Ronya Galka – London Street Photography

Ronya Galka is a German street photographer who focuses on London within nearly all of her work. Visiting London as a young child, she knew that she wanted to live in English capital, due to its diverse culture and buzzing streets. Two decades later, Galka now resides in London; once working as a marketing manager, she now focuses solely on her successful street photography profession. Galka’s love for street photography originates from observing people and to ‘celebrate their individuality’ (Gönen, Chowdary and Chowdhury, 2019); not referring to herself as a photo-journalist, Galka considers herself to be story teller, using her photos as a way to portray the endless unplanned moments which occur within London. Her images are candid and also reflect Galka’s emotions and expressions within the time of which the moment is captured. Having left a world of corporal management to focus on photography, her series Rat Race features a set of images focusing on the mundane daily routine of London workers, of which she strongly relates to; one of the main occurring themes within her work is the clear presence of human emotion, from the love of a couple cuddling in Trafalgar Square to the solitude of a café worker glancing out of her store window, emotions which we can all relate to. 

Galka’s use of equipment is a key contribution for her images to be so intimate. Starting off with a Sony Cybershot point and shoot, she used the small camera to get up close to her subjects and by catching a minimal amount of attention. The use of shooting with the Cybershot meant she could shoot in varied ways, such as from the chest, viewfinder or hip, to capture a varied amount of perspectives. Once she became confident in shooting within the streets, she started shooting with a Canon 5D MK III but due to the size of the DSLR, it becomes very obvious to subjects that you are taking photos of them, as I have found when using the camera in my own work. As of this, she decided to return back to more compact cameras which include the Ricoh GX200 and Fujifilm X100. The functionality of these compact cameras means that Galka can travel on foot for long periods of time without any added discomfort from a heavy set-up. A simple system also means that the photographer can spend more time focusing on the subject, composition and lighting without spending too much time setting up the camera.

Galka’s images use a series of similar compositions and use of light to create an eye capturing moment frozen in time. Within her images, Galka often positions her main subject within the middle of the frame, often using the rule of thirds to her advantage. Adding to use of composition, Galka’s photos nearly always feature shadows, caused by the images being shot in strongly lit environments and when the sun is low in the sky, resulting in long dark shadows connecting to the images subject. Galka’s images use a fast shutter speed, capturing the fast-paced environment of London, and a small aperture to give the main subject within the frame context for the viewer. The use of black and white is the main reason why I find Galka a relevant photographer to look into; our work seems to hold a similar black and white theme and also a similar use of strong contrast.

Gönen, M., Chowdary, I. and Chowdhury, M. (2019). Ronya Galka – A Passionate Contemporary Street Photographer From London. 121clicks.com. Available at: https://121clicks.com/showcases/ronya-galka-a-passionate-contemporary-street-photographer-from-london (Accessed 2 Nov. 2019).

Matt Stuart

Matt Stuart is a British documentary, street photographer who focuses much of his work within London. Stuarts most renowned London based street photography ‘All That Life Can Afford’ captures candid shots of the city’s inhabitants during their daily tasks from 2002 to 2015. Within his shots, Stuart materialises moments within London’s busy society which disappear in a matter of seconds, creating a true sense of urban living within his photographs. During the past twenty years of shooting street, Stuart has acquired the key skill which all street photographers work towards, being inconspicuous while shooting right in front of his subjects, often capturing natural, candid images.

Stuart’s use of equipment helps him camouflage into his environment to get in-the-moment shots which use composition, colours and light to his advantage. His main choice of camera consists of a Leica MP rangefinder with a 35mm f/1.4 lens, meaning he gets a compact and silent set up which creates detailed shots, with smooth operation. Adding to this, Stuarts use of film within his street series creates a stronger bond from himself and the subject which isn’t achieved when using a digital camera, due to Stuart focusing solely on the scene and not on the shots already taken. Stuarts use of Fuji Superia 400 35mm film creates fast enough exposure times which is versatile in a range of light during the day, without approaching too many situations where the iso isn’t fast enough. To focus quickly and accurately, Stuart uses a technique known as ‘Zone Focusing’ which is the ability to pre-focus the camera lens so when an interesting scene occurs, all Stuart has to do is frame up and fire the shutter. In Stuart’s case, he sets the shutter speed to 1/500 to prevent motion blur and then sets his aperture to f/11 on a sunny day, meaning most of the background would be in focus, creating a classic photojournalism style. After setting aperture and shutter speed, Stuart then decides on the distance in which his subject will be from the camera. Usually Stuart decides on setting the lens at 12 foot, which means that anyone standing more than six feet away from him would be in focus; if the subject moves closer towards him, then he only has to turn the focus ring accordingly.

