My main occupation in the last ten years or so is song writing, which mainly means writing lyrics to songs in close cooperation with musicians and performing artists.
The last two years have been dramatically overwhelming in my personal life. For 25 years I’ve lived in Tel-Aviv, the Israeli Big Apple, a liberal city, full of ongoing cultural and social happenings, but I was forced to leave and move to a small and culturally isolated village and then move again, within a year, to another city, not far from Tel-Aviv but miles away in every other aspect.
Concerns the go
During these two years I’ve also experienced the loss of my Father and of young, precious, family members, and so I found myself with bare skin, withdrawing into myself, writing less and finding solace in photography.
Something in the immediacy of photography and even more, in street photography, makes it (in my own eyes) an expression tool that doesn’t involve hard decision making and/or agony.
And like in writing – In photography I can take on different roles and express my personal feelings through other characters.
Stairway to nowhere
My daily wonderings in various geographic/urban environments, meeting different inhabitants and energies – evoked an inner urge to document and frame random, unique moments that are also very expressive and silently moving.
One precise frame of a human situation in the middle of the street can tell us a whole story, without struggling with a single word.
Black Friday
I “use” other people’s body language and facial expressions to express situations I feel inside of me, but without giving them away physically and verbally.
Self-awareness
Street Photography is such a category that demands and forces all my senses to be wide awake and identify in a split of a second, passing, but powerful, worthy situations to document.
Those conditions exist, in fact, every time I enter a public space, whereas my iPhone allows me to blend in with people, without getting noticed, something not quite possible with a big intimidating DSLR.
Existential detachment
When I walk the streets, I identify (in a very natural way) compositions, frames, light and shadow, contrast and ambience (a walking Snapseed…).
I love the speed needed to react to the various happenings all around me. Sometimes I identify a situation immediately and shoot it spontaneously, and sometimes I realise I have to freeze in my place, in front of certain background and wait until an interesting figure will walk into the frame. A half spontaneous, half planned photo.
Dreams vs Reality
There are these days I get off the bus and feel that all the street happening is a one big, orchestrated theatre show. All the characters jump out from all directions in front of my eyes, like a 3D Greeting Card, and perfectly align in the most wonderful compositions. Such days fill me with the most positive adrenalin. But that’s the easy case.
Grumpy Lady
When I’m in a less interesting place, or a place where nothing much is happening, I go from Macro to Micro, looking for little gestures inside the bigger image. It could be a woman’s profile, palm of a child’s hand, the texture of a hat or a dog’s tail. If the element is aligned in a way that conveys an interesting story, or hints of a story that won’t be fully revealed, it’s a justified photograph for me.
Investigative inner world of childhood
We are all a bit trapped
Looking for little gestures inside the bigger image
BTW –
When I look at my edited image, I always hear music. A soundtrack that accompanies the image I caught. So, in the end of it all, photography does connect to words and music, and it’s how, in fact, I close a circle and feel my creation is whole and connected to my original occupation.
I must admit that my greatest dream is to get a hold of the “Cloak of invisibility” which will allow me to get closer, much closer to the people I’d like to photograph, without being noticed.
Just to think about all the photos and rare moments I missed or gave up on completely, just for being nice 🙂
Socially isolated
This is Racheli’s first article for Grryo. You can find her work on Instagram.
Hello everyone! It’s Nga Hoang (@ngahoang0812). I am from Hanoi, Vietnam. Bitten by the storytelling bug at an early age, I have evolved from an avid listener of my tailor-grandfather’s exotic tales to a passionate travel writer and a hobbyist photographer. When not on assignment, I enjoy wandering aimlessly around the streets with my camera and capturing the odds and quirks of everyday life. I am very delighted to share my photo essay about the West Lake lifestyle in Hanoi with the Grryo community.
