Tag Archive for: black&white

Strangers in the Dark IX

Strangers in the Dark IX. Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2016.

Strangers in the Dark IX. Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2016. Get a print!

Winter has come, the night are starting earlier… and the snow started falling. A perfect setup for moody photos! We’re back in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in the old city center which used to be part of a citadelle, a long time ago. Old city center means small, narrow streets with old houses. Narrow streets mean great lighting when the night comes. And that is exactly what happened here!

I caught these two women in a passionate discussion in the cold. The snow started to fall pretty hard, they didn’t care about it, absorbed in their stories. They left me all the time in the world to frame this shot the way I wanted it. Thanks girls! I really like those high contrast scenes. It’s pretty much the way it was in real life. The whole street, not being very long, is illuminated by only one light at its middle. The end of the street then disappears in the dark. Who knows what may happen over there?

I was told this photo has a Brassaï “je ne sais quoi”… The comparison is quite amazing to me! Maybe because he was born in Romania, in the same Transylvania this photo was taken 😉 I hope he would have liked this photo.

Strangers in the Dark IX is part of my “Strangers in the Dark” project. It’s a set of quite graphic and contrasty photos of strangers in poorly illuminated streets, at night, giving a dark and sometimes gloomy mood. Come and give a look to the whole project by clicking this link.

Do you like this photo? Why not getting an original, signed fine art print in limited edition?

EXIFs:

  • Camera:Fujifilm X100T
  • Aperture: ƒ/2.8
  • Focale: 23mm
  • Shutter speed: 1/60s
  • ISO: 6400
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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Thumb up!

Thumb up! Bucharest, Romania, 2016.

Thumb up! Bucharest, Romania, 2016. Get a print.

Shot in the very same underground stairs where Run! was taken, Thumb up! relates to one of the aspects of street photography that I really enjoy: the contact between the photographer, and his subject. And the best contact is a positive reaction to the photography, with this man raising his thumb high to express his support. Ain’t it cool?

I know that a lot of street photographer insist on then fact that a photo must remain candid, in a way that the subject must not see the photographer taken a shot, in order to do not kill the moment. But when a genuine reaction like this occured, isn’t it a candid shot too? The fact that the photographer has been seen provoked this man’s interaction. And it gives us a much, much better shot than if he had just passed like nothing happened. As a result I enjoy much better when I get some interaction with the people I shoot, but without changing the way the things are e.g. stopping them while walking, forcing a reaction…

Besides, I like this photo for its graphical aspect. The chrome bar cuts the photo in two almost identical pieces at 45 degrees, with the reflection of the people in the marble. It would have been a cool shot. but with this finger up, it’s for me a great shot!

This photo kind of concludes a set of photos I’ve taken during two evenings spent in Bucharest. I can’t wait to go back and spend some time on the busy streets of the Romanian capitale.

Do you like this photo? Click here and get an original, signed fine art print in limited edition!

EXIFs:

  • Camera:Fujifilm X100T
  • Aperture: ƒ/5.6
  • Focale: 23mm
  • Shutter speed: 1/125s
  • ISO: 6400
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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Night call

Night call. Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2016.

Night call. Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2016. Get a print!

Wandering in the streets at might, I passed by a building I like. It’s a choreography and dramatic art boarding school which is painted in a bright blue, perfect for a vivid and colorful photo. It also has an interesting entrance, looking like a former factory, with square patterned windows. While the blue color of the wall is great during the day, this entrance comes alive at night!

Luckily for me, this time there was someone in the entrance. Being a dance oriented boarding school, a lot of teenagers stay there, waiting for the end to come to call their family, their lover… Who knows! But there was definitely some emotion in the way she behave there… It’s a photo I really like, the light was just fantastic. The square shaped window give this graphic feeling that I love in street photography. Definitely a nice photo to hand on a wall!

This photo has had quite a lot of success of social medias, I hope you’ll like it too!

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: 1/60s
  • ISO: 6400
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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Run!

Run! Bucharest, Romania, 2016.

Run! Bucharest, Romania, 2016. Get a print!

I took this photo in Bucharest in October 2016. I met there a local group of street photographers, and we decided to go for a photowalk at night. We went by Piata Unirii (Union Square), known for its large shops with loads of lights. A perfect place to play at night! There, we found this renewed underground exit, that became our main shooting spot for the evening. Reflective marble, bright lights, strong contrast with the night, what to ask more?

I know what to ask more! An interesting subject, to fill these stairs! For this poor man in hurry, it was not just a matter of fighting these stairs between him and the outside, he also had to go through a herd of crazy photographers 🙂

Anyway, it was a fun night, and I hope I’ll be back soon to meet again with this awesome group!

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: 6400
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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Shampoo

Shampoo. Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2016.

Shampoo, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2016. Get a print!

Lately I’ve been chasing the lights and interesting subjects through shops’ windows. As the weather is going to be greyer and the sky covered in clouds, the light is going to get much softer than it still is. While soft light is great for street portraits, it’s far from being ideal when you want to play with the contrasts, using the sun rays to light you subject just where you want.

This is just what I did with this lady, waiting for her shampoo at the hairdresser parlour. They have this large vitrine where you can see absolutely everything that is going on. It is situated in a little, narrow street of Cluj-Napoca (Romania), where the sun doesn’t really have the chance to shine. However, a tiny ray of light manage to find a path between the narrow buildings, to fall just on this woman’s face.

Last, but not least, this photo has just been published on 1x.com!

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: 400
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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