Ricoh GRIII: In Love

There are many things I have been shooting recently - exciting projects and encounters, some challenging, some filling my heart with the joy of doing what I love the most. I am grateful to all the people who pay me to do this job and to all my friends who listen to me rambling for hours about photography, especially when things don’t go quite as I would want to.

But nothing compares to the excitement of shooting street again. Street photography is my first love, and it is a pity I have been neglecting it for a long while. I have still taken street shots with my phone but not consciously, not with an idea in mind - just as I was moving from one location to the other. A selection of my mobile phone street photography is here: Our Streets

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Armed with a new small and compact camera (Ricoh GRIII) that I still learn how to use as it is such a different experience from my heavy D5, I did a test street photo session yesterday, and let me tell you: summer has never looked so good!

Can’t wait to share more and start working seriously on street photo projects!

Feel free to follow me on Instagram at VoidIsTheNewBlack for more!

The Puzzle Maker

The city is a puzzle and we are its constantly moving pieces; new and old buildings compete with each other for shadows on the pavement, and we let ourselves being caught in this, forgetting to lift our eyes up - where the magic happens.  

But the sky is still out there as well as the human spirit which rides the bikes and honks the horns, and listens to loud music on the earphones - beautified and brutalised, our spirit wanders and learns, carried around by inner mechanisms we are yet to fully discover. 

We want nothing.

We follow the light.

In fact, the light follows us; we are seduced by the way in which it plays with our senses, how it invites and lingers, how it allows us to be ourselves, to shine, to squint, to move slowly, to reveal. 

We have no impatience.

The bridge, the steps, the dust, the length of the embarkment, the walls, the windows, the arcade, the bins, the statue, the metallic facade.

Large groups of school pupils visiting the Imperial War Museum, covering with their happy voices the sound of machine guns. 

Inside is not safe. Security checks. Property. 

So I bend and kneel, and let her rule the city. She is my goddess, I say, but in truth, She is the Puzzle Maker, the missing piece that helps me put everything together in the madness and beauty that the city is.

She punctuates the rapid movement of clouds and cuts up the time. 

When She is sure the fire burns between the worlds, She stands over the city, raises Her arms over it, and fills it with light. 

Look out through my eyes, look out at the things you've made. All things shining.

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Model: Georgia Owen (https://teandtwosugars.blogspot.com)

Online Dating Photography: Dr Robert D. in Castlefield, Manchester

I somehow managed to get a cold at the end of September. Nothing major but still unpleasant when one needs to be outdoors and shoot creatively. Not nice to be coughing, sweating and feverish when meeting a client. But somehow I forget about everything when shooting, so, in truth, the cold wasn’t that much in the way. 

Robert told me beforehand he is never comfortable when having his picture taken and that he generally avoids being photographed. We were a bit unsure about the weather but eventually decided on a less ‘risky’ day (which means ‘no rain’ in Manchester), and tried our best. 

As I did with clients before, I asked Robert to tell me a few things about himself, to have an idea about who I was going to meet, and to see in what way I can portray that in my photos. It is not an easy task and might seem totally irrelevant (after all, as a photographer, you only have to press the shutter and think technically and compositionally) but I still believe that a certain mood can be created if you know more about your subject, and these infos are important not only for me as a photographer, but also for my clients: they feel they are not only “bodies and facial expressions” but also personalities, character, stories.

And this is what I try to reveal in all my portraits sessions. 

Left: Photos that Robert sent me before our shoot  Right: Two photos from our session

Robert is a Doctor who works with the Accidents and Emergency department; he recently moved to Manchester; he tells me he loves electronic music. I love electronic music, too, but somehow didn’t find any inspiration to talk about it, probably considering that the subject is so vast!

So we focused on ... shooting. The light wasn’t bad but not great either.

Eventually, I decided for an ‘autumnal’ look in the final edit. 

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I always like to check with the clients during the shoot. Their comments are extremely helpful on the spot, and they make a huge difference in the result. Robert wanted more head shots, so I focused on that as well - trying different things, and aiming at highlighting different sides of his personality.

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Although it was predominantly a dull day, at times the sun was a bit too harsh (sometimes you have no other choice but shooting in the middle of the day), so I tried to use that to our advantage . Robert proved to be extremely patient and trusting my decisions which made everything easier. But I knew I shouldn’t take anything for granted and moved quickly nonetheless. I was particularly happy with the photos around the bridges in Castlefield where I could use the background to integrate with the portraits and to add a bit more dynamic and interest to them. 

“I don’t want for the photos to look as if you took them”, Robert said, and I knew exactly what it meant: more natural poses, as if taken by a friend, on a regular day out. So we went to have a coffee on a terrace nearby. I enjoyed seeing Robert relaxing, I tried to stop shooting (especially because the light became completely dull) but I couldn’t really, so I took a few more with the coffee or relaxing on the bench. 

And that is also when I got Robert’s smile. He said he hates to see himself smiling in photos, and I thought that’s because he hasn’t seen a good photo of him smiling. I thought his smile illuminated his face and showed his kindness and open nature. As a photographer, I feel I have to respect clients’ opinions and wishes but, at the same time, to find ways and show their own beauty, as much as possible, and reflect it back at them, with confidence and good pics. 

Perhaps not today but I hope that in time Robet will grow to love this photo: 

If you wish to update your online dating profile with photos like these, get in touch at livialazaruk@gmail.com.