In a city that is built on lowlands between rivers, there is no shortage of waterfront retreats, and West Lake is up there with the best of them. It serves as a rare green lung amid the ever-growing concrete jungle, an oasis of calm away from the hustle and bustle. Once a sleepy north Hanoi suburb thronged with fishing villages, the West Lake, or Tay Ho neighbourhood, has been transformed into an area of urban cool. It offers all the elements of the cosmopolitan lifestyle that modern city dwellers hunger after, with the added benefit of a lakefront setting. It is not for nothing that royal families built summer retreats near its shores as long as 400 years ago. With its fresh air, scenic views and tranquil surroundings, it is very clear why. With a camera in hand, I’ve documented a juxtaposition of lifestyles and offer a glimpse into the lives of the people in the West Lake neighbourhood.
A group of kayakers gather around a pier overlooking the West Lake for a training session.
Young Vietnamese kayakers in matching tracksuits from the Hanoi Kayak Club take part in a training session for the national rowing team.
With sampling its waters being free of charge, an intriguing mix of retirees, young families and pets can be found taking a dip in the early morning and late afternoon.
As the oldest temple complex dating back more than 1500 years Tran Quoc Pagoda, which translates as The Guardian of the Nation, draws in large numbers of worshippers and visitors alike. It juts out over a small island near the east bank of Hanoi’s West Lake. The octagonal 6-sided brick tower is made up of 11 levels, with each level housing small white Buddha statues which represent several stages of the life of Buddha.
The ceramic dragon gates at the far end of the West Lake were initially set up to mark the beginning of the Year of the Dragon.
With water and the cityscape stretching as far as the eye can see, the West Lake acts as something of an urban beach for local residents.
Few places can compete with West Lake for a spot to soak up the sunset in Hanoi. This image depicts a sense of urban isolation in Hanoi.
The odd charm of West Lake is revealed in the almost ghost-like, worn-out ferris wheels at the Tay Ho water park that run intermittently. The ferris wheels were reflected off the water which was dotted with withering lotus flowers during winter times.
Secluded and idyllic, West Lake is as good a spot for fishing as it is for swimming. Fishing is quite well established as a favourite local pastime, but it is a real test of patience. Urban fishermen can be seen balancing themselves on stepping stones as they cast their bamboo poles out into the waters. They might spend a whole day under the baking sun and catch nothing.
A young diving enthusiast takes delight in diving off a high board at the semi-deserted Tay Ho water park.
If you’d like to view more of Nga’s work, you can find her on Instagram
Of all the things I could do in my life, I never imagined that a photography exhibition in Tehran would be one of them. Instead, a few weeks ago I found myself (@eauditalie) on a plane bound for Tehran, for the first group exhibition of Hikari Creative, the Instagram photography group that Q. Sakamaki, Ako Salemi, Eric Mencher and I founded in December 2014 to create and curate artistic street photography, showcasing the best pictures from around the world. Since we launched, Hikari Creative has become a significant point of reference for artistic street photography on Instagram, which is something we’re truly proud of.
The Hikari Creative team (minus one): Ako Salemi (right), Q. Sakamaki (centre) and me.
The exhibition – called Chance Encounters – was held at N.6 Gallery in Tehran and was a big success. An amazing crowd turned up for the opening and it was great to discover that in Tehran there is a wonderful community of people passionate about photography. In many ways this isn’t surprising, if you think of the great film directors and photographers that Iran has produced over the past decades and the fact that for millennia Iran has been a cradle of visual beauty.
Ako Salemi, the man who made it all happen
This passion for the arts is what made our first Hikari Creative exhibition happen in Tehran instead of – for example – Rome or New York: the owner of the gallery, Mrs. Katy Dechamani, is a great fan of Ako Salemi’s work, and it was thanks to her and Ako that we founders of Hikari Creative had our first collective show.
Q. Sakamaki taking pictures at the exhibition
Eric Mencher’s wall at the exhibition
Some of my photos up on the wall
In all I spent just three days in Tehran because my official job (which is that of creating perfumes) didn’t allow me to take more time off, but thanks to Ako’s Salemi brilliant flair for organization I was able – together with Q. Sakamaki and his wife Kuniko – to spend all of my free time photographing the streets and people of Tehran.
Devotees at the Shrine of Imamzadeh Saleh in north Tehran
Ladies at the Shrine
For me the most interesting places to shoot were the Shrine of Imamzadeh Saleh in North Tehran, the bazaars – particularly Tajrish bazaar, which is one of the oldest – and also the giant cemetery outside Tehran, which is next to Imam Khomeini’s mausoleum, still under construction.
