the strange and unfamiliar - Part 1

What is Strangeness? A sense of otherness. The opposite of common, ordinary, familiar. Strangeness comes out of capturing human beings and the world in a different, unfamiliar light. In this article, I wanted to explore different ways I have evoked a sense of strangeness and otherness in my photography - and through this, introduce possible avenues for you to explore. I hope you will enjoy this reading, and if so, let me know in the comments!

While there are many ways to think of the strange and unfamiliar, in my next series of articles I will discuss five themes that are close to my heart:

1. Transforming the relationship between man and the city

2. Introducing shadows as a destabilizing element

3. Connecting elements to create tension and parallels

4. Windows to create distance and a sense of otherness

5. Using reflections to fully transform the reality

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1. Transforming the relationship between man and the city

The human-city relationship is an important theme in my photography and can generate a variety of emotions and feelings, depending on the situation. In some instances, transforming this relationship can lead to not regonising the world around us - and creates a sense of unfamiliarity, of otherness and inherent tension. There is the tale of the overshadowing city, making us feel small and almost negligeable in the middle of it. Combined with lower or higher angles, the story and main feelings conveyed can change, from isolation in the middle of the city, to abstraction of the sense of humanity in it. Transforming the background can create completely new and strange stories, with people erupting simingly from nowhere, or from a world different than ours. And at times, city and human elements blend so much with one another that we cannot recognise where one starts, and the other ends - all of these creating situations that are strange and unfamiliar, from slightly disturbing to fully surrealist. A world that we can barely recognise - echoing the familiar while shifting in shape and in meaning.

1.1. In this first photograph, the subject is highly minimised compared to the city heights. The large negative space created by the shadows around her is equally disturbing - it seems to reshape the space around her and create an unfamiliar, overpowering urban setting. There is a sense of strangeness and unfamiliarity in these transformed surroundings, as if we cannot recognise the city itself. As if the city was slowly closing down on our subject, threatening to remove any remaining light.

1.2 In this second photograph, the subject is shot from behind, creating a sense of distance, while his dog is facing in the other direction - as if looking wearily at its surroundings. In addition, the low angle shows them as very small compared to the mega towers in the background, creating a stronger sense of isolation within the city. The scene and angle shows an unfamiliar face of the city, while the subject remains a mystery to us, reinforcing a sense of otherness, of distance and unfamiliarity - perhaps even of threat.

1.3. I talked about this photograph before, but it felt very suiting in the context of creating strangeness. Here, at first sight, we may simply be observing the outside of a staircase, with someone exiting at the bottom. A deeper look though allows us to discover another head above, yet we are never quite sure what is human, and what is part of the staircase. There is a sense of strangeness emanating from blurring the lines between human and non-human, disturbing the normal relationship between humans and the city - which should clearly outline where one begins, and one ends.

1.4 The man in this photograph is shot from the waist, within a very strong light. Adding black and white constrasts, and we simply cannot recognise the background. Not only is he interesting and standing out as a subject, but he seems to emerge from the clouds at first sight. And indeed, light and angle can be highly transformative of the city background, up to creating a completely illusionary tale, a strange portrait of a strange man, emerging from a place we simply cannot recognise.

1.5 For this last image we shift to a different angle, this time looking from above the subject, and through what appears to be a fence. The man, there again, is highly minimised vs. the bigger city, which is an unfamiliar sight. Additionally, the lines created by the fence only reveals a partial look at the city, framing the man in a very narrow window. These lines prevent us from seeing the bigger picture, emprisoning the subject and the city in narrow frames that are coming and going from nowhere. This framing is what creates a sense of strangeness in this image that nearly appears flat, two-dimensional, distorting reality.

1.6 And finally, in this image, the role of light is powerful and transformative. We can see a woman looking sideways, her face half hidden in the shadow, with a background suddenly feeling disconnected from her. Because of the light and the strong shadows, the common London bus in the background seems to emerge from the dark, unreal and unpalpable, while our subject stands in the foreground with no apparent connection with the city behind her. This disconnect creates a very strange and unfamiliar scene, as if we were looking at two different images merging together in a surreal painting.

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Thanks for reading, and look out for Part 2 of this series: “Introducing shadows as a destabilizing element”, coming up soon.

Have a lovely day!

A frame to define Street Photography

I was recently pulled into a discussion on Facebook Messenger about what is and what is not street photography, initiated by the Street Photography Club. And I was confronted with many pictures that felt, well, not to belong to the street photography genre. 

So why does it matter, will you ask? Isn’t art in the eyes of the beholder at the end of the day? Should we feel free to express our creativity and name it however we want?

Possibly, yes. Our world is changing, evolving at every turn. It’s easy to end up saying: street photography is whatever you want it to be. In fact, anything less is probably rude and narrow minded. This is a far cry from the state of affairs when I first joined street photography groups in 2013 / 2014. In that time, street photography was defined very narrowly, led by a small group of male street photographers who wanted to set incredibly narrow guidelines - either you shot like the masters, or you could forget about it. 

So the world is changing - street photography has reached the masses, and everyone, anyone, can define street photography the way they want nowadays.

But here is the thing. For any group to identify themselves as street photographers, there must be a common definition and a common aspiration to bring us together. This common frame and understanding must be loose enough to incorporate a multitude of visions and allow us to innovate within the genre. But it must be there - as without a frame, we are a group with very little to share.

