I've stopped watching photography videos on YouTube
Yeah, that basically. With a few exceptions.
I know, I can hear you, I feel you reaching for that back button.
It's a misleading title, sorry about that.
But in the main, I've culled my list of 'Following' from around 15 to five. The five I've kept I've either followed for a long time, or I like their work, or they're not trying to sell you gear, of presets, or use Leica's. Except for one. Pffff, consistency is the enemy of the principled blogger.
I've stopped watching because, really, there's nothing more they can teach me. Most on the kill-list are street photographers, and I'm not a street photographer. I'm too shy. Too aware of being outside with a camera. In these days of mass surveillance and creeps with those →Meta-glasses, being outside with a camera is not the buzz it used to be. Even Garry Winogrand, or our old friend Henri would probably get hassled if they were doing today what they were doing back in the 50s and 60s.
Times have changed.
So, as I'm not a street photographer, there's no point watching their videos anymore. And as there's not really a thriving community of photographers in the style that I like - New Topography, quiet scenes with just a hint of humanity in the frame, a hint that we were there, that we exist - there's not a lot of reason to keep following.
So, the one's I'm still following are →James Popsys, →PaulieB, →Kyle McDougal, →Willem Verbeeck, and →Terri Bocko. I wish →Ramsey Kiefer would come back to making videos, always liked his style.
I ordered some photography books yesterday. I know this is somewhat contradictory, but while I don't consider myself a street photographer, it doesn't mean I don't like the style of street photography. To that end, I bought →Robert Doisneau's book, Paris. Of all the street photographers, I like his style the best, but perhaps that's because of the setting, the time, and place. I also got →Henri Cartier-Bresson (New Horizons) because if you're going to buy a book on the topic, you need a book by Henri Cartier-Bresson. It'd be like buying a book on the world's greatest footballers that doesn't have a chapter devoted to Pele.
So, yeah, that basically. Another blog about nothing, but I felt the urge to write something. If only I felt the same way about street photography I might actually get somewhere. My own book, perhaps.
→Here's some of my work, in case you're in any ways interested. Or →here, if like Depeche Mode you just can't get enough.
Anyone going to a game this weekend?