Street Photography: Documenting the Human Condition

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4. Nightfall Comes to Los Angeles

by Chris Weeks

2 years ago

3. Street Photography: Documenting the Human Conditio…

by Chris Weeks

2 years ago

2. Street Photography: Documenting the Human Conditio…

by Chris Weeks

2 years ago

1. Street Photography: Documenting the Human Conditi…

by Chris Weeks

2 years ago

Back in 2006 I wrote a .pdf about purism and street photography and posted it on deviantart.com. I featured not only my own work but many of my street-shooting friends from all over the world.

Having wrote that it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to update it. Yes, I could have written something yet I really wanted to do it with video. Until the Canon EOS 5D Mark 2 came about -- and with the most recent firmware update -- i couldn't have achieved "the look" i wanted.

Over the course of two months this summer I enlisted the help of some friends to shoot ... I dunno ... the next volume or whatever this is.

In this video you'll see my work and that of photographers Severin Koller, Frank Jackson and Mario Anzuoni, all with different perspectives for shooting street photography.

There are too many people to thank; please read the credits at the end of part three.

I hope you enjoy it. I know that I had an amazing time shooting and editing it.

Credits

Chris Weeks
Director
Narrator
laith majali
Editing Consultant
Richard Keith
Editing Consultant

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juan carlos
5 days ago
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Tags

Richard Keith 2 years ago

well done
Chema Lara 2 years ago

Congrats!!
Steve Caddy 2 years ago

Fantastic work Chris. Thanks so much for doing this. You've (and your collaborators) do such a good job of articulating a lot of stuff I've only really 'known' through intuition, and in doing so have given at least some validation to the beliefs of this aspiring ammeter.
Marc 2 years ago

amazing. i love how powerful black and white can be for capturing a moment.
MUZIEKTELEVISIE.NL 2 years ago

this is fantastic. My favorite street photographer by far is this brilliant guy: flickr.com/photos/benjamingoss/
Laengsynt 2 years ago

Nice Video...Great
Brian Feeley 2 years ago

Chris this series is absolutely amazing. So inspiring. Thanks for doing it.
Martin Zahuta 2 years ago

This was special! Amazing documentary!
Sebastiaan Knoops 2 years ago

Amazing stuff! If you haven't alreay, you should look at philosopher/writer Jean Baudrillard, in particular 'Signs and Simulacra' and 'America'. Your notions about reality and aesthetics in the beginning of the piece really remind me of Baudrillard's notions of hyperreality and simulation.
Mattia Santino Merli 2 years ago

The picture at 01:55... simply amazing... thanks for sharing with us!
Studio 703 2 years ago

great job!! inspiring I just traded for my 5dm2 love it and I only hope to be able to convey messages as you did so well.
Make Some Tea 2 years ago

what a fantastic video. i love shooting on streets but always try and avoid people. they're not the nicest of creatures.
ZHIC 2 years ago

very very inspiring documentary.
there was a lot of truth in what was conveyed.
If you happened to publish a book documenting this 'human condition' I'd definitely give it a read
Tommy Martin 2 years ago

What a great series. I found them very well produced and just as inspiring.
Jonas Yip 2 years ago

Great stuff, Chris.
steve seagal 2 years ago

What about the last pic§?
Awesome vid,keep going!
Anton Woldhek 2 years ago

Interesting piece, perhaps a bit more thinking about dialogue recording since it is so focused on the narrative.
Chris Weeks 2 years ago

sound was a challenge for sure!
Charles Kenwright 2 years ago

Interesting and well put together.
Thanks!
Marcelo Paixão 2 years ago

narrators are boring :( if you do mind i think you should use another ways to expose your ideas. less texts, more images. Cause it's a documentary about photograpy why don't you use a language related withi it. Maybe diferent ways of making interviews should be interesting too.
Daniel Burke 2 years ago

Very informative doc. I follow you on DA and have often wondered how you shoot in the street. Love your street images.
xI jIn 2 years ago

sounds correctly. most details in life refer to truth!!!
Dr. Surrey 2 years ago

Nice film; excellent synopsis of rangefinders; well presented; great videography; great editing; very professional; clean use of language.
Marina LeClair 2 years ago

I absolutely loved this!!! Best thing I've seen all week!! It totally got me pumped to get out on the street with my third eye!! Thanks for posting !!!
poagao 2 years ago

If a rangefinder is necessary for good street photography, then as far as digital is concerned, it's not a very level playing field, as the body alone of an M9, the only full-frame digital rangefinder, is around US$7,000. For film, though, I would agree.

I did think it funny how the videographer seemed to be trying to get "streetesque" shots and framing every once in a while throughout the videos.
Gino Maccanti 2 years ago

as a street photographer newbie I really really enjoyed watching it
Antonio Chagas 2 years ago

Well done guys. :)

I really enjoy street photography and I love to see how do you do your shots. Here in Portugal if I make shot's like you do and some one see me take a picture they make a lot of questions! It is just insane!!

About the rangefinder cameras, I never use one before but I am really curious to get one and just try to use it. I love to have one Leica like some of you, but is expensive for me right now. I will try something cheaper and then I will try see the difference for a SLR.

Once again congratulations for the videos.

Best regards,
António Chagas.

PS - I am sorry for my bad English! :P
Antonio Chagas 2 years ago

Just one question...

