You are never more than 6 metres away from a rat or an amatuer photographer with a kick ass SLR.
All the gear and no idea is a phrase I like to use particulally when it comes to this new breed of SLR freaks. Cruel I know but one of the symptoms of growing old is an inabililty to edit yourself, you think and say what you like. Growing old has got to have some perks.
My knowledge of photography and photographers is limited at best. I have been to the National Portrait Gallery to see Anna Lebrevitz, I have always thought the Guardian had some cool pictures in it and I myself have played around with a few lomography apps on my phone, but thats it.
Lighting is a word used a lot by photographers weather its natural or artificial. This is where it gets complicated and quite in depth. There is a certain knowledge of science required due to the fact that light can do strange things but can also be manulpulated to our needs. I would love to elaborate a bit more in this area but it would be cut and pasted from another source.
Lewis Hine was aware of the science and also of lighting but he chose to ignore this and apply a diferent approach. He tried to connect with his subject and connect he certainly did.
Lewis Hine was a very modest man and the real stars were the people he chose to take a picture of.
Its easy to tell if someone is judging you on your appearance or the amount of money you have. It could be something you say or the tone of your voice, you just know when someone is taking the piss or being condercending. This is an important factor becasue for Lewis Hine to get the right picture that he needed to tell the story they would need his trust and they were not being judged. This seem to come natural which is a very unique talent.
Most people will be aware of his famous work which is the picture of the workers having there lunch on top of a half built Empire state building. The workers are completley oblivious to the danger that surrounds them which is surprising when there were numerous deaths during construction of this huge structure. His least famous work which is the child labour photos he did prior to that I would say is his best. Yes child labour in America, the forgotten swept under the carpet history that not many people know about. So check out the photos below for yourself and if your,e an "All the gear" type person, ask yourself why you got into photography and spent loads on a camera. Was it to look cool or was it because Mr Jones had one. Anyone can push a button but not everyone can connect with there subject through a lens, be it nature, abstract or people.
Lewis Hine
