dvdell.com

Eggs on Top / Chinatown, SF

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

- Confucius

John Felix Arnold lll

I recently had the honor of stepping in and documenting a Babylon Falling, gallery opening. Babylon Falling is one of the coolest book stores in San Francisco. They have a lot of great books to choose from. They also have gallery style openings, featuring outstanding work from very talented artists. It was a lot fun and a great experience to photograph the opening for John Felix Arnold’s work.

Photos from the event can be seen here or you can check them here at dvdell.com. You should also check out the studio visit with John Felix Arnold lll, photographed by Shaun Roberts. Also check out the time-lapse from the event on studio visit page.

The Other Side

Recently I have been thinking about the ethics of street photography. Questioning what is right and what is wrong, when taking pictures of people in the streets?

Opinions vary, but the opinion that I follow is the one of following your own personal street photography ethics. For me that means not exploiting the subject directly, not making direct profit off that individual, and lastly, if possible, try to get permission to take their picture. A model release would be best, freeing you to do what you want, but this doesn’t always work when you are shooting homeless people or scary people you might want to avoid, and it may disrupt your artistic approach or the heart of the moment.

In the end it is all just a matter of opinion, and personal and professional choice. It is certainly something to think about when moving through the urban scape.

I look to continue to shoot people in the streets and the closer I get, the more I understand that what I am doing is what I am supposed to be doing. I do it because it calls me. Shooting people in the streets has a great attraction for me. And my ethics will continue to be refined and I am sure questioned by others as my output becomes more public. I want to be prepared to answer those questions, and be confident that I am doing it the right way.

Below are a few links I found that highlight this topic.

pixiport.com

photo.net

bigredandshiny.com

The beauty of street photography for me is the freedom and unpredictability of each mission. I find the urban stage to be the stage for me. I love all forms of image capture, but when looking at what I am doing with the street photography, I feel it’s where I belong. I am beginning to get what I want out of the images I’m capturing, getting closer and closer to the source of good imagery.