Stuart’s work captures an essence of culture within London which I haven’t seen from another photographer; his use of colour provides another element within his shots which gives a vintage feeling within his shots. ‘All That Life Can Afford’ gives the viewer an insight into how Stuart views the busy city, with a strong notion of humour within his shots, such as an elderly man yawning in front of a NOW 50 cd advertisement or a low shot of a pigeons feet walking in unison with bankers and tourists. Stuart seems to become ‘at one’ with the urban environment, spending large periods of time in just one position and place, waiting for that decisive moment which makes the shot. Stuart has stated that most some of his most renowned images have taken anything from thirty minutes to a couple of months to produce, as he has a vision of what the final image can be and is willing to dedicate his time to it. London as a location is great for street photography as you able to capture interesting scenes from relatively any time of the day as long as you have a vision of what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it.

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André Kertész – High Perspective Photographs

André Kertész was a Hungarian photographer, who is most known for his extensive contribution to the photo essay and his documentary photographs, which often focused on everyday life. Through his life, Kertész repeatedly met criticism for his unique (at the time) style and subject matter which critics of early 20th century believed to be unworthy. Originally studying and pursuing a career in business, Kertész purchased his first plate camera in 1912, and decided to focus solely on creating a profession within photography. He created images of the mundane within his homeland country, focusing on peasants, farmers, gypsies and other Hungarian locals, foreshadowing a similar theme of subjects within the rest of his career. His work started to excel once he relocated to Paris, where he ‘found his favourite subjects in everyday life’ (Bourcier and Kertész, 2006) and created some of his most recognised photographs in the French capital. His French based work often featured the city’s buzzing lifestyle and streets which Kertész always found something interesting to capture. Brassai noted that Kertész had two traits that was crucial to a great photographer – ‘An insatiable curiosity about the world, about life and about people, and a precise sense of form. But rarely are the two qualities found in the same person’ (Wullschlager, 2013) and this clearly shines through Kertész’s photography, especially his polaroid series and his ‘Canal Saint Martin, Paris, 1926’ photograph. Throughout his career, Kertész set aside his personal beliefs and social biasness to capture the most authentic photographs within his photojournalism and photo series projects, causing his photographs to feel honest and trustworthy. Kertész expressed that intuition was the most crucial ingredient to create poetic imagery within photography, which he clearly exceled at during his lifetime.

I was drawn to Kertész’s work since starting photography due to his interesting take on everyday life during 20th century Hungary, France and America. I also appreciate his use of contrast within his black and white photographs, his use of composition which is incredibly aesthetically pleasing and his determination to find a compelling subject within any situation. Kertész would often create complex compositions with the use of shooting from a higher angle than what was usually accepted during his lifetime, which is a similar theme as I am currently interested in during my Environment project. Kertész noted ‘I like high shots. If you are on the same level, you lose many things. But there are wonderful things between you and the horizon when you are high up’ (Bourcier and Kertész, 2006); i’m interested in this idea of a higher perspective within photography and what alters once the camera is shot looking downwards. When inspecting Kertész’s photographs, I’m able to look upon the people within the frame and understand their personal connected to the space which they occupy, such as the villagers walking the streets in ‘Carrefour, Blois, 1930’ or the tourists which are glancing upwards within the Eifel tower in Kertész’s ‘Eifel Tower, Paris, 1929’. After researching more into Kertész’s high perspective shots, I’m going to create a test shoot based around the idea of using tall structures which I could shoot photographs from and frame the camera so people lower down would be captured, similar in Kertész’s work, as well as waiting for a decisive moment which contributes to composition and structure.

Bourcier, N. and Kertész, A. (2006). André Kertész. London: Phaidon, pp.3-4.

Wullschlager, J. (2013). André Kertész: Truth and Distortion, Atlas Gallery, London – review | Financial Times. Ft.com. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/2c25808e-9d55-11e2-a8db-00144feabdc0 (Accessed 18 Oct. 2019).

Kertész, A. (1985). Kertész on Kertész, a self-portrait. London: British broadcasting Corp., p.67.

