Daily Inspiration #215 by Camille Wanty

May 2, 2011 Daily Inspiration, News 7

Hi Steve,

I’m a French software engineer living and working in Paris, France. Photography has been my main hobby for the past 12 years.

Your website got me interested in street photography and rangefinders, I read everything I can on the subject and now own a little Canonet (one has to start somewhere) which I love ! I love the fact that in street photography, you never know what’s going to happen in front you. It also forces you to master your equipment ! The Canonet is so easy to master: Aperture, Shutter Speed, Focus, that’s it.

Until this recent shift in my photography style, I were a little bit bored with the kind of pictures I took. Some of them were pleasing to look at, but not all that interesting. I’m not saying that the pictures I take now are all beautiful and meaningful but at least I now know what makes an interesting photo.

And for me it involves the human presence (visible or not), good composition and a scene that is not too obvious; What I love about the pictures of the street photography masters is that reading them is not straightforward, they either have a deeply buried meaning or they’re fairly open to interpretation.

Taking a picture that matches the above criteria is very hard (at least for me) and I often get frustrated when missing unique scenes (actually hundreds of them) because of shyness preventing me from making those extra 2 steps !! But I’m getting it..slowly…and really enjoy practicing !!

Here’re some of my attempts:

Distracted
Rue de Rivoli, Paris
Canon Canonet QL17 GIII, Kodak TRI–X 400
What I find interesting about this picture is the difference between the attitude of the policeman in the front and those of the following policemen. The first is serious and stiff, reinforced by the frame behind him, the others are distracted, relaxed, smiling.
I won’t tell you what made them smile and turn their heads, I’ll let you imagine 🙂

–

Vintage For Sale
Place des victoires, Paris
Canon Canonet QL17 GIII, Fujifilm Superia 200
In this shot, if you look at the sign on the car’s window, you’ll know that the car is for sale. But then, is one of the three guys the owner and the other two potential buyers or are they just bystanders enjoying vintage cars ?
Even I don’t know for sure…

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Untitled
Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
Nikon D90, 35mm
This picture reminds me of the photographic workflow: The man on the left is taking a picture, the bent people on his right are looking at the result and the last standing man is looking for other photo opportunities.
The big wheel might suggest that the workflow is cyclic, never ending. Well, it’s my interpretation anyway 🙂

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That’s it, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and get inspired by them the same way I got inspired by the other readers pictures and words.
Steve, thanks for the hard work on the site and for building the great community around it !

Camille Wanty

 


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7 Comments

  4. In general I like the pictures. It only bothers me the water “coming out” from the camera of the guy in the last photo. I think it looks funny and distracts from your interpretation, makes the photo look less “poetic”, but I like the look a lot..If only you have moved a few inches aside!

  5. Great story camille! Your thoughts are identical to minne, especially the frustration caused with my shyness 🙂

  6. Love the last photo and your interpretation of it! 🙂
    This also reminds me that one if my favourite things about London is the Eurostar to Paris!

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