Being comfortable on the street, zooms vs primes, Fujifilm medium format - and a William Eggleston book

Street photography doesn’t start with bravery, it starts with belonging. While juggling another Venice run, we get personal about how childhood habits, walking alone, watching people and loving the town centre can quietly build the foundations of a strong street photographer. If you’ve ever wondered why you feel relaxed on the street or why you feel like an outsider, this one gets to the human side of the craft.

From there I tackle a few of your questions: who might become the 'future greats' of street photography, and how the genre is shifting as aesthetics increasingly drive attention. I also get opinionated about zoom lenses versus primes, with four clear reasons I prefer primes for candid work: less distraction, more discretion, lighter carry, and better image quality.

Then it’s time for a proper gear reality check with the Fujifilm GFX 100RF. We talk medium format detail, the lure of cropping, the lack of IBIS, and the bigger issue for street shooting: speed, responsiveness, and feel in the hand, especially when compared with a Leica Q3.

As a counterpoint to the tech talk, we finish with a classic book review, looking at William Eggleston’s controversial colour photography and the strange power of the mundane, plus a quick news round on The Photography Show, the Irys app, and what we’re planning next.

If you enjoy thoughtful street photography chat, subscribe, share with a pal and leave a review so more street photographers can find us.

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William Eggleston's 'Guide' - https://amzn.to/416nsPB

Brian's street photography workshops - www.streetsnappers.com

Brian's YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/streetsnappers

Transcript

Hello From Between Venice Trips

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning, street snappers! I'm trying to squeeze in an episode between coming back from Venice and setting off again from Venice, which I'm doing tomorrow. So in today's cracking episode, we'll be exploring a controversial book. I'll let you into a secret about how my early childhood shaped my street photography. I'll give you a real-world perspective on the medium format Fujifilm GFX 100RF, and is it any good for street photography? We'll talk about my writing journey, we'll look at who are the future greats in street photography, and should or shouldn't you use zoom lenses and much more. I'm so grateful, it really does spur me on to do more of this. As you know, I'm a bit of a beginner at all this stuff. I particularly like the comment from Graham who said it was like sitting in a cafe with a group of pals chatting about street photography. Thanks, Graham. I really like that. Quite a few people have said, why don't you do a Patreon and we'll support you? Well, interesting idea, but it's not really my way, and it just feels like putting a begging bowl out there, and I'm a bit uncomfortable with that whole idea, and it just feels a bit desperate, to me anyway. But I tell you what, if ever you see me in the pub, I'll happily take a pint off you. Well, I've just got back from a weekend in West Wales with Alex, my son, and what a cracking weekend we had. Except, of course, for sitting in the pub watching the rugby and watching England getting thrashed by Italy. Yes, Italy! For the first time ever, I think. Can you believe it? We did lots of coastal walking. Stunning scenery around Aberdovey, by the way, right kind of in the middle of West Wales. Beautiful. And I took a fair few pictures, but nothing you could call street photography. But who cares? Do do labels matter? Of course they don't, except maybe if I take something which isn't street photography, and then I call it street photography, now that's a different matter, and probably a subject for another day. I don't know about where you are, but round here I sense the weather's about to turn, and I think I can feel spring in the air, which is very welcome after what seems like biblical rain since round about the start of the year. Not great for street photography, was it? But during these rainy days in recent weeks, I've been thinking about some of the qualities we need to be a good street photographer, as you do. And somehow it got me thinking about my childhood. And I often do this. The I think the older we get, the more we think about our childhood, don't we? Well I do. And I just have this need to reconnect with my childhood. Is that is that odd or is that just me? I don't know. So I was, and still am obviously, an only child. And while I always had plenty of friends and great attentive parents, being an only child inevitably means you spend more time alone. In some of what I would say were the formative years, we lived about two or three miles from the town centre, and the town centre was a place I loved. Back in those days, our town centre was quite stylish and quite grand in a Victorian kind of way, less so these days, of course, and I spent lots of time there. Any excuse, and I'd be off into town, either on the bus or more likely walking it, sometimes to meet pals, but often just on my own. Now I'm no loner, but I just quite like my own company. Maybe it's the only child thing. I didn't have any particular purpose in mind, just being there was enough. I walked and I walked and I walked, and I observed. Just watching people doing their thing. I didn't realise at the time, but I think I was becoming an avid people watcher. So the street was a place where I felt comfortable. I was kind of engaged with street life and really interested in everything going on around me. The street was my happy place. I think I really looked hard at stuff rather than simply casually noticing things. And this was all happening at a time when I was just getting into photography. Although at that time I didn't even know about the existence of street photography. And this all got me thinking that as a street photographer, you have to like the streets. You you have to feel comfortable there, you need to understand the streets, the rhythm, the ebb and the flow, the sounds and the smells. And that reminds me, of course, of that great Bruce Gilden quote. You need to smell the street when you look at a picture. And I think I've always been lucky in I've had a natural nose for the street. Let's now have a look at a couple of questions, and the first is from Dave. Take it away, Dave.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Hi Brian, it's Dave Boehm here. I'm a Manchester-based street photographer. When anyone starts to be seriously interested in street photography, we cast back as much as 70 years to the greats like Winnegrand, Leiter, Myrow Witz and Irwitt, and so many others. Now, I'd like your perspective on who will be the classic street photographers from now who will be remembered in about 50 years' time. You can include yourself in that, and I'm willing to take the hit too if it comes to that. Anyway, looking forward to hearing from you. My Instagram is streets underscore up north. By the way, if anyone wants to follow me.

