I have been working with digital cameras for the last several months, really enjoying all of the advantages of that "Workflow". Doing that digital work I have reacquainted myself with "Street Photography". This is a style of working that began with the advent of the small, fast camera. My list of practitioners begin with Dr. Eric Salomon and his incredible Ermanox. The invention of the Leica signaled the end of the Ermanox, and ushered in the golden era of Street Photographers, creating photojournalism as we know it.
The short list of my influences include, Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, W. Eugene Smith, Robert Frank, Robert Capa and on and on. I have left so many out. But I digress, the point of this is when using the film camera, I look at the camera back to see the image! How quickly we become grooved to new methods! I often think I have missed the next picture because I am looking at the last one.
Not being shackled to the LCD allows me to shoot faster and concentrate on the action in front of the lens instead of the last image captured. This brings a flow and an "in the moment-ness" that is sometimes missing with the DSLR gear. There are many advantages to the DSLR, chief among them is the ability to immediately see the result of your exposure. This is Polaroid "effect". This difference is a classic case of the right tool for the job. Street photography, fast photography, candid photography are all places where shooting quickly and quietly is important.
There are many times when the ability to review a shot is vitally important. Studio work, landscapes, etc. Yes, I know the photographer can be disciplined and "not look" until there is a pause in the action if the DSLR is your tool of choice. I don't think film is going away for a long long time, and digital will continue to evolve. It is an exciting time to be working.
In the end it is not which camera you use, not which media you use, not which film you use, it is the eye and heart of the photographer.
composed and posted with ecto
