Autumn in Shanghai

I am picking up people according the light game. Here the lady is checking her bill and it serves as a very efficient light reflector (GH4 and 35-100mm f2.8)

Here are some pictures taken during my street photography outing with my Essential Photography Class Students. All shots done with Panasonic Lumix GH4.

by Franc Peret

Once during the 25 hours (10 weeks) Essential Photography course, I am going out with my students to give them a chance to practice what they had learn so far in term of technical set up and composition.

I am taking benefit of the class to demonstrate some ideas and to develop Student’s inspiration by just walking around the block close to our starting point, which is The Apartment on Yong fu lu.

No need to walk long distance to get a wide collection of shots. Imagination is not calculated in meters.

Shanghai former French Concession is a great place for shooting due to its historical background (trees and houses) and the traditional life local people are still enjoying there.

On this series of shots, I tried to extract structures out of the element of the environment.

Whatever I am shooting is not real anymore, it becomes my own interpretation in term of association (color, shape, texture) and balance (contrast or common point).

This is what I am calling “structuralism”.

Sometime it can be quit close to a reproduction of the real life, sometime, it is pure reformatting of the surrounding i am in.

light, Shadows, Lines, texture, colors and shape are directing my eyes and inspiring my brain.

I am not turning my camera in the direction of real people, trees, car or building.

I am not choosing a specific subject or person according the way they look as is, I am assembling elements and collecting interesting reflection of light for reaching a personal feel of balance.

My pictures might not please or attract viewers, but this doesn’t matter much to me as I am using my own language to build up my images and I am not expecting that everyone is going to understand it or, even if they understand it, to agree with it.

Creation is something personal and as soon as I know what I am looking for, I guess that I know it better than outsider who might have a totally different sensitivity and approach to street photography.

I am simply true to myself, building up my image according my need of structuring things visually and I am just trying my best to succeed to do so.

Even, when I am not carrying a camera, I am composing with things I am seeing, it is always useful, like a training, helping to detect interesting combination faster when I am having a camera in hands.

Composition is an extension of being sensitive to light, reflection of light and its character.

I might say, in Photography, the light is the verb and the composition the adjective. They helps to build up the phrase we started by picking up a subject.

Actually, we often pick up a subject not for what it is but for what he/she is doing.

To get more information about my Essential Photography Course, check it here