Zoom Lenses Versus Prime Lenses

SPEAKER_00 6:16

I've got to say, you lot are coming up with some great questions. I think in order to answer this one properly, we need to look at how street photography is changing. And a lot has changed over the previous 70 years or so. A lot of the street photographers you mentioned, Dave, base their work on the stylish streets of cities like New York, which were going through immense change at the time. And we look at those scenes now with almost a sense of affectionate nostalgia, knowing that it's near impossible to replicate that kind of work today. So the sands are shifting, or have shifted, and I think street photography as gradually being uh going off in a very different direction, particularly in the previous five or ten years. And what we're seeing now is a far greater emphasis on the aesthetic, and the way an image looks is gradually becoming just as important, or even more important than what it contains. So against this context, we have people like Harry Groyart, almost one of the oldest, but very much alive from kicking and shooting. There's Georgie Georgiu Pinkasov, Olga Karlovac, Trent Park, Dido Moriama, Alex Webb, of course. You could look at any of these people's pictures and immediately know who took them. Then there's a number of contemporary street photographers who use coincidence extremely well. Vinit Vorer from India, Pow Buscato, Jonathan Higby, Matt Stewart, Niels Jorgensen, Nick Hans. I think all these guys will be remembered. And what we have to accept is that street photography is changing. It ain't what it used to be. But thinking about this question a bit more, there's just so much out there these days that it's it's just way more difficult to cut through all the crap and find bodies of work that actually stand out. So I know I've rambled on a bit here, Dave, but I've mentioned a few names and I hope that helps. Right, shall we do another question? Why not? What have we got here? Okay, here we go. Are you a zoomer? If so, this question from Nick should be of interest. Off you go, Nick.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

This is Nick from Dartmouth. I seem to be in a minority as I prefer zoom lenses for their flexibility as opposed to prime lenses. The only time I use prime lenses is at night when I need their wide apertures. Wondering what your thoughts are.

