why photography and what does it all mean?

January 21, 2025

This might just be the most representative blog post of the inner workings of my brain that I have yet attempted. So this might either be horrifying or insightful. Maybe it’s interesting too, but let’s not get too hopeful about that. Perhaps it’ll just be me wittering on, boring people until the end with nothing new or revelatory throughout.

I have a tendency to overthink and over-reflect. I know, you wouldn’t think it from that first paragraph, would you? But, well, yes. A constant refrain amongst friends is that perhaps I am overthinking things. From relationships to my own words and deeds, nothing escapes my propensity to analyse over and over, spiralling away as I assess every permutation of every single thing I say or do.

It’s not for nothing, I guess, that I studied literature and history at university. What better for someone who over-analyses than to do a course that is rooted in analysis of words and actions. Perfect. Although perhaps it’s done nothing but heightened my desire to analyse everything, resulting in more reflecting and less doing or, even worse, living.

And so, to photography. From time to time, over-analysis seeps into my photography, and particularly at the moment. Certain questions have stuck in my head over the course of the past week or so, such that whether I’m out with my camera, editing in Lightroom or even just watching the tv or walking to work, they swim around my head, struggling for answers.

As always, after nearly twenty years of blogging, the solution seemed obvious: get it typed out, hit publish, and maybe that will help get it out of my system and, equally, see where others are and, hopefully, doing so will either reassure me this is something others do, or will encourage me to stop worrying and carry on (print that on a tote bag). So here we are. Let’s see…

why do i photograph?

This is a question I struggle with. Why do I do it? Not only why do I do it, but why do I share my photography on social media? The answer to both of these questions is: I don’t know. I know I’ve messed around with cameras for a long time. As a kid I remember picking up and old Kodak camera and being into playing around with it and trying to get decent shots out of it. But why did I pick it up? What was it about photography that captured my interest? I have absolutely no idea. I couldn’t even offer up a philosophical explanation that sounds good on the surface, but is ultimately meaningless. I simply do not know.

I certainly couldn’t explain why I do it now. I could say it’s an excuse to go out, to wander around and get some fresh air, or even to help with my mental health, but whilst they may be part of the reason I do it, they do not fully explain why I charge up batteries, pack a camera bag and head out to take photos. I suppose I must enjoy the process. If I didn’t then I would surely stop immediately and never go out again.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve never had the skills or patience when it comes to art. I’ve always wanted to be able to create, to draw and to communicate through art, I’ve just lacked the skills and the patience. I’d be loathe to say photography is easier, there is a still so much to learn after all. But I feel like I can get something now. Maybe my hit rate is a couple a year, but it’s a hit rate I have never come close to with drawing. Perhaps it fulfils that creative drive in a way that I have failed to find through other mediums. Perhaps it’s that?

Either way, all of this leads to another question…

what is the purpose of my photography?

This has also been bothering me for a while: what am I trying to communicate with my photography? Is there something I am trying to communicate? Should there be something I am trying to communicate?

I think I know what I like when it comes to street photography. I like something a bit abstract. Something that needs a bit of working out. Something that obscures the full human form, that hides the face, makes the human more mysterious. Whether that be playing with focus or condensation on windows, there’s something about reducing the human to an outline, to obscure. Light. I also like light. Interesting illuminations of scenes that create interesting shadows. Those are the kinds of scences I seem to be drawn to, increasingly gauging by my Instagram feed. This was perhaps one of my main takeaways from Berlin given the laws around photography there.

So that’s what I like, but what am I trying to communicate with these images? Is it anonymity in a world of surveillance and cameras on every street (fixed or mobile) that I am trying to convey? Is it just the character of the streets and the city with the people incidental to it - conveying the reality of twenty-first century living and its imperfections? Imperfection in a world of geometric glass and steel, all clean lines and considered planning rather than the organic, messy nature of the real world? Does it even matter if there is a message? Is it enough to just share images without concerning oneself with the message?