Which brings us to wonder: what is street photography? And what is not street photography?

To me, street photography is all about capturing the decisive moment - it is candid in essence, is shot in a public environment, and has people as its main subject. But really, it sounds like a set of rules with no proper reasons for it, so I will try harder. 

First of all, Street photography differs from documentary photography in its intent - the goal of documentary photography is to document the social and human condition. It focuses on real people, with real stories. It can be candid, but it doesn’t have to. On the other hand, street photography must be candid. It can be about documenting life around us, but must be understood on its own, without subtext. Its purpose can also be to create artistic pictures removed from the necessity to document the real - and being, instead, a vehicle to share a visual or emotional story that each viewer can interpret differently.

For example - the image above was captured during a dance class in Shoreditch. It could be part of a broader documentary project, about Shoredict life or about a children dance class. Yet as a single image, it speaks by itself - it needs no title, no caption, no location. In the absence of a bigger project, this image is to me street photography. I don’t care who this little girl really was, and whether she was, in fact, in a dance class or not. I leave that open to your imagination…while the window acts as a frame to remind you that I have captured a secret moment, from a totally outsider point of view, creating distance with my subject.

Secondly, street photography belongs to the public sphere, crafted by random encounters of people you will never meet. Street photography is all about serendipity. And in this sense, it cannot really happen within the private space, where images often become personal, intimate - images of people with real stories attached to the place, and of people you have a connection with. Because street photography aspires to give the illusion of random encounters, the context in your image will be important. An urban or outside context will differentiate your shot from a personal portrait or a documentary / reportage series. It will create that necessary distance between you and your subject to create that illusion of serendipity, of randomness of elements, of “decisive moment” ultimately. 

The image above with two little girls could be ambiguous. I am close enough to them to suggest that I may know them, and that this is a personal story of two real-life children. But the context in the picture - the shadows, the door on the right - is enough to cast some doubt - could it be a random encounter? Can they just happen to turn around, at the moment the picture was taken? Who are they really? And does the photographer know them, or do they just ‘happen’ to be there on a sunny day?

And finally, to make it possible, it needs to be candid. But the definition of candid doesn’t mean that the photographer must always remain invisible. Many shots show subjects at the moment of awareness, looking straight into the camera, and reacting on the spot. These types of images can be very powerful in establishing a connection between elements and the viewer, yet they shouldn’t appear to be posed or staged - they must still capture a candid moment in time, with a stranger whom you will never meet.

In this final image, one of so many I take, you can definitely see a connection established through the eye of the subject. My subject has seen me - she’s on the line of awareness, not staging or posing, but becoming aware of the camera facing her. Yet the shot is dynamic - there is no stopping for her, she keeps moving. And she doesn’t smile at me - she doesn’t acknowledge the picture and the scene. She belongs to a moment in time, on the edge of awareness, on the edge of posing, and yet forever caught in candidness.

Now, that is my definition of street photography. What is yours?

Photo-essay: A strangeness in my mind

London 2017/2018

The city that used to be mine has become unfamiliar and strange. The streets no longer murmur my name, the windows no longer recognise me when I walk past. You've left to a place where my thoughts cannot travel to; I fear being with you, I fear being alone. 

New ebook: An Exploration of Creativity

Hi everyone. I am very happy to announce that after a whole year working on this project, I have finally published my second ebook: An Exploration of Creativity - through the lens of 8 contemporary street photographers.

Street photography is an incredible challenge to our creative selves. And that's what makes it so interesting, so addictive in essence. With this book, I wanted to discover how creativity worked, and how, eventually, we come to build a strong personal vision. Using the insights and perspectives from 8 street photographers that I admire a lot, I have compiled our collective thinking on creativity and vision. I very much hope that you will find there something inspiring to keep you going with your art.

And in the meantime, I wish you a fantastic journey.

The ebook is available as a free PDF here, and also available on Issuu.

The beauty of printmaking

Photo by Werner Polwein, Germany

Dear friends, 

Until an image is seen as a print, it isn't really an image. So this is why, at the beginning of the year, I set up a new print store on my website. I will most definitely never see my favourite pictures as prints if I had to count on myself only. When doing an exhibition, more often than not, the prints are done directly on site by the organisers. So while I sometimes get a chance to travel and see by myself, most often I have to rely on my imagination. But a print store makes it possible! Of course, i can't print myself given the limitations of my lodging and current technology costs, so I use a print maker extraordinaire based in Shoreditch, London called The Printspace.co.uk. They do a formidable job at bringing to life digital files. And I can retrieve the physical prints myself directly at their Shoreditch workshop. That is when I discover what my images look like in big formats :)

But selling prints is also giving another life to my images - they get to travel to other countries, and stay with families that I have never met. Through the process, they get a life of their own, and thinking that they continue to exist somewhere in the world is a wonderful feeling. I have sold a few prints in the past, in direct by Smugmug and through galleries. But I never had the pleasure to take care of the entire process, from printmaking to signing and sendoff. This is very new, and exciting. I have decided to stop distribution via Smugmug (unsigned) to focus on creating limited edition sets of 10 available copies, signed and numbered. That way, my pictures get a life that they fully deserve.

Check it out if you want to learn more. In the meantime, enjoy your afternoon!

Marie Laigneau