Elvis Lives!

There’s plenty going on in this image with a neat juxtaposition occurring between the two figures.  The figure in the foreground seems grimly detached and rooted to his seat while ‘Elvis’ is in an action-packed world of his own.  He appears incongruous in his surroundings – a makeshift speaker stand, homey windowsill knickknacks, and an abandoned pint of beer.  The composition gives the impression that there is no other audience, regardless that we are only limited to what we see within the frame. 

Words by Vilja Wheatcroft

Angel

The composition here features a number of elements. The repetition of the arches and little ecclesiastical graphics fit nicely with the angel and her lop-sided halo. The repetition of street furniture and architectural elements suggest uniformity and provides a contrast to the incongruous figure. We are led into the image by the road signage, and this is one of several stark features that serve to highlight elements of the picture that give it a pleasing arrangement. This is an example of how a photographer can use the interplay between background, foreground, and the subject to add intrigue and playfulness to the shot.

Words by Vilja Wheatcroft

Humanity & humour from the streets

The skill of street photography is not only the ability to think on your feet in capturing an image at the perfect moment, it’s also demonstrating skill in connecting the viewer to the subject through empathy, humanity, intrigue, and humour.  The viewer’s connection with the subject depends on many elements – a sideways glance, clever framing, juxtaposition, or the capture of a momentary gaze. Achieving viewer empathy becomes a major responsibility of the photographer working on street portraiture. This collection provides examples of the interplay between these elements. 

Unknowable beneath his cap, an unnerving portrait with an enormous cut-out moth provides the subject of this image with heavenly wings.  We see the image of a man apparently transfixed while his distracted companion glances at something more inviting. A story of age and solitude, heavy with threat emerges and perhaps prompts us to wonder about our own mortality.

A tailor, with the tools of his trade in the background, appears amused.  The lens asks us to like him for his engagingly ruffled hair, inner glow, and gentle smile.  A closer look finds exhaustion in his eyes, and the story of the brutal hours worked by an Indian tailoring community in Abu Dhabi’s Mushriff area is only tempered by the humanity and generosity of spirit that the image captures. 

Three elements contribute to the playful intrigue in this image of a waving man at the top of the steps.  While happily engaging directly with the lens, he is watched closely by a street camera, while the reflected face of a  young woman appears next to him. Unaware of her, his girth is empahsised by her youth and beauty while the juxtaposition is nicely captured by the presence of the street camera – all seeing but devoid of judgment. 

In a small booth close to a Mumbai beach, an indulgently groomed moustache becomes the prime, joyous element of this image.  The man’s story is immediately apparent. From the deferential angle of the shot we learn about pride dignity and honour. Neatly arranged bottles, a classical seated position, and a pleasing superiority over the lens provide an uplifting story of commerce, personal industry and entrepreneurship found in every corner of Mumbai. 

We don’t know if the woman in the wheelchair and the figure in the foreground are related but the harmony in the image lies in how the lens connects them through their reflected actions.  Both appear to be busy with ice-cream though we can only know this for sure of the figure we can see. Prominence is given to the retro sunglasses, an exotic tropical tattoo, and a plastic shopping bag hooked to the wheelchair. These elements place the couple in a British demographic so exact, that we could write their story from this image alone. 

A grizzled pensioner, cigarette clamped cheekily between his teeth, engages happily with the lens, his spectacular motorbike foremost in the image. Antiquity in the background provides a metaphor for the juxtaposition between youthful pursuits in old age. 

The man in the kilt appears defeated - comical though, with his clown hair, rosy cheeks and tightly downturned expression. Closer examination reveals a small phone on his knee and it is intriguing to wonder why then, he waits so closely to the public pay phone. Perhaps this is the clue to his dogged demeanor.

Words by Vilja Wheatcroft.

A version of this essay first appeared in Jpeg Magazine in 2018.

