I liked those example photography books as types of projects. One my personal favorites is Naoya Hatakeyama's, Excavating the Future City. I like how it combines the stillness of city-scapes with kinetic acts of preparing the land. That approach uses a central question of what it means to live in the spaces which we occupy and that lingers in the back of the mind while looking at the photographs.
I discovered your channel tonight, watched a couple of videos, and I really like what you're doing here! Especially that you brung books to explain your thoughts. That's really inspiring, thank you!
I am hooked to your street photography related videos...i have watched almost 6 videos today only . i love your understanding and approach to the art of photography .Thank you again for your videos. These are really motivational .
I really enjoy your channel and value your opinions. The choice of themes like in this video is gold, gives inspiration to try something new. Also you keep the videos short, and they feel planned, because you hold a red line, while still keeping the mood relaxed. Dont worry about top view cameras etc, or if you forgot something. Know that there are people here who are thankful that you share your experience and opinions through these videos. Oh and i liked your photos in this video. Especially the first one with the light on the floor, and the one with the curtain.
thank you very much! I try to keep the vids informative and dense, I personally don't like watching random vlog bits of ppl talking off-topic on vids.😂 Shouldn't be saying this. Glad to know I'm helping...
Just started my first intentional project yesterday after months of getting things sorted. Thank you for this video! It was a nice refresher on some points to think about and keep in mind
Great post Ulysses. Live in a row of small red brick Terrace houses that backs onto another row of similar Terrace houses so they have a relatively small Alleyway between them with 3 large black metal Council gates at the Top and bottom of a T shaped Alleyway. In this Period of Lockdown i gave myself the task to photograph anything of interest within the area of the Alleyway gates. (Anything to stop the 4 walls closing in! lol....) The weather has been superb with some strong sunshine so got some good shots of wild flowers, dandelions, metal anti intruder spikes/broken glass bottles of differing colour cemented along the top of walls, overgrown weeds climbing over and out of cracks in the brickwork, TV aerials on chimney stacks, opposing house shadows, details of brickwork and differing doors, rusting metal fences, telegraph poles and lines with birds in flight, discarded broken toys/rubbish bins, etc... Some quite mundane things in general, but there's beauty in everything if seen through the right lens with the right play of shadow and light. Individually each photo doesn't really say much but as a small body of work over a few weeks combined together they do work. There's around 20 'keepers' with probably one excellent stand alone photo I think headlines the collection. Am wanting to start printing more of my work rather than just viewing them on a computer screen so am thinking of creating a small 20 page photo booklet to remember this time of Lockdown by using the photos captured. *LOCKDOWN 2020* will be the title printed on a blue sky above a photo of one of the black imposing alleyway gates taken from the ground looking upwards. Having never printed much I look forward to see this mini project come to completion.
awesome video as always, I've kinda tried both of the approaches and failed miserably and I think that my problem has been and still is that I pretty much can't stand the photos for many reasons. Maybe i just simply can't take good photos or "I am my own biggest critic", i suspect its the former lol. I don't think that i have habit of quitting things in general. maybe i don't prioritize my time on photography enough. ok I'm gonna STFU now lol, again great video👍
Great tips, having a project in mind seems like a very good idea to me, I'm rather the type who mostly hoards pictures and go though them later, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the negative part is that it might feel harder to stay motivated over the time, so I'm try to work on at least 1 project at a time, even though the pace is slow.
bro I love your perspective towards street and informative videos such as compositions, projects, etc. Also just ordered Sightwalks. Maybe do a video on other books you recommend.
Howard, thank you for the complement! I'm happy to be able to inform passionate photographers. Sightwalk is one of my favs. Will consider shoving some of my other favs in everyone's life soon :)
Such an elemental subject but one that photographers (especially those just dipping their toes into the craft) might not have the tools to recognize. I'm sure it was helpful to many. One thing you did touch on but I think crucial is attachment to the subject. It seems to me that Soth and Pinhassov seemed to be emotionally attached to the subject matter. Haas' book seemed like a reason to publish a book. For years I was a director of photography for magazines (before I quit to become a full-time photographer) and there would be subjects that would percolate up into the community and everyone would jump on that bandwagon and create a portfolio. The one I so clearly remember was in the late 90s it seemed EVERYONE went to Cuba to shoot. Very few of the portfolios on Cuba struck me at the time as being a personal vision. It was a good lesson for me too so that when I quit my full time job and would think of a project I made sure it was something I was passionate about so I could sustain my interest in the story and create enough of a body of work to be able to edit right down to the (often) very few strong images. My first project was NYC Chinatown because I had just moved into a crappy loft there and was able to see things and go back and shoot or meet people and set up time for a portrait. Still one of my faves. Keep up the interesting posts!