Back in the 90s, I remember Kurt Cobain (I was and remain a huge fan) being asked time and again about his lyrics and what they meant. Every time the questions were brushed away with a line about them just being scraps of poetry and things he’d written pulled together to make a song. There was no real meaning. Like all the best postmodernists, there was no wish to project a fixed and definitive meaning about the art, it was down to the interpretation of the person consuming it. Perhaps the meaning in my work should be left to others, not for me to puzzle over to the extent it impedes my own work.

In the late 90s and early 2000s I decided to start work on a novel. I had long harboured ambitions of writing one, and with my career going nowhere, and life hitting a dead end, it felt like I should fulfil that dream. In 2025, it should be clear to everyone that I am not the renowed author of postmodern fiction that I had imagined I would be. A devastating realisation for myself, of course, particularly as I rapidly approach 50. But the reason for my failings should perhaps serve as a stark reminder. Why did I fail? Because I wrote three to four pages of postmodern stream of conscious prose…and then got bogged down in over-analysing what I had written and getting no further with it. Sometimes, perhaps, the analysis is for others. For oneself, the focus should be on creation. Let others wrangle over what it means.

Fringe and Ginge, Canterbury

January 6, 2025

Fringe+Ginge is one of my favourite cafes in the city. Well, in truth, it’s pretty much the only cafe I go to in the city…because I don’t really drink coffee so I’m really not down with the whole coffee culture thing. A good cup of tea is all the caffeine hit I need. But it’s not just the tea and chilled vibe (famously, no laptops and stressed people trying to work!) that draws me in, the windows also do it for me…especially at this time of year when it’s cold outside and nice and cosy inside.

In truth, I started taking pictures of the cafe long before I started going in and spending my money. After a while, I felt a bit guilty just using it as a photo location and figured I should actually go in and spend some money there too. And I’m glad I did, Alfie and Olivia (the owners) have made this an essential place to stop off and grab a tea, a pastry or a toasted sandwich. And both have been really cool about me taking photos in and around the cafe, which is also a big plus.

And for a small spot, there’s plenty of photo opportunities, again, especially at this time of year with the condensation on the large windows at the front and side of the building. I was even thinking recently that you could even make a really niche zine out of the interior and exterior of the cafe, but that’s probably a challenge too far for me at the moment. Something to consider in the future though maybe.

Anyway, I thought I’d pull together a number of recent photos taken inside and outside the cafe. It’s amazing what you can get in one, small location if the conditions are right and you are patient (which isn’t always the case with me).

**Soho and Chinatown**

25th February 2023

Street Photography In Soho And Chinatown

March 1, 2023

Ever since my last trip to London at the tail end of last year, I’ve been desperate to go back up and do some nighttime street shooting. I’ve been finding myself drawn more and more to this type of photography, but so often I am out and about wandering around the same few streets, shooting in roughly the same places time and time again. It’s fine doing that, there’s always a new composition that draws the eye, or a change in an old one, but after a while you do long for something…different. And so a trip to London on a February evening was the change I needed. It was also an opportunity to give my new Peak Design backpack a proper test run. Since I bought it, it has certainly ticked one box (being convenient for packing camera gear for our flight to Spain), but I’d not really tested it out properly for a whole day out. And with future overseas trips currently being mulled over (although I am still 50/50 on one plan I’ve been mulling), I wanted to put it through its paces.

So I made a plan a few weeks ago to head up on the 25th February. No particular reason (other than it being after payday), but I did want to get up there before the nights got shorter and the days longer. Nightfall at around 5/6pm seems perfect for a quick trip up and getting home at a reasonable hour. I also knew exactly where to head…Soho and Chinatown - with neon lights and interesting windows aplenty.

