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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Kidnapping, Caucasian Style”

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken at Gorky Park in Moscow, Russia. Unless you’re from anywhere around Russia, odds are you’re wondering what is up with that post title. Well, “Kidnapping, Caucasian Style” is the name of a 1967 Soviet comedy film that revolves around bride kidnapping, an old tradition that used to exist in the Northern Caucasus. And that backdrop is from the movie. None of these details I knew at the time, but have since been informed thanks to the power of social media photo sharing.

When I took this shot, I was walking through Gorky Park and noticed this strange and somewhat randomly placed backdrop in the middle of the park. Gorky Park is the most famous park in Russia and was the first of its kind in the Soviet Union. It’s gigantic and contains everything you could imagine and more, from fair rides and food stands to lake boat rides and a skate park. It attracts mostly locals too so it’s a good spot to capture some of the non-tourist side of Moscow life.

I first noticed a couple of workers planting in the garden by this humorous back drop and walked over to take a few photos. As I walked over, a small group of older women came over and started laughing at what they saw. One of them excitedly ran over to have her photo taken with the two cut outs and as she began to walk away, it almost looked like she was walking out of the scene. Her outfit even went along with it, while the vegetation in the fake background blended with the park background. So I took the photo just as she stepped off and the gardener came into the scene with more plants. I later saw the woman’s eyes were closed, which is usually a bad thing, but in this case it kinda works for me with a similar expression to the man behind to her left, and an unreal look.

Now that I know about the movie, though, I guess it would have been better if she had been dressed as a bride. Something that really isn’t too uncommon to find walking around Moscow :)

Stats:

Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
Aperture: f/10
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 1600

City Street Guides by f.d. walker:
A Street Photography Guide to
Stockholm, Sweden

stockholm-guide-cover

*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, street walks, street tips, safety concerns, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!

Stockholm

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33 Street Photography Photos from One Week in Paris, France

After Amsterdam and a short train ride, came city #35 Paris, France on my 100 Cities Project. Commonly recognized as the birthplace of street photography, there’s no city as romanticized and photographed as Paris. The truth is there are plenty of sides to the city that you don’t see in most of the photos, though. With so much character, Paris still manages to give you plenty of material to capture. 

So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Paris…

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Master Profiles: Gueorgui Pinkhassov

FRANCE. Paris. Russian photographer Gueorgui PINKHASSOV. 2009. (c)Gregory YAROSHENKO
FRANCE. Paris. Russian photographer Gueorgui PINKHASSOV. 2009.
©Gregory YAROSHENKO

* “Master Profiles” is a series profiling all the great photographers of uncontrolled life. Unlike the rest of the blog, I’m doing these in a straight profile format to make it easy for quick access to facts, quotes and knowledge on all the masters. I’ll also group them together here every time I add a new one.

Profile:

Gueorgui Pinkhassov (1952-Present)

Russian photographer known for his command of color and light to create mood and scenes with an abstract quality.

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7 First Impressions of Paris, France
(From a Street Photography Perspective)

After a week in Amsterdam, next on the 100 city project list was a train down to Paris, France. After an easy 3 hour ride, I was in the middle of the most romanticized city of all. For many, Paris is the ultimate city. Full of beauty, history, culture, romance and style. For some, though, finding out that Paris isn’t always the beautiful city they imagine can give different impressions. For me, I appreciate that edgier side of Paris mixed in with its famous atmosphere. It is touristy, crowded and as photographed as any city in the world, but all that Paris brings more than makes up for it. Long been a center for artists and writers, in addition to tourists, it draws people in for a reason and is a city everyone must visit, including photographers.

Paris is also considered the birthplace of street photography, conjuring the classic black & white street photos of the past. With so much timeless and recognizable scenery in the city, you do have to watch out for the cliché. But luckily, Paris is so rich visually with street photo opportunities that there’s still plenty to capture. And beyond the romantic exterior, there’s a different side to the city that provides even more opportunity for something different.

So here are my first impressions of Paris, from my personal Street Photographer perspective…

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City Street Guides by f.d. walker:
A Street Photography Guide to
Moscow, Russia

moscow-guide-cover

*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, street walks, street tips, safety concerns, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!