Thank you so much for this insight. Valuable words here, and I'm happy you tolerated my video... Emotional attachment is an interesting subject. Although I understand being attached to a project is perhaps good for the outcome of storytelling, personally I'm very dry and it's hard to feel attached to a specific location. Tbh most of my photos are purely from the interest of photography, and I resonate more with Haas in that sense. At the same time, this I feel helps me to prevent something like the "Cuba tragedy" you mentioned. If it's the same photos as the others took, it's not interesting to me either. Hope to someday be as eloquent and immersed as Soth.
My personal work, mostly street photography, consists of over 15,000 images. I've selected 1350 images as keepers, and from them I'm aiming to extract 25 B&W and 10 color photos to generate a zine. I have 250 images printed out so I can edit and select with a better view of the flow so I can narrow down to only 35 images. Working on that for the past 6 months.
Good food for thought there. Maybe a video to follow this could offer ideas in how to share these projects with the world? I feel Instagram lacks the ability to share a project in the way I would want to share it with the viewers with its endless scrolling mechanism. I am taking pictures of Busan (South Korea) and one day would like to put them together in a project to share with the world, but I can't visualise what that will look like yet. Hoping for some clarity that may come with time.
I am a beginner in B&W analogue but feel this urge: quote "Do something that matters with your photos" - Frederik Trovateten (TH-camr). Have also just read the life of photographer Dorothea Lange - photography to raise the social conscience. Have to get better at the craft first.
Not too sure about what you're getting at, but if you don't know my work or videos (not that you need/have to), everything is about getting better at the art of it, at least to me. I strongly urge anyone to make any body of work, only if they feel ready (including myself)
Hi, thanks for your efforts. Could you please advise why you need to decide on a camera and lens in Approach 1?? but you make no mention of this in Approach 2?? Surely it is possible/advisacle to use various focal lengths for most if not all Projects?? Thanks Jim
This is a good question. Sorry, it's hard to over everything in a video... (I try!) The big factor here is consistency. It's easier to achieve this with one focal length and camera. Because the 1st approach is more planned, you can get think ahead of the gear you're using. But in reality, for most people at least, gear is constantly changing. When you're trying to compile photos with a similar aesthetic for projects, this difference in gear makes the editing / selection process harder and harder.
@@UlyssesAokiPhoto Thanks for your feedback. I can see that using one focal length would provide consistency, but surely the consistency in your example was the rivier? Wouldnt you maybe want to use a wide angle lens to get a vista of the river and then maybe a portrait lens to document the people of the river? Im sorry, maybe Im missing something, but once you have a subject that is where the consistency is. The focal length is not imprortant?? Thanks Jim
I'm trying to guide people as simply as possible by merely providing frameworks of thinking. Of course in reality, you can use whatever you want, and people wisely choose gear for those options (environmental, portrait, etc.). Just to provide some food for thought, in your example, well, what is the purpose of taking a wide, landscape shot of a river? Wouldn't it be enough just by having it in the background of a slightly environmental portrait? Not sure about Alec Soth's gear, but he wasn't shooting rivers. He was shooting life around the river... Suddenly having a magnificent landscape shot of the river, can change the flow too much. (again, just a reference point, I forgot whether or not he does that in his book) Subject matter itself is honestly hard to keep a story together... I mentioned that as an example, but something general will end up telling a scattered story. ("river") being one of them. Sticking to certain lens choices can help guide you, and tell a smoother story.
Interesting video......I usually have a few subjects in mind when I'm out shooting...abstracts, silhouettes, reflections whatever I've gone out to photograph so these give me a mind set to look out for these things...... Great first shirt, love it!...
you better make that "not intro" as the REAL INTRO XD
also great topic and discussion thank you
I liked those example photography books as types of projects. One my personal favorites is Naoya Hatakeyama's, Excavating the Future City. I like how it combines the stillness of city-scapes with kinetic acts of preparing the land. That approach uses a central question of what it means to live in the spaces which we occupy and that lingers in the back of the mind while looking at the photographs.
I discovered your channel tonight, watched a couple of videos, and I really like what you're doing here! Especially that you brung books to explain your thoughts. That's really inspiring, thank you!
I am hooked to your street photography related videos...i have watched almost 6 videos today only . i love your understanding and approach to the art of photography .Thank you again for your videos. These are really motivational .