Fujifilm GFX 100RF Street Test

Hand Grenade Rant On Bag Videos

How The Book Deals Arrived

William Eggleston And Colour Controversy

News Iris App And Next Plans

Packing Up And Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Well, Nick, I'm not personally not a fan of using zooms for street photography for four principal reasons. Firstly, the act of zooming means that you're slightly distracted and possibly thinking about the wrong thing. You're more focused on stuff like the perfect composition than you are on the moment. So your attention is in the wrong place. Secondly, most zoom lenses are not exactly discreet, at least compared to primes. They make your camera look bigger and more obvious. They just kind of get in the way and you look like a photographer, which is never a great look for candid street photography. Thirdly, zooms are inevitably bigger, they're bulkier, they're heavier than primes. So if you're holding one all day, you're certainly going to feel it before the end of the day's finished. And what else have we got? Oh, image quality. Finally, the the image quality isn't as good as it is with primes. Okay, it maybe it's marginal and not necessarily a deal breaker, but we need all the help we can get. So for me personally, I always use primes, and in fact, I don't think I've used a zoom lens since God was a Lance Corporal. Just a point on questions for the show, and I'd love to hear from you with your questions. All you've got to do is record yourself speaking into your phone with your name, where you're from, and then the question. Feel free to add your Instagram handle if you'd like a little exposure, and Bob's your uncle. If you prefer to email the question to me, that's fine. You can send either the email or the voice note to Brian at streetsnappersgot.com. So either way is fine, although I think we'd like to hear the voice of the person behind the question. The the personal thing is a lot nicer, isn't it? Let's talk about gear for a bit. Now you know this isn't really a gear programme, but we've got to mention it occasionally because I know some of you folks are interested in it. So in today's gear slot, I'm gonna be looking at whether the Fujifilm GFX 100 RF is a good choice for street photographers. Now I've had this camera for around four months, and I've quite enjoyed using it. Note that I say quite. I started my RF journey, let's call it the RF for the purposes of this conversation, when those lovely people at Fujifilm lent me one. Thanks, Andreas. My initial findings were a bit oh ambivalent, shall we say. And I I it has just made me think that this is a bit of a marmite camera. So let me split this up into positives and negatives. So on the plus side, there's no getting away from the fact that technically this is a truly superb camera. With over a hundred megapixels, the resolution and the detail is simply out outstanding. This aspect of the camera will blow anyone away. In fact, it it's way more than any person, any normal person needs, and I reckon it can resolve better than the human eye can. For those of us who like gimmicks, and I know a lot of us do, there's stuff like an aspect ratio dial. I bet you never knew you needed one of those. There are film simulations, galore, and some of them are quite fun, but I just think, you know, why not just shoot raw? Anyway, that's me. And if you're shooting video, there's a bewildering options list. I don't know what half that stuff means, and so on and so on and so on. So it's got a lot of features, a lot of, you know, if you were cynical, you could call them gimmicks, but hey-ho. Now, a major concern for most people, or for many people with this camera, that there's no IBIS, which I always thought was a disease of the bottom. Without I I don't know, what is all the fuss about? I can't really see what the fuss is about with IBIS. I've managed without IBIS for 50 years, without any issue, and I think I know how to hold a camera still, and so I don't need nanny to help me along. So I'm not really concerned about the lack of IBIS, it shouldn't be a problem. Now I had my RF in super small rig leather half case, which was great and it made the camera feel a bit chunkier, and it gave it protection. The overall weight and the size, the balance of the camera are great. No complaints there, it's a reasonably solid chunk of metal, although it is taller and heavier than the X100 range, as you'd expect, but it still feels like one of those in the hand. It feels like an X100 on steroid. So if if you're coming from a Fugifilm X100, whatever, this camera would feel quite normal to you, and you would probably instinctively warm to it. But what I would say is that if you pick this up, having had a Leyca in your hand, it'll probably feel a bit cheap, which is a shame as it costs roughly the same as a Leica Q3, which it's often compared to. Now a big plus with the lens it comes with, it comes with a 35mm lens, and remember, medium format terms, this is 28 in full frame terms once you've done the the conversion. So it comes effectively with a 28mm lens. Because of the because the sensor is so big and great, you can crop to your heart's content, and it's a bit like having a mid-range zoom. You can do as much cropping as you like. Now I know this would suit some people, but for me it's not really how I like to work, but you know, I can see the attraction. So the negatives as I found them with this camera. Firstly, the restriction of the lens, not the fact that it's a fixed 28mm lens, but the fact that the maximum aperture is f4, which, okay, in full frame equivalent, means around f3.2. So no big deal you might think. Well, it is quite a big deal for me, I've got to say. I often shoot wider than this, especially at night, or say for street portraits. So I found this a little bit disappointing and a little bit restricting. Secondly, and probably more importantly, in general use, I found the camera just a little bit too slow for me. The time needed to acquire focus, then for the shutter button to react once you pressed it, it just felt like an age, and I'm used to having something a bit more instantaneous. But if you're the the kind of intentional, deliberate street photographer who likes to do a lot of fishing, which I am sometimes, I've got to say, then all this is not