20155

Very often I see things which make me think, laugh or wonder. Sometimes I'm not sure, if someone else would see or interpret a photograph in the same way as I do. My humor is pretty different, sometimes even strange. I see things or combinations on the street which tell a story or make me think. In certain cases this story is not true and not even politically correct. In such moments I'm not sure, if I can publish this photo on the Internet or not. Below there are some examples.

In my eyes political correctness is different than ethics. While political correctness is more about showing something completely not true by telling a story on the photo which is being created by the composition (foreground and background), ethics is something showing the truth and the photographer has to decide, if he has to show it or not (like the third photo below). It's more about documentation or journalism that street photography. Photos like the first two have just a matching situation with a matching ...

Last Saturday there were 130 photographers meeting at the Google offices in Zurich to join the first photo walk around Zurich. THe walk was organized by myself, but sponsored by Google & Panoramio. It was amazing, how many people were there and how many familiar faces I have seen. There were also some virtual faces there, I have seen for the first time.

After a coffe and an introduction we went out to the streets of Zurich. There were three themes defined where everyone could upload one of the taken photos on Panoramio:

Street Life

http://www.panoramio.com/group/70717

City Scape

http://www.panoramio.com/group/77512

Motion

http://www.panoramio.com/group/77513

After the walk we met at a restaurant for drinks, snack and small talk. The weather was perfect and everyone was happy.

There was one winner per theme nominated by David Castro, Gerard Sanz and myself. Here are the links to the winner photos:

Street Life

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/70731630 (by Ian Arridge)

City Scape

ht ...

When I look back to 3 years of street photography I can say that there are better and worse places to shoot. For me it's always good, when there are a lot of people in the same place. That these people are changing fast and the you see all kind of people. It should be a place where you can shoot during the whole day from early morning to late evening. For me it would be nice, if it would be covered with a roof that you can also shoot when it rains. Another requirement would be the presences of a lot of tourists that you can use your camera without any fear. Maybe there are other requirements you might can think of, but I'm sure they will be covered by this place as well.

There is only one place which fulfills all these "requirements". It's called railway station and I always loved to be there. You can see it on my top shots. There are a lot of photos taken in, out or around trains or railway stations. I'm not sure, if all of you have realized that. But for me it was clear from the beg ...

...there are things you may not believe or you don't think that they will ever happen one day. I'm in Riga right now and two days ago, my friend Frank Knaack who is with me, send me this link asking if I knew this guy:

http://500px.com/photo/6357565

I saw me, Frank and Anja on one photo. I was wondering who took the shot as it's normal that someone makes a making of. But we were just the three of us. So there was a guy taking a photo of myself and I did not realized it. I was busy shooting the musician and did not look to the left. I was amazed and astonished at the same time. There is a guy who shot me in the streets without being noticed. My respect for this guy. By the way, the name of the guy is Aleksey Ivanov.

I immediately contacted him through 500px and asked him to meet while I'm in Riga. He didn't see my message for the next 24 hours, but then he sent me a message. So we met on Sunday just to talk, for a walk and to have something to eat. We were also at a photo exhibition ...

I often realize that the most simplified shots are the best ones. You don't have to jump into people's faces, you don't have to proud to shoot people's front. You don't even have to face them. As you can see on the next few shots, there are no eyes visible. But the most important thing that you master the composition and that a photograph still tells a story. It must be as simplified as possible, reduced to the max and showing only what is necessary.

It took my only a very short time to take these shots. Nothing to think about, nothing to try out, nothing to be afraid of. I just saw it, composed it and shot it. That's all. Often I'm not sure, if it's talent or technology. But I think when you master composition, you cannot got wrong. This is what most photographers lack, they cannot compose. For me a good, but simple composition is a the Worlds most normal thing. The rule of third converted into a practical photograph. Theory made practical in a fraction of a second.

Everyone can ma ...