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Robert Frank Gabriel

9 Years Ago

Has Time And Circumstance Changed Your Approach To Your Creativity?

In the old days, using a telephoto lens for candid urban images of people would have been nothing short of a sacrilege. Back then HC Bresson used a 50mm lens and even today some 50 years later he is considered the master of this candid style.

I am by inclination a fairly conservative person when it comes to photography and so I too followed the leaders for urban images and used either a 35mm or 50mm lens.

Times change. Gays now can get married, pot is legal in more and more States, and lo and behold the use of telephoto lenses for urban images is now just another lens to use.

What a blessing for me in my dotage! Why? Because it has become harder and harder for me to walk for more than an hour, and just about impossible to defend myself.

Not only do I use a telephoto lens for urban images but for many of my candid shots I am in my car traveling down the streets (I pull over and park or I am stopped at a light. I don’t use my camera while my car is moving unless my wife is driving).

Even with that I am NOT a trend setter. Winogrand did it. Friedlander did it, and David Bradford (artist/cab driver) even had a much praised book... “Drive by Shootings: Photographs by a New York Cab Driver” published about a year ago to rave reviews.

Back to the telephone lens of choice for some of today’s urban image photographers (including me). Reasons why...

Telephoto lens...This perspective flattens pictures giving them a painting-like quality which I like.

it doesn’t matter what type of lens you are using; the important thing is to try to consciously and emotionally connect with your subject. I grew up poor, mental and running the streets of Chicago. Believe me I can relate to all sorts of humans...poor...mental...and yes even rich...I had a millionaire girlfriend for many years.

Think about it. Photojournalism and war photography come to mind — two overlapping genres where you are often forced to shoot from a distance for the sake of your own safety. (Did you know that Chicago is the murder capital of the USA with 400 to 500 murders every year.)

Times change. Circumstances change. Sometimes it’s just OK to go with the flow.
Has time and circumstance changed your approach to your creativity. It has mine!


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