I really enjoy your channel and value your opinions. The choice of themes like in this video is gold, gives inspiration to try something new. Also you keep the videos short, and they feel planned, because you hold a red line, while still keeping the mood relaxed.
Dont worry about top view cameras etc, or if you forgot something. Know that there are people here who are thankful that you share your experience and opinions through these videos.
Oh and i liked your photos in this video. Especially the first one with the light on the floor, and the one with the curtain.
thank you very much! I try to keep the vids informative and dense, I personally don't like watching random vlog bits of ppl talking off-topic on vids.😂 Shouldn't be saying this.
Glad to know I'm helping...
Your latest videos have all been really great, I really enjoy the Format and editing and you've come a long way! Keep it up man :)
thanks Steven! Will try to keep going...
Thanks for the tips. Been shooting without much of a focus lately, this should help!
nice intro, bro.
effortless
@@UlyssesAokiPhoto 😂😂
some really interesting food for thought.
Really love the project approach. Great Video Ulysses 👍
Just started my first intentional project yesterday after months of getting things sorted. Thank you for this video! It was a nice refresher on some points to think about and keep in mind
Happy that it helped! Hope the project turns out well
Great post Ulysses.
Live in a row of small red brick Terrace houses that backs onto another row of similar Terrace houses so they have a relatively small Alleyway between them with 3 large black metal Council gates at the Top and bottom of a T shaped Alleyway.
In this Period of Lockdown i gave myself the task to photograph anything of interest within the area of the Alleyway gates. (Anything to stop the 4 walls closing in! lol....)
The weather has been superb with some strong sunshine so got some good shots of wild flowers, dandelions, metal anti intruder spikes/broken glass bottles of differing colour cemented along the top of walls, overgrown weeds climbing over and out of cracks in the brickwork, TV aerials on chimney stacks, opposing house shadows, details of brickwork and differing doors, rusting metal fences, telegraph poles and lines with birds in flight, discarded broken toys/rubbish bins, etc...
Some quite mundane things in general, but there's beauty in everything if seen through the right lens with the right play of shadow and light.
Individually each photo doesn't really say much but as a small body of work over a few weeks combined together they do work. There's around 20 'keepers' with probably one excellent stand alone photo I think headlines the collection.
Am wanting to start printing more of my work rather than just viewing them on a computer screen so am thinking of creating a small 20 page photo booklet to remember this time of Lockdown by using the photos captured.
*LOCKDOWN 2020* will be the title printed on a blue sky above a photo of one of the black imposing alleyway gates taken from the ground looking upwards.
Having never printed much I look forward to see this mini project come to completion.
Printing them and arranging them, taking a look at these images daily, these are things that are great for the editing process. Great stuff 👏🏼
Very inspirational video ! I'm looking forward to more pov on street photography! Thank you Sir
Good advice. It's actually advice you can apply to different projects outside photography as well. Outlines and storyboards of life haha
awesome video as always, I've kinda tried both of the approaches and failed miserably and I think that my problem has been and still is that I pretty much can't stand the photos for many reasons. Maybe i just simply can't take good photos or "I am my own biggest critic", i suspect its the former lol. I don't think that i have habit of quitting things in general. maybe i don't prioritize my time on photography enough. ok I'm gonna STFU now lol, again great video👍
Great tips, having a project in mind seems like a very good idea to me, I'm rather the type who mostly hoards pictures and go though them later, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the negative part is that it might feel harder to stay motivated over the time, so I'm try to work on at least 1 project at a time, even though the pace is slow.
Great!!!
Very insightful video. I am currently working on a few projects. My hometown, Covid 19, and portraits I've created over the last 20 years.
bro I love your perspective towards street and informative videos such as compositions, projects, etc. Also just ordered Sightwalks. Maybe do a video on other books you recommend.
Howard, thank you for the complement! I'm happy to be able to inform passionate photographers. Sightwalk is one of my favs. Will consider shoving some of my other favs in everyone's life soon :)
Wow thanks for this video. It really helped my thoughts on how I should be creating my zine based on an important theme. 🤘
working on a zine?😊
Ulysses Aoki I am planning to!
Man, it’s like you’re reading my mind. Great content and great advice!
Thanks Ozzy!
Thank you for this Video and great ideas and help!
That intro was sick 👌
hahaha thanks!!
