Alex goes to Salt River 5
Part of a series of shots taken in the Salt River area of Cape Town.
For these photographs I wanted to follow the look and feel of Alex Webb, a photographer who I greatly admire. Webb takes high contrast colour street shots with unsettling, but perfect composition. Check out his book, The Suffering of Light to see what I mean.
I had tried unsuccessfully to get his deep shadows in daytime. It took me a while to realize that it was essential to shoot in the 30 minutes or so just before the sun was lost over the city, when the light is very low, casting long golden light, with deep contrasty shadows.
In addition to the colour look, Webb's work is multilayered and usually fills the frame from one side to the other. Not there yet at the compositional level, but I think I understand the contrast rules a bit better now.
Alex goes to Salt River 5
Part of a series of shots taken in the Salt River area of Cape Town.
For these photographs I wanted to follow the look and feel of Alex Webb, a photographer who I greatly admire. Webb takes high contrast colour street shots with unsettling, but perfect composition. Check out his book, The Suffering of Light to see what I mean.
I had tried unsuccessfully to get his deep shadows in daytime. It took me a while to realize that it was essential to shoot in the 30 minutes or so just before the sun was lost over the city, when the light is very low, casting long golden light, with deep contrasty shadows.
In addition to the colour look, Webb's work is multilayered and usually fills the frame from one side to the other. Not there yet at the compositional level, but I think I understand the contrast rules a bit better now.