Mark Power – ‘26 Different Endings’

Mark Power is a British photographer who shoots documentary projects worldwide, most notably in the UK, Poland and America. Power is most interested in shooting the world ‘as it is’ without any need for a specific significant moment. His first major publication ‘Die Mauer ist Weg’ focused on what German society was like during the period of the fall of the Berlin wall. Power has also worked extensively in the UK, starting off with his first major UK based project ‘The Shipping Forecast’ which involved photographing the thirty-one locations covered by the shipping forecast broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Around 2000, his technical abilities started to change and he started shooting colour film through a large format film camera. As of 2019, Power currently shoots with medium format digital cameras and also delves in short film production.

In 2003, Power began a new UK based project focusing on run down towns within the London outskirts. Using a London A-Z map as inspiration for his exploration, Power photographed twenty-six different locations which are situated just inside of the M25. Power focused the overbuilt environment where the buildings looked like the remains of an ancient civilisation which had long gone. His London based series explores themes of emptiness and bleakness, the result of the urban metropolitan environment coming to an end. While studying Power’s lifeless suburban landscapes, the tarnished roads and desolate, homes lacking inhabitants and windows boarded up. The ‘harsh, sober daylight leaves you blinking in confusion’ (FOTO8, 2008), landscapes which are usually consisted on scenic locations, are not present in Power’s locations, with rows of rusting cars and run-down scrap yards, which don’t seem to have been used for many years. Unlike Simon Robert, Power’s photographs seem to focus the opposite of ‘We English’, with locations which showcase England to be cultureless and lacking any kind of community spirit.

My favourite instalment from the series ‘K 13 North’ focuses on eight completely rusted cars which have been stripped of all interiors and their wheels scattered around a run-down field. The image makes the viewer understand why this land, which was once a natural landscape, has been occupied by humans, used and then discarded without any aftercare, leaving the metal and rubber materials from the unwanted cars. The colours present within the frame, which lack vibrancy and contrast, can also be taking as a metaphor for the lack of life and emotion which is present within the area. Power noted within his project that his inspiration for focusing on these environments subconsciously came from his own childhood village, which was engulfed by the city of Leicester, causing the village to be no different from thousands of other places in the country and his hometown lost a sense of community. ‘26 Different Endings’ leaves the viewer with the image of their own location in which they live in being eventually run down and discarded.

FOTO8. (2008). 26 Different Endings. FOTO8. Available at: http://www.foto8.com/live/26-different-endings/ (Accessed 13 Oct. 2019).

Joe Deal Artist Research

Joe Deal was an American photographer who was renowned for his focus on natural landscapes which had been disturbed by human development and artificial infrastructure within nature. His most famous series ‘Photographs of a Man Altered Landscape’ was chosen to feature within the ‘New Topographic Exhibition’ in 1975 with the likes of Robert Adams and Nicholas Nixon, who also focused on similar themes. For this exhibition, Deal produced a series of eighteen, 32cm by 32cm black and white prints, featuring scenes in which newly constructed homes within building sites. Deals work is known by photographers as a key watershed moment during 20th century photography, which broke away from the romanticism within the likes of Ansel Adams work; Deal opposed this movement and supported the view of ‘Anthropological rather than critical, scientific rather than artistic’ (Grimes, 2010).

Deal’s work mostly depicts scenes of human built infrastructure which has been placed within a desolate American dessert. Each of Deal’s photographs has equal weight and presence, produced by a dramatic use of composition and the use of black and white film. Deal also focused on shooting his photographs from an aerial perspective, similar to a view captured from a small plane or helicopter. The use of his aerial view ‘can reveal design features impossible to record from ground level’ (Hedgecoe, 1999) and produce a different perception for the viewer. Deal’s work makes the viewer consider many themes such as of old and new, natural and man-made, rural and urban – making the viewer consider how a natural landscape can quickly be destroyed for human pleasure without any thought about the aftereffects. The scenes which were captured focus solely on the white from the buildings, while the natural landscape is much more dark toned; possibly with the use of a red filter, which causes green tones on black and white film to become darker, making the light tones from the infrastructure more prominent.

After noticing Deal’s work in contextual studies lecture two, I started to research him and some of his other work and found it very interesting. I enjoy the theme of human development and how it effects the natural landscape which we decided to reside on. His use of black and white film also gives his work a very serious effect in the final outcome as the viewer is forced to focus on composition and shapes within the frame rather than being distracted by colour. Deal’s work is in some ways the dark side to Simon Robert’s ‘We English’ which holds a much more optimistic tone of how humans use their local environment. In another way, Deal’s images can be interpreted as the start of society/ building development and Robert’s series can be used to represent the end product.