I planned the day carefully, with the first priority being to catch a train with 12 coaches rather than 6 (six gets way too crowded and I’m still conscious of distancing). Luckily, the first 12 coach train got me to London at a decent time ahead of sunset. Unfortunately, I also discovered that the service was finishing earlier than normal that evening, meaning I had to catch a 2207 train home. Worse still, the train got me to London the same time as the West Ham game ended (I made a schoolboy error forgetting to check the fixtures), leading to a fair amoung of (ergh) West Ham fans heading to the tube station at the exact time I arrived. Ah well, so much for careful planning. At least I wasn’t wearing anything indicating I am a Spurs fan…

Upon arrival at Stratford I headed to the tube stations and jumped on the Elizabeth Line to Tottenham Court Road and made my way along Shaftesbury Avenue towards Wardour Street, a place I’ve been to before (I was originally heading here alone so wanted to make sure I stayed in an area I was familiar with) and knew of a few decent opportunities to capture some interesting shots of the city at night. Of course, it being a Saturday, it was absolutely rammed, which made it quite difficult to isolate people and (as London often can be) it was a bit overwhelming at first. However, once I started to slow down and look around me, opportunities started to present themselves. One of the first places that really stood out was an amazing cake shop called L’ETO that seemed designed for passing photographers with it’s big windows and fantastic, very tempting display of cakes. Needless to say, I spent quite a long time there shooting people mulling over the cakes (although sadly I did not buy any cakes).

Up until this point, however, I hadn’t really spotted many of the shots that I like to go for in the evening. I’m always drawn to the more abstract shots, silhouettes, condensation, anything that lends itself to photos that aren’t just standard captures of people on the streets. I wasn’t having much luck on Wardour Street at this time (it was around 6:30pm at this stage, so still quite early). So after a bit more of a scout around Wardour Street, I headed back down to meet a friend and on into Chinatown to see what I could find.

Needless to say, Chinatown was heaving. So, again, it was quite tricky to find interesting shots with simple or interesting compositions. Gradually, as the evening wore on, those opportunities did start to present themselves and I was able to take advantage of the condensation building up on the windows as the temperature outside dropped and the temperature inside rose. It was still tricky to find shots that I was really pleased with, but I at least came away with one or two shots that were something close to what I was hoping to capture.

It wasn’t just finding the compositions I was having difficulty with though. It was also proving difficult to handle some of the lights in the windows. I seemed to frequently get the problem of strobing across the image with certain lights in bar/restaurant/shop windows. Often times fiddling around with the shutter speed seems to do the job (I normally shoot at f1.4, 1/250 or 1/125 with around -1 to -2 expo comp), but I don’t often like to touch that as below a certain level I run the risk of not capturing sharp images due to the movement of the subjects. Nonetheless, it is a bit of a drag when I think I’ve got a shot only to find black bars running across the image.

Whilst I am drawn to photos of people behind windows covered in condensation or silhouettes, this also presents its own problems. It’s not always easy to nail focus, particularly shooting at f1.4. The autofocus doesn’t really get on well because it’ll try to focus on the window and the condensation itself, which I don’t always want. Sometimes it’s perfect because I’m not fussed about the people behind the glass being in focus, it’s that which can make the shot. But sometimes I do want to get the figure behind the glass in focus, it all really depends on the subject. And I guess that’s the thing, if I often don’t know which I want to focus on, how on earth would the autofocus? So those times where I do want to focus on the figures behind the glass, I have to switch to manually focusing on the subject. Which then takes time and I can sometimes lose the shot whilst I’m fiddling with the focus ring. But still, you have to accept not every photo will come out perfect and you just need to “focus” on the ones that were successful and try to learn from them.

After a good walk around Chinatown and some very tasty bao at Bun House, we headed back towards Wardour Street for one last look before making our way back to St Pancras via a couple of bars en route. At this point I hadn’t felt I’d really got much I was truly happy with. I put that largely down to the crowds. Of course, in such a busy area of the city on a Saturday evening, there is always going to be a lot of people around and it can be difficult to spot opportunities amongst the noise and the hustle and bustle. I’ve gotten used to shooting at night in Canterbury where, even on a busy night, you have some time and space to look for shots. Nevertheless, it’s all about the challenge and the change in scenery and overall I was feeling that it was a good opportunity to challenge myself a bit and try to get some shots.