Moscow

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Raised Bridge”

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken at the Troitskiy Bridge in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. It was the day of the Scarlet Sails celebration during the White Nights Festival and I was walking to Hare Island to be in the middle of it all. The White Nights Festival is many weeks long, but on the Saturday nearest the longest day of the year, the biggest celebration happens. It’s also become the day of celebration for graduates and at night, they shoot off fireworks with a massive water show that includes an old ship with scarlet red sails.

Unfortunately, when I walked to Troitskiy Bridge to cross over to the action, they’d raised this bridge all day in anticipation of the ships. Little did I know, after walking multiple kilometers over to cross the next bridge, I’d soon run into a large graduation party/drunk fight that would pull me into the river and end the rest of my day with a wet camera (which did luckily dry 2 days later). More on that here, but the one positive from that raised bridge detour was it gave me this photo above. 

After initial disappointment from seeing the bridge raised, it did give an interesting backdrop, reminiscent of the movie “Inception.” Then below, I saw this woman getting out of her oddly parked van. I noticed her dress matched the other van in color, which stood out nicely with the blue and gray tones from the rest of the scene. So when she put her foot up to fix her shoe, I captured this shot. An hour later I was fully submerged in the river, camera and all, but at least I got a photo out of it all.

Stats:

Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
Aperture: f/13
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 800

StreetFoto San Francisco:
7 Questions with Ken Walton

  • What: StreetFoto International Street Photography Festival
  • Where: San Francisco at the Harvey Milk Photo Center
  • When: June 5th-11th, 2017 (Contest Deadline Extended: April 30th, 2017)

We’re coming closer to StreetFoto San Francisco’s 2nd annual international street photography festival. While the big event takes places June 5th-11th, the deadline for entering their contests is only 2 weeks away on April 26th (Extended to April 30th). I was honored to be a finalist last year with the photo below and enjoyed seeing this festival become one of the premier street photography events in the world. In anticipation of this year’s edition, I spoke to photographer and festival organizer, Ken Walton.

StreetFoto 2016 Finalist: Forrest Walker, United States (Me!)

I’ve actually had the chance to meet Ken multiple times traveling because he travels quite a bit himself. First in London and then at the Brussels and Miami street photography festivals last year. An awarded photographer in the genre himself, I can guarantee he puts 100% into making the StreetFoto San Francisco festival the best it can be and has a talent for putting it all together. The first year was a big success from everything I’ve heard and seen, but this second year looks to be even better (Bruce Gilden’s involved). So to get ready for the big event, here’s a short interview about the festival with Ken, along with winning photos from last year and links for all the activities coming this year.

StreetFoto San Francisco: 
7 Questions with Ken Walton

First off, since you’re the creator and organizer of StreetFoto San Francisco, tell us a little about yourself, including what attracted you to street photography.

I’m a single dad living in San Francisco. I left the video game industry a few years ago, had some time on my hands, and got obsessed with street photography after I watched the Vivian Maier documentary. I’d always had an artistic bent and an eye for design, and I felt like I found the perfect way to express it in photography. I’ve been at it non-stop since then.

Photo by Ken Walton

Can you tell us the idea behind the festival and how creating an event like this started out?

After I fell in love with street photography I wanted to create something related to it that was bigger than just me. I didn’t want to just keep making and sharing my own photos, I wanted to build something more significant, and I decided a festival was a good way to foster community and contribute to the state of the art. My dream is for it to be come an enduring cultural institution. We’re going into year two, so we have a good start, but a long ways to go.

StreetFoto 2016 First Place: Craig Buchan, Scotland

You’ve traveled and shot photography in a variety of places, what makes San Francisco a unique and special place to shoot in compared to other cities you’ve been?

San Francisco has good light, urban density, and a variety of types of people interacting in many different environments. But a lot of other cities have these things, right? I think what makes this place special is the fact that there are more oddballs here than just about anywhere else. There’s a surprise, or a surprising person, around every corner. A look at Troy Holden’s photos illustrates this well.