much of an issue. But if you're the the kind of spontaneous hunter where you're pressing the button, click, click, click, click everywhere, you're gonna find it a bit slow. It feels quite chunky in the hand, but as I've mentioned, if I had that in one hand and a like a Q3 in the other, I know which one I'd be putting back on the shelf, and that's because feel and ergonomics are really important to me. And these two cameras are like chalk and cheese. The Fuji fe feels a little toy like by comparison. And yes, I know I do keep referring back to the Q3, but that's the camera the RF is often compared to, and I think it's a reasonable comparison. They do more or less the same job, they cost pretty much the same, but they are different cameras. I think my final words on the RF can be summed up like this. I just got back from a week in Venice, and the only camera I took with me was the RF, and I spent the whole time wishing I'd had my Q3 with me. And I guess that says it all. So for street photography, uh I know, my view is maybe not. You know, this camera has its uses. I don't think street photography is one of them. But this is all my view. So hey, don't just listen to me. Try one. If you go to the Fujifilm shop in Covent Garden, if you're in London, they'll lend you one for a couple of days at absolutely no cost. So why not try one for yourself and see what you think? Now I'm talking about Fujifilm in London here. I know we have a lot of international listeners, and I'm sure they do this at Fujifilm places around the world. That sound means that it's time for my weekly rant. If you're new to the show, this is what I call my hand grenade slot. I have actually got a real life British Army hand grenade in my left hand at the moment, and I'm gonna metaphorically lob it into something I need to vent my spleen about. And this week it's what's in my bag? If you like watching YouTube videos, that's a phrase that probably sets your teeth on edge. Well it does mine anyway. There must be hundreds, even thousands of YouTube videos called What's in My Bag. And they seem to get thousands or tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of views. What is the fascination with what's in other people's bags? If there's a particular photographer I'm interested in, the last thing I want to know is what they put in their bag. Who cares? It's like saying what's in your pocket or what's in your underpants. It might be of great interest to you, but does the world really want to know? Well, look at all these videos, apparently the world does want to know. So maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm weird or something. Maybe I'm missing something. But guess what? I have a big bonus for you in today's episode. And I'm gonna tell you what's in my bag. So here we go. Excuse the rustling. What have I got here? Oh, it's a camera. Guess what? Funny that, isn't it? Who'd have thought it? And what's this? A lens! Oh my goodness! Whatever next? You must be salivating now. And oh no, look at this. A couple of lens tissues. Wonderful. And a spare battery. This is so exciting, isn't it? Of course it isn't. I could go on, but I will spare you the tedium. What's in my bag, Nisa going to room 101? Let's have another question. I like questions. And this is this was an emailed question who's written in. It's m from Martina, who's in Gdansk in Poland. I've always wanted to go to Gdansk, actually. And Martina asks, can you explain how you got into writing? Well, thanks Martina. Shorten to the point. I've only just finished writing my ninth published book. I'll tell you about this one in a minute. And I've been doing this writing thing for ten or eleven years now. And it all started when I was at home. I was sitting in my office editing some images, I think, and the phone rang. It was Jason from some company I didn't recognise, and my immediate thought was this bloke's trying to flog me something. So I gave him short shrift, politely of course, and ended the call. Five minutes later, I got an email from Jason, suggesting that I'd possibly misunderstood him. He explained that he was a publisher working for Ammonite Press, who are one of the world's top publishers of photography textbooks. And would I be interested in authoring a book called Mastering Street Photography? So I quickly apologised, got some more info, accepted his offer in principle, and five days later, a 12-page draft contract had popped through my letterbox. And that was the start of the writing career. The next thing that happens is I got a call from the same publisher about a year later saying, How do you fancy writing a book called 52 Assignments Street Photography? Which I did. And then they got me to write 52 Assignments Black and White Photography. And then another book for the same publisher called Street Photography Workshop. And you can find all these books. These are all in bookshops, and you know, they're around the world and they've been translated into many languages. You can get from Amazon and, you know, the booksellers wherever you are. And then I got a call from Rocky Nook, the wonderful US based publisher, who asked me to write a super little thing, a tiny book called The Street Photography Pocket Guide. Little thing that fits a new bag. So I did that. That was fantastic. That's gone on to be a massive seller, interestingly. Then I got another call from From Ammonite Press saying, Would you write 52 assignments, portraits? Which has nothing to do with street photography, of course, but I was flattered to be asked, and you know, portraits have always been part of my life, so I said, Yeah, why not? And then I got another call from Rocky Nook. This was probably about 18 months ago. We'd like you to write a book. And we talked about this for a long time, and the concept and the title we came up with was Street Photography Manifesto. And this is my favourite one between you and me. And again, this is selling well across the world. I've got to pinch myself sometimes. You know, from this random call from Jason in 2015, I've now written, well, so far, eight books. But finally, I've just submitted my the final manuscript for my ninth and latest books, which is 52 Assignments Street Photography at night, which should be in the shops in the autumn. So that's the journey, Martina. It