Instax #1 Whitianga

The first Instax I ever took. Whitianga, New Zealand.

Most interestingly, Instax images mix different color areas in the photo. At least, I think so. The biggest surprise remains how the colors develop and fade on the Instax image.

Instax #3 Rotorua

An Instax is a nice device after all. The photos are so expensive that it forces you to be frugal.

We are now in New Zealand. Due to circumstances, I unexpectedly became the owner of an Instax device. I set myself the restriction of one Instax per day.

This one is from yesterday.

Rotorua

Hand under shirt

The escalator of the subway is an interesting place to take pictures anyway. I can’t resist and always look down to see if there is an interesting image to capture.

Here’s a sweet image. But also: mouth cap/no mouth cap. The people at the top looking jealously at the couple in love. What they don’t see is that the young man’s hand has disappeared under the young lady’s shirt.

Tegen de fotografie-schuld

Arjen van Veelen schrijft in NRC over fotograferen met zijn iPhone. Hij heeft een soort fotografie-schuld: al die momenten die hij mist omdat hij dat een foto aan het maken was.

Voor mij is het andersom: als ik geen foto’s aan het maken ben, ben ik aan het werk, of zit ik op de bank naar Youtube te kijken, of lees de krant. Ik maak dan in ieder geval geen memorabele momenten mee.

Voor mij is fotografie een aanleiding om dingen te beleven, die momenten te maken. Ik ga naar buiten, kijk anders naar de wereld en zie dingen die ik anders niet zou zien. Zo pakt fotografie niet minuten van je geleefde tijd af, zoals bij Van Veelen, maar het voegt momenten toe.

Alexey Brodovitch on photography

Once again I flip through The Education of a Photographer, by Charles Traub et al, and read Alexey Brodovitch‘s refreshing ideas about photography. Among them:

  • What is good today is a cliché tomorrow.
  • The photographer’s job is to fight boredom.
  • … by surprising.
  • Photos should stimulate thinking and be interesting/intriguing.
  • Avoid clichés.
  • Like established photographers, don’t fall into the trap of “found approval” (sticking with the style you became known for, and not developing).
  • Develop constantly. Constantly develop a new vocabulary.
  • Make progress, don’t get stuck.
  • Any photographic technique is allowed as long as it helps you. Not cropping may have been fine for Cartier-Bresson, but don’t let that stop you from nicely cropping your photos yourself.
  • Instead, crop your photos in different ways as an exercise in improving your images.
  • It is the end result that matters, not how you got there.
  • There are two levels of viewing: at the time of taking the picture, and later while editing the images.
  • Always experiment.