Such an elemental subject but one that photographers (especially those just dipping their toes into the craft) might not have the tools to recognize. I'm sure it was helpful to many. One thing you did touch on but I think crucial is attachment to the subject. It seems to me that Soth and Pinhassov seemed to be emotionally attached to the subject matter. Haas' book seemed like a reason to publish a book. For years I was a director of photography for magazines (before I quit to become a full-time photographer) and there would be subjects that would percolate up into the community and everyone would jump on that bandwagon and create a portfolio. The one I so clearly remember was in the late 90s it seemed EVERYONE went to Cuba to shoot. Very few of the portfolios on Cuba struck me at the time as being a personal vision. It was a good lesson for me too so that when I quit my full time job and would think of a project I made sure it was something I was passionate about so I could sustain my interest in the story and create enough of a body of work to be able to edit right down to the (often) very few strong images. My first project was NYC Chinatown because I had just moved into a crappy loft there and was able to see things and go back and shoot or meet people and set up time for a portrait. Still one of my faves. Keep up the interesting posts!
Thank you so much for this insight. Valuable words here, and I'm happy you tolerated my video...
Emotional attachment is an interesting subject. Although I understand being attached to a project is perhaps good for the outcome of storytelling, personally I'm very dry and it's hard to feel attached to a specific location. Tbh most of my photos are purely from the interest of photography, and I resonate more with Haas in that sense. At the same time, this I feel helps me to prevent something like the "Cuba tragedy" you mentioned. If it's the same photos as the others took, it's not interesting to me either.
Hope to someday be as eloquent and immersed as Soth.
My personal work, mostly street photography, consists of over 15,000 images. I've selected 1350 images as keepers, and from them I'm aiming to extract 25 B&W and 10 color photos to generate a zine. I have 250 images printed out so I can edit and select with a better view of the flow so I can narrow down to only 35 images. Working on that for the past 6 months.
Good food for thought there. Maybe a video to follow this could offer ideas in how to share these projects with the world? I feel Instagram lacks the ability to share a project in the way I would want to share it with the viewers with its endless scrolling mechanism. I am taking pictures of Busan (South Korea) and one day would like to put them together in a project to share with the world, but I can't visualise what that will look like yet. Hoping for some clarity that may come with time.
loved the intro
I am a beginner in B&W analogue but feel this urge: quote "Do something that matters with your photos" - Frederik Trovateten (TH-camr). Have also just read the life of photographer Dorothea Lange - photography to raise the social conscience. Have to get better at the craft first.
Not too sure about what you're getting at, but if you don't know my work or videos (not that you need/have to), everything is about getting better at the art of it, at least to me. I strongly urge anyone to make any body of work, only if they feel ready (including myself)
Hi, thanks for your efforts. Could you please advise why you need to decide on a camera and lens in Approach 1?? but you make no mention of this in Approach 2?? Surely it is possible/advisacle to use various focal lengths for most if not all Projects?? Thanks Jim
This is a good question. Sorry, it's hard to over everything in a video... (I try!)
The big factor here is consistency. It's easier to achieve this with one focal length and camera. Because the 1st approach is more planned, you can get think ahead of the gear you're using.
But in reality, for most people at least, gear is constantly changing. When you're trying to compile photos with a similar aesthetic for projects, this difference in gear makes the editing / selection process harder and harder.
@@UlyssesAokiPhoto Thanks for your feedback. I can see that using one focal length would provide consistency, but surely the consistency in your example was the rivier? Wouldnt you maybe want to use a wide angle lens to get a vista of the river and then maybe a portrait lens to document the people of the river? Im sorry, maybe Im missing something, but once you have a subject that is where the consistency is. The focal length is not imprortant?? Thanks Jim
I'm trying to guide people as simply as possible by merely providing frameworks of thinking. Of course in reality, you can use whatever you want, and people wisely choose gear for those options (environmental, portrait, etc.).
Just to provide some food for thought, in your example, well, what is the purpose of taking a wide, landscape shot of a river? Wouldn't it be enough just by having it in the background of a slightly environmental portrait?
Not sure about Alec Soth's gear, but he wasn't shooting rivers. He was shooting life around the river... Suddenly having a magnificent landscape shot of the river, can change the flow too much. (again, just a reference point, I forgot whether or not he does that in his book)
Subject matter itself is honestly hard to keep a story together... I mentioned that as an example, but something general will end up telling a scattered story. ("river") being one of them. Sticking to certain lens choices can help guide you, and tell a smoother story.
Fair enough.
Interesting video......I usually have a few subjects in mind when I'm out shooting...abstracts, silhouettes, reflections whatever I've gone out to photograph so these give me a mind set to look out for these things...... Great first shirt, love it!...
Ooh ooh!! Can I design an intro???
Dang, if you're up for it I'd be interested!
🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