How can I publish this videos on my blog at antchagas.com ???

I try but then VIMEO Player said I need to have authorization from you. Can I post them there?

Thanks.
Chris Weeks 2 years ago

done.

happy you enjoyed it, mate.
Antonio Chagas 2 years ago

Can you please make the same to the other two clips?
Thanks. :)
D'GREG 2 years ago

Excellent piece of work!
Tobias Schrenk 2 years ago

Thanks a lot for this great work.

What I ask myself do you develop on your own when shooting on film? I am really curious about this.
Tate Dominguez 2 years ago

Great stuff
David Sotosek 2 years ago

very well done. i love the way you used tilt/shift and fisheye in the videos. really great.

i have a question for you. do you shoot raw or jpeg? at 7.32 i the 3rd movie i saw that preview on the camera was b&w but the picture shown later was color. so i guess you shoot in raw or...?
Simon Bak 2 years ago

Don't think there was any tilt/shift used here. Just wide open apertures.
David Sotosek 2 years ago

Look at the credits. Canon lens 45 2.8 TS was used on 5D mkII. It was used at 3.15 in the movie, when Chris is shooting in Chinatown. Look at the table which is right besides him-it is completely unsharp. Look at those people sitting around table in the background-they are sharp, but with normal lens they wouldn't be! They would be out of focus for sure.
Regards, David
Thomas Heylen 2 years ago

Thank you for making this great documentary
Phillip Jackson 2 years ago

Really interesting stuff, some I agree with some I don't but in the end it gets me thinking. I now am looking into getting a rangefinder.
JS Photo 2 years ago

Thank You.... Very inspirational and educational.
Found Object Films 2 years ago

It was cool seeing the situation in motion and also the single final image of just the right moment of that situation. The interviews are very illuminating. I always assumed slr was the only game in town because of pralaxing, focus etc.
Anthony Johnson 2 years ago

very nice

however i hated the tilt /shift focus .. found it inappropriate to the film

was pointless to use it ... maybe stick to photography lol !
Hoop-la 2 years ago

Great work.
Andrés F Vargas 2 years ago

ever since i saw this video and began reading a bit more on cartier-bresson i've been going out nightly to take street shots with an slr.i'm fascinated with the idea of shooting with a rangefinder.i'll see what comes up. maybe an m-mount voigtlander.
Fabian Püschel 2 years ago

i´m always suprised how good you Americans bring commercial livestyle and a touch of indipendent produktion and philosophy together. (sorry for my bad english) The only thing i dont like is how you guys mispronounce Henti Cartier Bresson. You need to learn;) it sounds like some cowboy with achewing gum tries to speaak french, very funny;)
RogerB1 2 years ago

Loved this. I watch all three at the same time. It made my day.
Steve Keys 2 years ago

The shot with the police and the Jesus guy is one in a million. Well done.
Glen Johannes 2 years ago

Thanks Chris. You inspired me get a second hand Leica M (film) and start shooting. You know what - you are right. You start seeing things differently, in a way that you never saw before. Absolutely invigorating.
Per Zangenberg 2 years ago

I found it very interesting and you inspired me to try out street photography. I did find the wacky-camera-movement-wannabe during interviews a bad call and maybe you over-used the whole shallow DOF thing. Also the sound quality of the speaking seemed to vary quit a bit.

But for a non-pro-filmmaker it was pretty nice.
Sadaqat Ali 2 years ago

Well done, It was very well documented.
Yves Roy and the Wacky Ballerina 1 year ago

I very much enjoyed watching this inspiring little documentary. Only downside, I really want a Leica now. ;-)
I'd like to think that ranger finder photography is for me, therefore I found myself ordering a " Minolta Hi Matic 7s II ".
A long story short, " Documenting the Human Condition " influenced my life, so thank you for making this Chris.
Steven S. Miric 1 year ago

Very inspiring...

Only remark: camera operating is too distracting (easy up on focus pulling, shifting, jerking,...). Sometimes, overdoing it- hurts...

P.S.
I love my M9, even more than my M8....
lorenzo ferraro 1 year ago

uhuh! Severin "COXI D.A. REBEL" Koller!

beautifull photos as always!
Terry C. 1 year ago

Good work. Great photography.
Gregory Nissen 1 year ago

simply amazing. Most influential thing i've ever seen for photography. thank you so much for putting all the work into this; i know they take a ton of time. I'm so upset that my leica is being CLA'd right now and I can't go shoot....
rod Higginson 1 year ago

so good, thankyou all involved
AngDavKev 1 year ago

I just luv watching u guys shoot :)
Thx for this
Philip Casey 1 year ago

Thank you very much for creating this film. 45 minutes ago I was debating whether I should buy a M6, but now, you just pushed me over the edge. Its already in my shopping cart! Thanks again on the great information and insight!
allan johnston 1 year ago

That hit the spot Leica or no Leica its what you see not what camera.
Charcrit Boonsom 11 months ago

Thank you for a fantastic works! Chris.
Tomaž Zajelšnik 8 months ago

If you break them, you get NOTHING! Haha love this quote.
Hunter W. 7 months ago

Love that quote about breaking rules.
Lee Welton 6 months ago

Nice work
JOEBUSY 2 months ago

powerful stuff
Goldenboi24k 1 month ago

I wanna see Serverin Koller's photo of Jesus on his website. Link anyone??