many photographs and a few words, as I wander - commissions accepted / prints for sale / all texts and photos copyrighted Christophe Chevaugeon unless otherwise stated
Although taken 30 years ago, I remember these boys well, even their names. Bien que prise il y a 30 ans, je me souviens bien de ces garçons, même de leurs noms.
Another edit of this photo taken in Alnwick during the Music festival a few years ago : if I remember it was the second time I was using the little fuji x100 .
Until yesterday, I can’t recall using a camera stand on the streets and setting up a photograph as carefully as I’ve done here; with the exception of rare sutdio work, I’ve always taken photographs hand held ( note the careful use of words here:I hate the expression “shooting” when it comes to photography). There was something quite pleasant about the whole process: looking around, setting up the stand, triple checking focusing thanks to a loupe, setting the f-stop manually, ,waiting for some interesting alignment/arrangement of people passing by, using a release cable, shifting the lens for a second frame, packing up sometimes to only move a few yards further along and starting all over again.
My aim was to get to grips with the 24 mm PC Nikon lens mounted on a D800 and come back with very basic no thrills views of buildings in town whilst taking care to work with either the sun behind me to avoid complication with uneven skies and the likes (I took a few chances with the sun coming in from different angles). I didn’t bracket in view of possible light touch (realistic) HDR treatment for the simple reason that the D800’s range at it’s native 100 ISO is quite remarkable!
Anyway, I was hoping to also capture something more personal than asceptised brochure type views of buildings and if I am pleased with the twenty odd such views that I came back with, it is this photo and the ones in the previous post that matter to me. I am looking forward to printing them soon. A2 is a minimum:the resolution of the D800 is phenomenal.
These modern spaces are not always as lonely and cold as it appears here, but most often are. With that in mind, I consider this an effective portrait of a this space,created to encourage encounters but where people pass by each other most of the time without ever exchanging a glance or a word. With my stand I created some interest and had a lovely chat with a man who wanted to knoow what was interesting me in this particular place that he didn’t even notice anymore…
A few months ago I started an ambitious project to put the photos of Paris that matter to me the most in to book form. I’ve almost finished phase one of the work:selecting and editing the photos, many of which where captured on film.
Phase two, the layout, is seriously underway. My options were either to place the photos in more or less chronological order or to link them somehow: I quickly opted for the link them somehow. Furthermore Bruno Chalifour, photographer and critique prompted me to think in terms of series as opposed to stand alone approach.
It’s been a fascintating journey that has revealed to me how much, and sometimes, how little, I ‘ve changed my approach to organising the elements of a photograph leaving aside all considerations of content, lighting and rendition of the black and white.
“La Piscine rue David d’Anger”s is one of my favourite personal photographs. Everything comes together: subject, key elements, light and tonal range. “Près de la Gare du Nord ” I only edited recently (it’s been sitting in my archives for years). It works for me too. Because my archives are not organised , I don’t have a clear idea of how far apart in time they were taken( I suspect not very far ) but no matter how different they are in terms of content, it struck me that they are linked and need to be on opposing pages: of course they share obvious features but most importantly in my view they work in similar ways to create a feeling of space and of time captured.
Black and white street photography by Christophe Chevaugeon taken at the Piscine rud David d’Angers in Paris probably around the mid 90s
Black and white street photography by Christophe chevaugeon taken Près de la Gare du Nord in Paris probably around the mid 90s too
See Place de la Nation 1 for explanation and take time to look at all these beautiful faces. Thank you. Merci
See Place de la Nation 1 for explanation and take time to look at all these beautiful faces. Thank you. Merci
See Place de la Nation 1 for explanation and take time to look at all these beautiful faces. Thank you. Merci ( Haven’t quite finished editing this one )
See Place de la Nation 1 for explanation and take time to look at all these beautiful faces. Thank you. Merci
In the next few posts I will present re-edits of the four images that appeared in my second post on this blog back in February 2013 called Demonstration La Manif Paris 2002. I’ve also added a few more.
As these images form a natural series, it would have made sense to present them in a unique group or gallery , but since I deeply feel that each holds it own so to speak, I decided to present them individually in the hope that viewers, in this era of fast everything, will take a moment or two to look at all the beautiful faces of the people gathered that day to take a peaceful stand for “fraternité”.
David Vestal challenges, with his usual concision in the chapter “Print Aesthetics and Beyond ” of his book “The Art of Black Enlarging” ,the concept of the “vintage print” ,of first and limited editions of prints, and encourages us to revisit our images as our understanding of what an image wants, of how to edit it, can change in time, along with our craftsmanship.
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