Came across this blog some time ago, and it never ceases to amaze.
Yes, I know he uses some fantastic (and very expensive), kit – but it’s the £100,000 worth of talent and skill that produces these shots.
You can have all the hardware in the world, and at the end of the day talentless mediocrity is all that awaits you – if you haven’t put in the time and dedication that it takes to produce art.
A bit harsh?
Maybe, but people often speak of talent as if it’s some ‘gift’ people were born with – which is very rarely, if ever, the case.
Make no mistake, Yanidel’s images are far, far, from mediocre. They are fantastic!
I would even say, I could recognise one of his shots as if it were a creation of Cezanne or Moore. (Henry!). They have a subtlety of colour and tone, a spontaneity and vitality of life, that I would wish to replicate in my own work.
Except, that I produce abstract images that are removed from, rather than immersed in, real life.
Yanidel deserves further applause for not restricting you to viewing low resolution, heavily watermarked and / or cropped images. Not only is this very generous, it allows the viewer to enjoy the images almost at their best and gain some insight into the almost voyeuristic world of street photography – in detail. I say ‘almost’, because photographs change when they are printed – for me something is lost when viewing an image on-screen. Monitors just can’t convey the depth of colour, tone and texture, that is available to printed work, though with some photography they can come close. If you need convincing, then just look up Hopper’s Nighthawkes on Google and see how many colour variations you can find. Then go and see the real painting. It’s just not the same.
That said, do your self a favour and nip over to his site, to observe for yourself the very fine craft on display.
Tim,
The blog is interesting. I liked the ‘after the rain’ pic the best. The pics of couples were interesting, but the rest on the pics on the home page didn’t do much for me. Can’t say I’d go back. I didn’t see the color or tone and the magic you did. Care to describe it a bit more?
The pic of the girl above was nice, even if her toes got cropped off. I guess I get hung up on stuff like that. I’m more of a mechanical photographer and never had an artist’s eye. I dislike symmetry and don’t mind seeing half a face on a photo is I can understand the reason behind it. I took some photography classes a while back and even developed my own film and exposed/printed my own B&Ws (those were the days). So I’m not photo-illiterate, just not as artistically sensitive. But thanks for sharing.
I’m afraid it’s like everything in life – everyone is unique and as such making any recommendation is a bit hit and miss – but especially anything artistic. I must apologize for the cropped image on my blog – all the images I create on-the-fly and don’t spend too much time cropping precisely – I just don’t have the time, unfortunately.
What makes his images special, for me, is the fantastic composition, tonal balance and technical skill of the images. My background before IT, was photography based, as I was originally working toward a degree in photo journalism but somehow managed to veer off into computing!
However, I have spent many years, on and off, indulging in street photography myself and appreciate just how difficult it is: some of Yanidel’s shots have extremes of black and white, are taken in-the-moment, have great composition and yet are exposed just about perfectly. This is not easy. Many is the time I have camera ready, great location and good light, but just as I spy the perfect character, he/she dives into a shop / gets obscured by pedestrians or traffic etc… the list goes on.
To be able to shoot images that are consistently recognizable, well exposed and with good composition is a real achievement, in this environment. Pin sharp where they need to be and with good bokeh is hard.
You also need a far amount of luck – I would be very surprised indeed, if Yanidel didn’t have quite a few ‘duds’ knocking around. But luck is only a 1/4 of the story – you need artistic flair and technical skill for the rest.
That said, it’s subjective – it does not automatically follow that people who like Rembrandt are going to like Monet or Cezanne. Not everyone is going to like Yanidel – objectively, I just know how hard it is to obtain street images like his and subjectively, I rather like them.
Tim,
Thanks for the input. You gave me a new way to evaluate and appreciate photos. I sure hope someday you pursue your photographer dream full-time! Sounds like you have the interest and the eye and just need a little more luck. Wish you the best.
TIm,
Thought you’d get a kick out of this…man creates art from dirt on vehicles.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2018457/Bus-driver-Robert-Burden-creates-works-art-dirt-vans.html