Just as I was mulling over my evening as I headed back to St Pancras, I looked across the road and saw one of those opportunities I’m so often drawn to. A pub, with misted up windows and lots of bright lights inside. Checking my watch and the train time, I had about five minutes spare…so we dashed across the road and I set about working as quickly as I could to get some shots of the silhouettes in the bar. At first, nothing special…then, as if they knew I was waiting for it, someone got up close to the window and BAM! I got the shot. Happy with this forutuitous spot on the way to the station, I hurried my way through St Pancras and onto the train. Even the disco in my carriage and the person smoking across the aisle (on the train!) couldn’t dent my mood. Maybe there were no bangers, but I got myself out into a different environment and got myself some shots. And the backpack did an exceptional job too. I guess I need to start planning for that overseas trip…

Silhouettes of people behind a window covered in condensation. — 33mm, f1.4, 1/250, ISO640

Anyway, gallery below…do let me know what you think!

ian

(Header image c/o Andrew Preater.)

Street Photography At Night

November 2, 2022

Ok, it has taken an embarassingly long time to sit down and write another blog post, let alone this blog post. Let’s just say a lot has happened since my last post. The main thing is, I’m writing a blog post. I really should do this more often…not least because more regular writing might mean I cut the waffle. Anyway…

I’m sure I’m no different to virtually all landscape photographers in finding landscape photography in the summer a bit of a chore. Sunrise is too early, sunset is too late, the middle of the day is just harsh light and blue skies (how awful). It’s a challenge, and not in a skill-enhancing way. It is because of this that I’m glad I have dabbled in street photography over the years, as the conditions that aren’t great for landscape photography, make for great conditions on the streets.

I’m still learning a lot about what makes a good street photo, but I’ve enjoyed getting out and about and learning more about a quite different way of shooting. Whereas I often find landscape photography to be quite tranquil and often (although not always!!) a relatively sedate process, street photography forces me to think quicker, to spot opportunities and to pay close attention to details. I feel like, as a result, my street photography and landscape photography have helped each other.

I’m still yet to really figure out my “style”, but the one thing I’ve really enjoyed lately is shooting on the streets at night. And fortunately, given we are in October, there’s loads of opportunities ahead! So much have I enjoyed this, I even treated myself to the 33mm f1.4 Fuji lens back at the beginning of the summer and I haven’t regretted it one bit. The things I’ve particularly enjoyed in the evenings is making use of the street lights and, most especially, the condensation on restaurant/cafe windows. As someone who feels a little uncomfortable taking photos of people, having them obscured slightly not only makes my life easier, but also makes the photos more interesting. And then when you have rain and interesting lights to play with…well, that’s the cherry on the cake.

Of course, shooting at night isn’t quite as straightforward as during the day. During the day, I’d happily put headphones on and wander around. At night I’m of course needing to be hyper-conscious of what’s going on around me, whether I’m shooting locally or in a major city. I’d prefer wherever possible to shoot with others in the evening, but if that’s not possible then I’ll still go out but just ensure I’m extra vigilant and avoid any places where there are few people around.

In terms of my settings, I stick to around f1.4 (obviously) and try not to drop below 1/250th unless I’m shooting something static. I set my ISO to a maximum of 3200 and then leave the ISO decisions up to the camera. My priorities are that I keep to f1.4 and 1/250th for the kind of shots I’m looking for to keep the ISO low and the pictures free from motion blur. To cap off the settings, I go for exposure compensation of anything between -1 to -2 to protect the highlights. These settings largely work well for me, although I do sometimes encounter some strobing outside some shopfronts, which I think is largely due to the shutter speed and the LED lighting. Other than that, I tend to find those settings do the job.

With the nights drawing in and more low light conditions to work with (and obviously this time of year is pretty intense with lights up everywhere), I’m looking forward to getting out more often with that 1.4 lens and learning more about street photography at night.