StreetFoto 2016 Second Place: Pau Buscato, Spain

Since this will be the festival’s second year, what did you learn from the first one and what improvements/changes are you looking forward to for 2017?

I wish I could say I learned to get started 9 months in advance, but that’s a lesson I should have learned but didn’t. I think the main difference this year is that we have a better idea of how many people are going to participate, which lets us take a few more risks and commit more revenue to the speakers, venues, and exhibits. We have a new home at the Harvey Milk Photo Center and we’ll be doing more offsite shows and pop-up exhibitions.

StreetFoto 2016 Third Place: Marin Ryczik, Poland

What special guests and judges will you be featuring this year?

Our most well-known guest and judge this year is Bruce Gilden, and we’ve also got Janet Delaney speaking on Saturday night. We’ll also have a number of members of iN-PUBLiC attending and taking the stage, although that hasn’t all been scheduled yet. Most of our jurors this year are from the iN-PUBLiC collective, including Nick Turpin, David Gibson, Maciej Dakowicz, Graciela Magnoni, Aaron Berger, and Jesse Marlow.

StreetFoto 2016 Series First place: Chris Suspect, United States

Bruce Gilden is a larger than life name in the street photography world today. What was your reason for going after Bruce and how did that come about?

Bruce’s workshops are legendary, so he’s been at the top of my list since I started the festival. This year we were able to book him by partnering with Magnum Photos. He’s controversial for obvious reasons, but I think it’s good to get people talking, and he’s bound to draw more attention to the festival.

If someone was planning on traveling to this festival, what advice or tips would you give them?

Book early. Hotels here are expensive, so shop around, consider sharing, and remember Airbnb (or a friend’s couch) as options. A good, inexpensive hotel near the festival is Metro Hotel. If you can’t find a room available there for your whole stay, call then, as they may be able to let you switch rooms mid-way through your trip. Also, have Uber and Lyft installed on your phone, as they are good inexpensive alternatives to transit for getting around this city. Renting a car is probably not a good idea unless you’re planning to take long trips outside San Francisco.

StreetFoto 2016 Series Second Place: Dmitry Stepanenko, England

Thanks to Ken for the interview and I’m definitely looking forward to this year’s festival. For more info, click the links below, and don’t forget to enter your photos by April 26th, 2017.

StreetFoto 2016 Series Third Place: Sam Ferris, Australia

Links:

Website: StreetFoto.org

Festival Info

2016 Finalists

Workshops

Enter Contests (Deadline Extended: April 30th, 2017)

Video:

 

33 Street Photography Photos from One Week in Amsterdam, Netherlands

After stopping in Stockholm and Copenhagen, I made my way out of Scandinavia and down to Amsterdam. The city is known for its free and sinful side, but I also enjoyed it’s more peaceful side walking the many canals with my camera. For street photography it’s a unique experience and wide mixture of character. From canal parties to picnics, bicycles and flowers to coffee shops and red light windows, there’s no place like Amsterdam.

So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Amsterdam, Netherlands…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Bathing Suits”

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken at Zayachy Island in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. I’ve already written about Zayachy Island, also known as “Hare Island,” and even put together a photo series from it here. In the summer, this is one of my favorite places to come shoot because of all the interesting activity it attracts in a unique setting.

A section of the small island is covered in grass and this is where many people come to lay out in the sun. It was the peak weekend during the White Nights Festival, when the days last the longest and the celebration is the biggest. It’s also become the time for graduates to celebrate. You’ll see university students all over the city dressed up in suits and dresses partying and celebrating from day to night. 

I was walking through this grass field when I noticed this couple laying under the sun. Due to the day, his outfit, and her flowers, my guess is they were a young couple that had been celebrating their graduation. Of course, what interested me in the scene was him being dressed in a suit, while she lay next to him in a bathing suit. The old, soviet era blanket and her flowers added interest too. So I walked up and quickly captured the shot. There’s a timelessness you find in Eastern Europe that you don’t find elsewhere and it’s one of the many reasons I love coming here for photography.

Stats:

Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
Aperture: f/11
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 800