After researching Deal’s work, I feel greatly compelled to shoot a series of images of a similar theme. There is currently a housing development site near where I live and I might shoot a roll of black and white film, from a hill near the site to achieve a similar effect as Deal. I am also going to focus in the shoot between finished product and homes which are halfway from being built, juxtaposing the two together. Similar to the landscapes that Deal focused on, while shooting at the site, I will capture the large amount of environment which has been disrupted and cleared for the buildings to be built on.

Grimes, W. (2010). Joe Deal, a Landscape Photographer, Dies at 62. Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/arts/design/23deal.html (Accessed 12 Oct. 2019).

Hedgecoe, J. (1999). John Hedgecoe’s The Art of Colour Photography. London. Mitchell Beazley, p.202.

Simon Roberts’ ‘We English’ – Contextual Extended Piece

Simon Roberts – ‘We English’

Roberts is a British photographer who focuses his work around English tradition and culture, resulting in his extensive project ‘We English’ which ‘surveys the diverse pastimes of ordinary people in the context of the English landscape’(Roberts, 2019). Roberts travelled around England in a caravan between 2007 to 2008, which gave him a new perspective on the scenes he was capturing due to shooting the entirety of the collection from the roof of the motorhome. The scenes which depict the English at Leisure use a vibrant colour pallet achieved by the use of a large format 5×4 film camera. Robert’s use of perspective creates a god-like glimpse on the scene for the viewer who is able to look below onto the subjects and into the distance of the background. Roberts’ use of shooting his photographs above his motorhome is a very interesting technique to give the prints an unnatural aspect as well as a feeling of familiarity for the English viewers. 

The series of fifty-six large scale colour prints depict the population’s connection to their local area, often bringing the viewer to consider themes linked to belonging, identity and notion of being an anglophile. Each photograph captures a certain concept of what it to be English and also how certain people react to the environment they are positioned in. The thirtieth photograph from the series, ‘Ratcliffe-on Soar Power Station, Nottinghamshire, 16^thJune 2008’, features three retired labourers who worked at Ratcliffe-on Soar power station from 1966, playing a game of golf on the outskirts of their previous employment site. Roberts noted, ‘Despite no longer working – they still return to play on the employee golf course several times a week’ (Roberts, 2009). I especially enjoyed this photo from the series as it clearly represents the men’s’ long connection to the plant and though the landscape isn’t typically visually aesthetic, it is each of their pasts which brings them back.Roberts’ series also depicts England’s well renowned coastline, which evidently is what many people believe to be a quintessential factor of living in England. 

Since the early 20^thcentury, photography has gone hand-in-hand with travelling and tourism, resulting in millions of amateur photographs being taken by holidaymakers wanting to record their adventures. England belongs to a culture which normalises documenting your family trip away, with shots of relatives running across the beach or eating lunch in picnic style; these images often captures the identities of the subjects and how they act with their surroundings. Roberts’ ‘We English’ captures on a large scale how individuals can use the same environment but in their own personal way. Looking at Roberts’ photographs, you can spend a large amount of time focusing on just one portion of the scene and still manage to notice something new after looking onto the scene once again on a different occasion. 

The extensive amount of information which is captured still doesn’t mask the excellence in which Roberts portrays his locations to the viewer. The composition and vibrancy within the frame deliver a strong eagerness for the viewer to look thoroughly within the environment in which Roberts has photographed. The use of small aperture causes Roberts to create a large depth of field, meaning all of the frame is sharp, emulating an Ansel Adams style of landscape photography. 

‘We English’ appeals to me greatly as while thinking of ideas for the Environment project, I wanted to include an aspect of my own surroundings within my theme and I appreciate Roberts’ use of English landscape within his series. Looking through the series, I feel a sense of belonging and understanding of what ‘We English’ was trying to infer to the viewer and it really inspires me to shoot what I usually take for granted. I often consider Kent to be photographically dull but after researching Robert I feel much more inspired to shoot within my local area, especially living just one train journey away from famous seaside locations, such as Brighton, Margate and Dover, where interestingly some of Roberts’ ‘We English’ photos were taken. I’m also interested in shooting some photos around the Rochester area due to the nature of the traditional British high street which often brings in large numbers of tourists frequently.

Roberts, S. (2019). We English by Simon Roberts. We-english.co.uk. Available at: https://we-english.co.uk (Accessed 8 Oct. 2019).

Roberts, S. (2009). We English. London. Boot, Commentary – page 2.