Anthony Luke's not-just-another-photoblog Blog: Street Photographer

Showing posts with label Street Photographer. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

1890s Spy Camera Street Photography by 19 Year Old Carl Størmer

Carl Størmer (1872-1957) got his C.P. Stirn Concealed Vest Spy Camera in 1893 when he was studying mathematics at the Royal Frederick University (now, University of Oslo) Norway.

"It was a round flat canister hidden under the vest with the lens sticking out through a buttonhole," he told St. Hallvard Journal in 1942. "Under my clothes I had a string down through a hole in my trouser pocket, and when I pulled the string the camera took a photo."

These wonderfully candid images are a window into a time when most photographs were very formal and rigid. One of the first good examples of street photography.

“I was a young 19 year-old student at the time and had gotten hold of a funny detective camera.” ~ Carl Størmer

"It was a round flat canister hidden under the vest with the lens sticking out through a buttonhole. Under my clothes I had a string down through a hole in my trouser pocket, and when I pulled the string the camera took a photo.

I strolled down Carl Johan, found me a victim, greeted, got a gentle smile and pulled. Six images at a time and then I went home to switch plate.” Størmer lived nearby Karl Johan and took a total of 500 images."

~ Carl Størmer

Image result for C.P. Stirn Concealed Vest Spy Camera

Monday, May 7, 2018

Photographer Profile ~ Sergio Larrain

Sergio Larrain (1931-2012, born in Valparaiso, Chile) grew up in Chile but left at age eighteen to study at the University of California, Berkeley. Upon his return he began taking photographs in the streets of Santiago and Valparaiso; and the early purchase of two images by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, reassured him in his chosen profession.

Impressed by Henri Cartier-Bresson's photographs, Larrain presented the photographer his work on los abandonados (street children in Santiago) during a trip to Europe. Cartier-Bresson then invited Larrain to join Magnum in 1960; around this time he also began what would become a legendary project on Valparaiso with a text by poet Pablo Neruda.

London. The City. 1958-1959
© Sergio Larrain / Magnum Photos

London, England 1958-1959

“I saved my first money…and bought my first Leica, not because I wanted to do photos, but because it was the most beautiful object that one could buy (also a typewriter)… for the first time in my life, I had money to buy what I wanted.” – Sergio Larrain, in a letter to Agnes Sire, who was the desk editor of Magnum (Paris) for 20 years.

Limón Soda, Valparaíso. Photograph: Sergio Larrain/Magnum

BOLIVIA. Potosi. 1957

“Photography is a walk alone in the universe…The conventional world veils your vision, for photography you have to find a way to remove the veil.” – Sergio Larrain

“…People that do creative work, have to isolate themselves, they are all hermits, one way or another…Picasso would live in a world of happiness, with his children and women as you have seen…far from ugliness, sadness…” ~ Sergio Larrain