Brussels a photographic black and white Diptych.

Taken many years ago, edited the other day. I’m enjoying doing the occasional photographic diptych: it isn’t so much about creating a sequence that illustrates the passage of time but more about bringing photographs together that question  the assumptions we make when watching or photographing a scene.

Black and white photographic diptych of a street corner in Brussels.

The question here is what does the observer assume about the relationship between the man,the boy and the woman. Is there a relation ? If so what is its nature ? Why is she behind them ? The possibilities are infinite.

Birmingham 2008: Postcards of sorts . Sorte de Cartes Postales.

My favourite taken during a brief halt in Birmingham in 2008. Ma préférée prise durant un bref passage à Birmignham en 2008.

cropped below / recadrée ci-dessous

Black and white photos of Birmingham by Christophe Chevaugeon. Photographies noir et blanc de Birmingham par Christophe Chevaugeon

La Danse The Dance Alnwick

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 .

Brussels Bruxelles La Grand Place

A post card of sorts…

You see what you’re looking for: Around Glencoe and Skye.

Chevaugeon Photo : Portfolio and Prints

I recently went on a road trip to Skye via Glencoe. I had two very different cameras : a bulky high res Nikon D800 DSLR with a tilt and shift lens on a stand and the fuji X-Pro. I’ve never particluarly sought to produce either pretty or ugly images, if I am moved by what’s in front of me then I’ll aim to capture it and translate it as best I can, beautiful or ugly or plain for that matter. I always hope to capture something beyong decorativeness.It was strange stumbling across the portrait of the little girl left at the foot of a tree and stranger still encountering that dead deer ( don’t look if you don’t want to see it) on the edge of the road amongst some rubbish. Can you see the flock of birds flying away from the cemetery ?

Paris s’amuse /Paris has fun. Jardins des Tuileries . Fête Foraine /Funfair

It seems a long time ago since I took these pictures, and it was ! At least one was taken in the mid 1990s and the others in the early 2000s. All were captured on film . I scanned them a few months ago from the original 35 mm negatives .For as long as I remember, every summer this funfair sets up on the edge of the Jardins des Tuileries, across the Rue de Rivoli: I have fond memories of the place and love that time of the year :Paris, in August is particularly quiet and yet fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been working on a book project to present my favourites personal photographs of Paris:these will definitively be there.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, another street and architectural photographic encounter.

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…

When architectural and street photography meet: Elena and a Passer By. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne September 12 2014

Was out and about in Newcastle today working on fairly standard architectural photography views with heavy and slow kit ( tripod , D800 , 24 mm PC lens). I was setting up a shot ( the wall and the reflection in the building’s window had caught my eye ) when this lovely young lady, Elena, if I caught her name right, offered to go around me and said “I hate it when people pass in front of my shots” to which I replied that I sometimes liked it when people became part of a photograph. We had a lovely brief chat about her own photographic pursuits and she accepted to pose against the wall. I  didn’t have a card (unprofessional I know ) so she wrote my long and complicated name on her hand. I hope she finds this blog and is happy with the photo. And of course I wish her the best for all her projects . The photograph is stitched from two frames . As for the second photograph, also stitched, it was taken by the Library. In  a way, although in colour, both these photos  are akin to  the La Piscine rue David d’Angers and to Près de la Gare du Nord captured on film around twenty years ago in Paris.The resolution of the D800 with that particular lens of two images stitched is an invitation to print these big.

Elena

A Passer By

La Piscine rue David d’Angers et Près de La Gare du Nord : Paris un début de projet de livre/ Paris book project

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

Place de la Nation 7 :Manif Mai 2002 Revisitée / Demonstration May 2002 revisited

See Place de la Nation 1 for explanation and take time to look at all these beautiful faces. Thank you. Merci