WORDS & IMAGES BY OUR GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER, THOMAS WELLS.
Thomas Wells on Street Photography
For want of being mentioned in the same breath as the masters, one has to become their work, so there is no longer any separation between photographer and image. In manner and dress. Disposition. Character. I am pained when I see another street photographer over encumbered with lenses and cameras in their massive backpack, in friction with the city and themselves. I have no hope for these people. One lens and one camera is plenty to worry about. And there should be no reason to have anything else that won’t fit in your pockets. Romanticise taking pictures in the street and you will only be doing it justice.
It is important to use a manual film camera for an extended period of time, with an inbuilt light meter, but a mechanical manual focus camera. This will humble you, but assure your ability in the end. The technology of today is crushing the spirit of photography. Not just in the appearance of the images necessarily, but that the labour and mastery of something that is hard to do, that takes countless hours of disappointment, is becoming ever more obsolete. We should not allow technology to take away the imperfect human touch that has moved us for centuries. What is real will prevail I am certain.
Copyright ⓒ Thomas Wells
Copyright ⓒ Thomas Wells
Copyright ⓒ Thomas Wells
In the same regard, real images will for me always be more sacred. When the photographer has not interrupted the natural order of events, capturing art as it happens in real time. In this way, the images cannot be denied because they are true. And no construction can be as valuable as a real moment.
When so much time is spent alone in the midst of the city, it is impossible to avoid the voice in your head. You learn a lot about yourself in this way, just as you learn about life upon observing the endless stream of people. Becoming understanding of how even if I have little money, or even if I am down, I am still here and a part of it all. The thing that makes this way of photographing much easier is a genuine curiosity in and appreciation for life. Of course, some days this is not the case, so if not today then be sure to go tomorrow, as you might miss the thing that re-ignites your interest.
This style of photography concerns all of humanity by suggesting abstract human emotion with anonymity. If the work cannot be aligned to any group or race it thereby tends to them all. Not that this should matter. It should not advocate for any cause, but influence through nuance and an in-direct revealing of the photographers’ own self. Change is more likely when realisations are reached naturally. Anyway, catalysing change is not what I want from photography. Instead, to produce something that will hold this spirit of mine long after death.
Thomas’s prints and book ‘Nothing to Say’, can be seen in person at the Free Range Exhibition at the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London 30th June – 2nd July
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