Carpet seller in the Grand Bazaar
Closing time, Tajrish Bazaar
Tehran is a city blighted by smog so, even though the sun was out, we actually never saw it. The good side to the pollution was that it gave a rather melancholy and mysterious atmosphere to most situations, which is something I really like in photography. Everybody everywhere was helpful, charming and kind, and I was able to shoot in each place as much as I wanted.
Lone woman walking outside the Imam Khomeini Mausoleum
Child playing in front of Imam Khomeini’s portrait at the Mausoleum
Mosque under construction
Martyr’s tomb at the Tehran Cementery
I only wish I’d had more time in Tehran. I hope to go back soon to see and photograph more of the country and its wonderful people – till then Tehran will remain in my heart as one of the most fascinating and interesting places I’ve ever been to.
Floating memories – Tehran
To see more of Marinas’ fantastic images please visit :
Antonio Denti has been a Reuters staff cameraman for 17 years, covering historical events in different parts of the world: from Indonesia to Turkey to the Vatican.
Instagram has become the avenue for Antonio to process his experience as a news cameraman into a personal artistic expression. His images are provoking as they serve as evidence of historical events as they unfold. Here is Antonio’s story by his words and images.
Even though I have worked on stories alongside famed photographers, journalists and documentarists, most news cameramen like me are anonymous. For example, many may know Robert Capa as the one who photographed D-day, but very few know the names of the other cameramen who documented and risked their lives to record that event.
Besides anonymity, the work of a news cameraman is like the life of a mayfly. Very quick passages in one-minute TV reports. I don’t even know if some of the stories that meant more to me, like the one on Baghdad’s mental hospital at the start of my Instagram project, were ever aired by any news channel.
When my first son started walking, this last winter, something changed. I continue to respect the job that feeds me and my family, but I wanted to give some space to the real reasons why I have chosen this field of work.
As a photographer, I study the lives of others as as a profession. The people I have photographed were the ones really affected by what was happening. In every place and situation, even though I was there, I was the least affected. What allowed me to feel that I could look at them in the eyes and keep working was not a moral motive, but a personal one.
I would try my best to get the essence of what was happening to them, the spirit behind the facts, the expression (good or bad) of the universal human condition that was happening in their lives and take it with me, to try and learn something of myself and of my life. I do not believe media coverage necessarily helps people. Sometimes it can damage them. However, I think that human affairs are important and precious, meaningful and full of sense. And if you try to catch that sense, a portion of that sense, you celebrate and respect the people whose lives you have intruded upon.
This principle, which is very important for me, has no room in news coverage as it is now, despite the great freedom and respect I have enjoyed from the agency I work for.
Instagram gave me a platform to work on it, as a laboratory for this random cameraman’s diary. Also because, when I think back of things I have seen, they usually come back as stills, not as moving pictures.
The project is entirely made by iPhone captures of my own professional photography over the years. I try to post an image every Thursday, with no definite theme or plan. Like many of my ‘experienced colleagues’ (as in aging) I have captured a lot of moments of people’s lives and this project will continue for some time… I hope.
You can find Antonio’s project on his Instagram page, where he is @antclick.
Welcome to the HTC One A9. These are the first images taken and posted anywhere. (see more images below)
We were lucky enough to be asked to supply one of our photographers and we put Dutch Doscher (Instagram and Twitter) up for the gig.
“I received the phone last week and took it to some of my favorite places. I wanted to get some nature, landscape and street shots. It was the first time I used an android phone and really considered switching out of an iPhone.”
All images are shot and edited on the HTC 13 megapixel phone with the native camera and gallery app. Some have also been edited with Google’s Snapseed app.
Enjoy and as always, All comments welcome. Dutch will try and answer any questions you may have.
Concerns the go
Stairway to nowhere
Black Friday
Self-awareness
Existential detachment
Dreams vs Reality
Grumpy Lady
Investigative inner world of childhood
We are all a bit trapped
Looking for little gestures inside the bigger image
Socially isolated
