Family portrait. Bucharest, Romania, 2016. Get a print.
It’s not always easy for street photographers to find a good background for their subjects… or a good subject for their backgrounds! But sometimes, everything is just as it’s meant to be.
Ads are often seen as visual pollution, an argument that is very understandable, and that I may say myself. But used in a right way, with an artistic purpose, it may gain some sense beyond the “they make me want to buy items I don’t want” thing. It’s the case o this photo: the ad gives this grandpa a virtual family, a few grandkids to look after while he sips his coffee. Of course, that’s just for a moment, just in my mind, but maybe that’s a vision he has, or he had, who knows… A whole new story 🙂
I really enjoy these kinds of sweet juxtapositions. You can take two opposed entities – an ad campaign for a worldwide clothing brand and an old man with his bike and his dog – and mix them to give a new idea, a new purpose.
Do you like this photo? Click here and get an original, signed print in limited edition!
EXIFs:
- Camera:Fujifilm X100T
- Aperture: ƒ/5.6
- Focale: 23mm
- Shutter speed: 1/125s
- ISO: 100
- Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
Surprise! Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2016. Get a print.
The only perk of having the days shorter and shorter while winter is coming (yeah, mandatory reference here…), is that shops get illuminated much sooner, while they’re still open. This way, we get rid of the over-reflection in the outside, but also the lightning becomes more and more interesting, from the inside.
I think I’ve scared this poor woman to death on that day. The surprise on her face is quite self-explaining! I was having a hard time to frame her correctly in the natural border offered by the model’s arm as she was eating and moving. It took longer that I wished, and because of that she noticed me, stop moving, and looked at me with this “what the f*** is he doing” look that is absolutely awesome. The framing and the timing were just perfect, the shot was done, I smiled, she got back to her sandwich. It may not be the best photograph I’ve ever taken technically speaking, but it’s once again the proof that the content and the correct composition make everything. Beside her expression, I just love how the model seems to have its head in its hand!
I’ve seen her again a few days later. The shop she works in is close to where I work. She definitely recognised me, but unfortunately I didn’t have the photo with me at that time. For sure, the next time we meet, I’ll show her this photo, and maybe give her a small print. It’s a photo that has been having a lot of success on several groups and forums (over 2000 likes on Facebook!), it’s the least I can do, right? It may be a good… surprise, for her 🙂
Edit: Surprise! has won 2nd place at the 2017 National Awards of the Sony World Photography Awards!
Get a print!
Do you like this photo? Click here and get an original, signed print in limited edition!
More about this photo
For me, it’s important to share as much info as possible about the photos I take. Therefore, here are the EXIFs for this photo:
- Camera:Fujifilm X100T
- Aperture: ƒ/2.8
- Focale: 23mm
- Shutter speed: 1/125s
- ISO: 1250
- Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
Pierre Pichot 2016A short post to ping you, dear reader, about the new portfolio entry I’ve created, dedicated to motorsport: DTM – Hungaroring 2016.
BMW M4 DTM. Hungaroring, Hungary, 2016
As a big fan of motorsport, of any kind, be single seaters, prototypes, GTs or touring cars, I try to assist to at least a race per year. This year I went to the Hungaroring, Hungary’s Formula 1 track, to assist to the DTM dual header.
The DTM, for Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, is the leading Touring Cars championship in Germany, and one of the most famous worldwide. It also happens to be one of my favourite series ever, since its rebirth in the 2000’s. It features some V8, 460 HP monsters from Mercedes AMG, Audi Sport & BMW Motorsport. I managed to get close to those fabulous cars during the parc fermé, where the cars are inspected just after the race. Unfortunately, the race has been dominated by Audi and BMW, and as the cars are parked according to their finishing orders, the Mercedes were less visible. But it’s OK, it’s still a treat for the eyes 🙂
This is a big plus for the series, which allows the public to get much closer to the cars and the pilots (I think I’ve met all of them) than Formula 1 does. It makes the full week-end much more eventful… and pleasant too.
Audi RS5 DTM. Hungaroring, Hungary, 2016.
As I was quite close to the cars I decided to go and shoot bits of them, taking portraits and show their bestial side. It was such an unconventional arrangement of racing cars, I had to take advantage of it, and tried to find a different angle to take their photograph. I can’t see another way to give those cars the hommage they deserve.
Find out the full portfolio with 12 car portraits and bits by clicking this link.