all started with this random phone call which I ignored, and thank goodness they persevered, or else none of this would have happened. Do you like the soothing music? It means it's book time, so make yourself comfortable and I'll read you a nice story. Well, not quite. And I think it was William's first serious published book. Guide was published in 1976 to feature alongside his landmark exhibition at the Museum of Modern Arts in New York. And it was thought to be, at the time, very a very influential and even controversial book. And I say controversial because it was all about colour. And at that time, the photographic establishment viewed colour with great suspicion. It was for amateur snappers, whereas black and white was for artists, and that's people like you and me, by the way. Critics often referred to Eggleston's work as boring or trivial. Now, this is a book I think everyone needs to see. Most of the images were shot around Memphis and the Mississippi Delta, and they're mostly mundane scenes of things like car parks, diners, suburban streets, light bulbs, signage, cars, anonymous interiors. There are a few people here and there, but it's not really about people. And the key word here is mundane. We often hear the phrase beauty in the mundane, and this book is the perfect example of it. Eggleston almost made the word fashionable, and by using bold saturated colour he lifted the mundane and the banal into something luminous, strangely luminous and almost unsettling. One thing about Eggleston's work is that his style is often described as democratic, which I think is an interesting word. He's often quoted as saying he photographed democratically, meaning that everything in front of the camera had equal importance. Interesting concept. Now this could mean the use of very unremarkable subject matter, like the tricycle on the front cover of this particular book. It could mean casual or even apparently thoughtless compositions, it could mean psychological ambiguity. His pictures will often appear simple when you first see them. Too simple. But the more time you spend looking at them, the stranger or more meaningful they become. Now let me say at this point that much or most of this book is not street photography in the classical sense. Although it gets close to it in parts. But to me it's very interesting photography. But look, the the reason I really like it and recommend this book is that the images don't appear to try too hard, and they're a reminder to all of us that the extraordinary often hides inside the ordinary. This book is less about individual images. It's more about a way of seeing, and it it invites the viewer to just slow down and recognize these forgotten fragments of everyday life. There are something like 112 pages in the book containing around 50 plates, and there's a really interesting comprehensive foreword by John Sarkovsky, which talks about Eggleston's life and work. Now I'm sure most bookshops will stock this great book, but I have put an Amazon link in the show notes for you. It's time for the news, and not a huge amount of news to report this month. I'm a bit pushed for time, actually, I've got to say, uh, off to Venice tomorrow. So just a few tasty tidbits for you. It's almost time for the photography show, the annual show at the NEC in Birmingham. Are you going this year? This is a UK thing, so apologies to my international listeners, and it runs from four days from this Saturday, March the 14th, so it's Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. If you've never been and you can get there, I definitely recommend it. There's a great programme for talks, seminars, tutorials, and of course a massive trade show where you can buy just about anything, usually at a decent discount. For the previous eight years, we've had a little exhibition stand there, but we thought we'd give it a break this year. Next month, our little workshop business, Street Snappers, will be 11 years old, and I've lost count of how many street and documentary workshops we've done since those early days in 2015. But I can sense there is a new chapter around the corner. I'm not going to say any more, I'm hatching a few secret plans. Who knows what the next 12 months will bring? I'll keep you posted. In terms of social media for photographers, there's a new kid on the block called Iris, and that's I R Y S. And it's a new app set up by the photographer Alan Schaller. Now I've yet to have a close look at Iris, but at 50 quid a year, I'm not yet convinced. And I'm always concerned that these things are a flash in the pan and they'll soon be history. And we've all been there, haven't we? We we invest a not so much the money, but a lot of time in you getting to know a new app and building an audience, and then it flops or it stops or people lose interest. I mean I I would much rather just let something prove itself for at least a couple of years. I'm not an early adopter with these things. I used to be, but I just wasted so much time. I'm not going to do it anymore. Anyway, I I wish Alan all the best with this, and I'm very happy to be proved wrong. I really hope it does well. Do you have experience of Iris? Anybody out there using it, good or bad? If so, let me know what you think, and you know, I'd love to do a piece on it. I'll have a closer look at it and I'll I'll report back on here at some point in the future. We are coming to the end of today's episode, and I'm just about to start packing for another Venice trip. And as I'm sitting here in my office, I'm staring at a big black box on the other wall, and it's that uh U-green NAS hard drive unit I told you about last time. And I've been looking at this thing for two weeks now, trying to pluck up the courage to set the thing up. And uh I need to do a YouTube video about it, and I promised you I'd report back on what I thought. I've I've just been really tentative about this. Uh, but I I I I promise you, I'll get my head round it when I get back. I will have a crack. We shouldn't be intimidated by these things. So, once I'm back from Venice, and once the effects of seven days worth of Negronies have started to wear off, I'll get cracking on the next episode, and I'll hopefully have lots more for you then. So, until then, ciao, and we're gonna be able to do that.