Page 12 - Cape-Camera-April-2024

April 2024 Cape Camera Cape Camera April 2024

E & D report back — 17 April 2024
Luang Prabang in Laos
with all the Buddhist Street photography
monasteries and the
feeding of the monks by Valérie Jardin
every morning at 6
o’clock is a photogra-
pher’s dream. report by Steffne Hughes
I’m sure that many of us who watched Valérie’s talk will have been left in-
spired and just raring to run out into the streets, shooting from the hip!
A Fujifilm Ambassador, Valérie has a lively personality and lots of photo-
graphic experience. She shoots with a fixed 23mm lens Fujifilm camera
and has finessed the art of shooting from the hip, knowing just how close
she needs to be to get what she’s looking for.
Valérie sticks to the pure definition of street photography – “capturing
candid images that represent the human condition in all its complexity
and beauty”. She believes that telling a story with an image is what it is all
about. Her images all have a strong narrative. They are evocative, artistic,
and capture the definitive moment.
A strong theme in her talk was that the image isn’t just taken in the moment.
It takes place in the mind of the photographer just before the shutter is
pressed. Each image represents a concept seen and captured immediately.
Valerie doesn’t believe that street photography should include a posed
figure. She would far rather capture a street portrait showing life as it hap-
pens. A candid moment that tells a story. If the subject notices her and is
happy to have their photograph taken, then it becomes a natural street
portrait.
Valérie described some of the different methods of street photography
and I particularly liked the reference to hunting and fishing. Hunting takes
The Oros Man in Reykjavik. place when the photographer walks around and takes images as they oc-
cur – hunting for a subject. Fishing is when the photographer finds a good

Ansie du Toit from p12) location and hangs around waiting for the subject to walk into the scene.
Valérie hosts photography workshops and street tours around the world.
for long hours, and it is COLD! See her website for details of all her upcoming courses (click here).
This reminds me of a January in Har- Valérie made two of her eBooks available to CTPS members free of
bin (China) to see the ice statues and charge (click and scroll down to the titles):
castles. I lasted just a few minutes in
our hotel’s ice bar — it was literally • The Unwritten Rules of Street Photography
freezing outside. • 10 Tips To Boost Your Creativity
Those Russians who walk around in
floor length fur coats are very sensi-
ble. Armenia and Georgia were also
very interesting.
Where next for me? So many places,
so little time. The bucket list never
seems to get shorter.
If I can get rid of Putin, a dream trip
will be the Trans-Siberian express. If
you ride on the train to the border
at Vladivostok, and cross over on
the train, the rail width changes. The
train is lifted up and the wheels ex-
changed to fit on the correct gauge.
How great is that? One can then ride
down through Mongolia, another
place on my bucket list.

12 Cape Town Photographic Society