Space - Isolation and ownership

The people in this series inhabit a space that they are both familiar with and at odds with. With a few exceptions, they are alone and isolated within their space. Often their activities are juxtaposed by the environment they inhabit - a ragged man sleeping on the millionaire's bench or another on a grassy urban bed. A child, eerie and doll-like staring blankly out at the city, a bemused figure in a teeming station, and an elderly woman in an urban park, bleakly contemplating spring blossom. On the city street, a fruit seller yawns, echoing the form of his fruit while an Indian vendor is elevated by his space literally and is rendered pleasingly superior to the lens. 

The series encourages us to engage with and understand both isolation and ownership of space, and in doing so, understand and seek meaning in the places we inhabit.

Words: Vilja Wheatcroft

Istanbul Men

The relationship between the men on the steps is intriguing. Could they be waiting for something unknowable and outside the frame, or do they simply enjoy their mutual lack of industry?  While the line of six is compositionally pleasing, a hint of disapproval from the seventh, a woman in a rush, provides tension and drama. Patterned cobbles, watermarks, graffiti and glue-marks give depth and life to the street the men inhabit.  The shop door and the speed caught mid-air of the woman’s step, suggest an area of commerce nicely at odds with the men’s leisurely demeanor. 

Words by Vilja Wheatcroft

The Intrigue of B&W Street Photography

These images were shot in the streets of three continents. When looking for images, Peter aims to bring out the left field of everyday situations. When all the right elements come together, the image captures a defining moment in time, never to be repeated, and always intriguing. This intrigue comes from ordinary people in their environments doing ordinary things, which through the lens become extraordinary and full of humanity and depth. We want to know why the accordion player is smiling, what the relationship between the men on the steps is, and why a man is laying sprawled on the grass. The boy clinging to the tram is playful as he engages with the lens and so are the four young boys in an Indian street. They are part of their environment, comfortable, joyous and rendered instantly likable by the lens.

The image of the corner house is a departure from the playful, and maintains a haunting, otherworldly quality. A young figure stares blankly through a barred window at the lens as if prevented from engaging with the outside world. The shot of Mumbai Station is almost overwhelming in detail. The two figures in the foreground provide a contrast to the chaotic background, with one in motion and unknowable, and the other, still and bemused within his space.

The absence of colour allows us to focus more on the subjects with no distractions other than texture, tone, light and negative space. Black and white give each of these images a timeless quality. There's very little to show era or historic reference. Light is integral, subtle, and sometimes startling. The direction, the quality, and the degree of light become elements of the picture.

Words - Vilja Wheatcroft

Isolation, harmony and composition on a Tokyo Subway platform

Street photography relies on the photographer instinctively knowing when form and compositional elements coalesce with content. Only occasionally do all these elements of space, pattern and uniformity come together to provide something that is perfectly harmonious. When they do, the image becomes unforgettable.

In this photograph, the three individuals on a Tokyo subway form a near-perfect compositional narrative. Their isolation is enhanced by the physical distance between them and the architectural elements of their environment. The vertical column which divides the image off-center further amplifies the physical separateness of the individuals. The viewer is also isolated from the full image by a second column in the foreground, hinting at something dynamic but unknowable happening behind.

The compositional starkness of this image further amplifies human isolation. The setting of this shot is clinical, ordered, and stark. There are vertical and horizontal lines running throughout. Horizontal floor tiling, the vertical lines on the platform barrier, verticals, and horizontals running across the fabric of an individual's coat. These elements provide a strict harmony but also a contrast to individuals and their myriad idiosyncrasies for whom the space was designed.

Further harmony and contrast is provided in the tension between the fluidity of the individuals, their unified focus, and the perfect triangular space formed between them. The unity of their thought and distraction is another element that brings harmony to the composition. They are all lost in thought as many Tokyo commuters are, and they form a small part of the millions who travel on the Tokyo subway every day. The story is told not only through composition but also through the anonymity of the figures, the 'personality' of Tokyo city, and the role of the lens in capturing their isolation in the urban environment.

Words - Vilja Wheatcroft

---