Club Meeting, 'Street vs Documentary Photography' - Tuesday 7th December 2021.

                          

On Tuesday 7th December 2021 Morpeth Camera Club welcomed Dr Harry Hall MA, FRPS with his presentation
entitled 'Street vs Documentary Photography'. These two genres of photography are often thought of as being
closely related; however, they each have distinct differences and in his presentation, he intended to highlight
both the differentiation and the similarities between them.

The speaker opened with a short sequence of images overlaid with words that all illustrated or were associated
with documentary and street photography and he then asked the audience how many images they could recall
and then how many words they could recall. The groups response illustrated that we could recall more images
than words and showed that photos are a very powerful tool of communication.

In this country documentary photography generally became available to view in around 1870 as photographers
like John Thompson started to travel to the far east and record the people, landscapes and artifacts of eastern
cultures. On his return to London, Thompson continued photographing the work and living conditions around him
and this is now regarded as one of the early examples of social documentary as he recorded the social context of
everyday people's lives. Harry briefly gave examples of other exponents of this kind of photography including the
American photographer Dorothea Lange.

Harry then introduced examples of his own documentary work including The Last Dhow to Zanzibar, a fascinating
insight into the history, building, and use of a wooden Dhow sailing boat. Closer to home, he followed two local
projects, a Community Bike Recycling Charity in Byker, and a Food Bank in the West End of Newcastle. These both
illustrated the telling of a story over a period of time, where the photographer had to gain the trust and confidence
of those involved whilst not exploiting the vulnerable or those in need.

Moving on to street photography Harry stated that it was a more spontaneous, an "as it happens in front of you"
type of photography, recording subjects in candid situations and again gave a brief history of how this genre came
to the fore, with examples of work by Garry Winogrand an American street photographer.

Street photography can be engaging when the subjects want to be photographed, as Harry demonstrated with his
images taken at the Edinburgh fringe festival, but could also be intrusive and he showed examples of people reacting
to the camera in a negative way where the photographer and the camera had become the trigger. Street photography
can also be a response to an event, a protest, an accident, a beggar, a homeless person sleeping on the street, an
act of kindness, even a kiss. Harry suggested that we look, watch and be ready for that decisive 'grab shot'.

Both genres can have many things in common, location, people, weather, light, colour or mono but the clearest
distinction between them is that within documentary photography the topic or theme determines the setting,
whereas in street photography the setting is the subject. In Harry's words, the best way to learn is to get out
there and try it, as we all see and interpret things differently.

 

Club joint chair Sue Dawson thanked Harry for his interesting and informative presentation, illustrated by his
excellent images.

Davy.