm packing a Fuji X-Pro2 and a Ricoh GR111 Street Edition with the necessary spare batteries.

A pen & notebook
A lens cloth
Tea towel
Small microwave oven
A wok 
An AK47 
A stuffed Ram 
A folding bicycle 
Complete set of Encyclopaedia Britannica 

Always comfortable shoes. Light clothes in summer. Warm clothes in winter. Always plenty of pockets and some cash for a sandwich and a coffee and cake. Always cake ! 

I like to travel light these days 

Doctor I think I've got a touch of Eggleston ? 

American Photographer William Eggleston 1939 - ( not dead yet ) 

Spot the Difference Competition 

Sorry there's no prizes !
The image on the left was taken on the 21st September 2013 at Robin Hoods Bay in Yorkshire. A lovely place it you haven't been. The image on the left was taken on The Strand in that London two months later on the 16th December.  
Wouldn't it be great if the bloke looking out to sea was the same bloke with the balding head walking down The Strand ? How cool would that be ? I love this photography malarky I really do ! 

Gezundheit ! 

I've entered 2025 with a stinker of a cold. Being the generous person I  shared it with the Mrs for which she is profoundly ungrateful. I am the disgusting tramp in the household apparently, even before the dog. Still every cloud silver lining etc. For it has allowed me a reason to share these two images which speak for themselves 

Favourites of 2024

I don't know what kind of year you've just had but mine has been a mixed bag. Personal reasons which I won't bore you with, unless of course they were mildly humorous and then I'd feel duty bound. Despite all that happened I'm actually proud that both me and the Mrs came out the other side relatively unscathed and what we both achieved. 
Photographically I think my work has improved slightly. I think I've got closer, been a bit more selective and colour wise got the intensity about right ?  Most years If I get one or two absolute belters then I'm quite satisfied. 
Below is a selection of my favourites from 2024. 

People carrying things. 

On my list of things to look out for when I'm out is people carrying things. A couple of my favourites of people carrying things.  

Doctor, I think I've got a I've got a touch of the Herzog ? 

My Street Photography Tips ( well some of them) 

People carrying things 

My Street Photography Tips ( just some of them ) 

I've been doing this a few years now. Over forty to be more precise and I intend to continue. I've learnt a few things and I've made a lot of mistakes. This street photography ( not a term I'm fond of )  malarky is not easy. So I've put together a few ideas of my top tips for your delight. You'll read other Blogs and street tips which talk about familiarity with your camera and a good pair of shoes so I'm not going to blather on about those things. 

So here goes  

1. Know what you're doing and why you're doing it ?
   You don't have to justify  yourself but at some point you will be challenged by someone. See it as a street photographers right of passage ! It'll be better to explain yourself rather than waffle incoherently. If you're documenting your community then say so and why. My interview in my previous blog posting might help with this when it comes to explaining.
   
   
2. Know the Law  UK Only. Check other countries separately. 
   It can seem a bit vague at times  but basically you can take photographs in a Public Space and you don't need permission from anybody. Nobody has the right to demand you delete your images. Not even the police. Do not allow yourself to be persuaded otherwise. 
   
   
3. Try and be confident when you're out there.
   Try and exude an air of confidence,  even if like the proverbial swan your paddling frantically underneath. People can spot a lack of confidence a mile off and they will exploit it if the mood takes them. 
   
   
4. Everything is photographable 
   Think it was Winogrand who said "Everything is photographable" and to a large extent when it comes to street photography that is a truism. If something catches your eye then maybe that's a good enough reason to make an image of it. You're not gonna lose out if it doesn't work out. 
   
   
5. Make lists 
   Not a new concept this. That great photographer Tony Ray-Jones made lists of what he wanted to look for when he went out. 
   One of the things on my list is 'People carrying things' and so I've built up a collection of people carrying things. I'm also partial to getting dogs in my photos because I like them. 
   
   
6. Study the subject
   Read around the subject and look at images continually. You Tube is a wonderful resource for street photography and photography in general so use it. Know who the considered Masters were and the difference between them. Know the names and work of Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Gary Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, Diane Arbus, Joel Meyorowitz and many many more. By studying the subject that air of confidence at No 2 will become easier. 

These are my tips. If you don't like them I have others. 

I dare say I'll offer more tips in future blog postings but for now Be Brave ! 

Chesterfield I Love You 

A highlight of 2024 was having one of my images  in the June 24  issue of Amateur Photographer plus accompanying article written by fellow photographer Maria Falconer whose work you can see on www.mariafalconer.co.uk  
Maria has kindly allowed me to reproduce it here. It goes some way to explaining my Chesterfield I Love You series, an ongoing project of mine. 

Welcome to the Blog