Dimitris Makrygiannakis talks with Dominik Pegler

Hi Dominik. Who are you, besides photography?

Hello Dimitris! I was born in 1982 in Vienna. Most of the times you can find me somewhere in the Eastern corner of Austria. That's roughly where I grew up and where I am still living now. I moved from the village to the city of Vienna seventeen years ago. I am interested in many different things and I appreciate all kinds of human output.

How do you personally define human output and how do you relate it to your photography?

Human output, that can be anything, a sentence, a house, a gesture, or a dropped piece of paper with a few notes on it. Something that seems to be a small part of some story. If something "speaks" to me, I try to take a picture of it. On the other hand, it is also a pleasant fact that not everything can be photographed.

What can you not photograph, but would love to?

I am glad that these things cannot be photographed and that something always remains hidden, demanding you to put the pieces together and fill in the gaps. I am satisfied with what I have, I don't need more and that is already overwhelming enough. On the other hand, there are also things that are not generally inaccessible, but for which I myself have limits. In the past I often thought that I needed to photograph more people, be closer to them. Often this was not possible due to certain inhibitions and led then to frustration. This over-preoccupation with my own personal limits meant that I did not see many other wonderful things "in my own garden". Today I can accept boundaries better, also because I know that they will change over time. To answer the question, there is nothing that I would like to photograph but am unable to do.

Is there any connection between your boundaries in photography and in life outside photography? Or are they two separated worlds in that sense?

These are of course the same things and cannot be decoupled from each other. Taking photos is embedded in life, feeds off life and is sometimes even a motive or pretext for living or experiencing. At least I feel that way. What should perhaps be noted in relation to our own limits is that the camera is often or mostly directed inwards like a magnifying glass and makes us more aware of so many things inside.

Did this inner awareness through photography come early in your photographic life? How long have you been shooting?

Mmm ... it took a while. I started taking photos 13 years ago; Back then I had very precise ideas about how the photos should look like and that was technically perfect and polished images -- entirely without emotion and without personal reference. I was more concerned with the technology than with the content. It was only
logical that my interest soon faded. I had a restart 6 years ago, this time I was only interested in the content. The first 1.5 years of my second photographic phase were difficult. Even if the intentions were different this time, the approach remained largely the same: finished images were already in my head even before I went to take pictures. That blocked me every time and I had to force myself to pull the shutter, even when I didn't see anything interesting.

After 1.5 years I had found a way to take this pressure off myself. I decided to stop doing "serious" photography (that's what I said to myself) for a while, got myself a small analog camera that I always carried in my pocket. Due to the limitations that come with the medium of analogue film I was forced to shoot carefully and not waste film -- so compared to before it was the exact opposite. That changed everything. Since then I have been taking photos completely without pressure and I no longer take myself too seriously. So what happened? The lesson for me was, that creative photography, like many other things in life, is not dominated by top-down processes, but rather by bottom-up processes. So what happened to me at this stage was that I learned to listen to my feelings, to shift the focus to the stimuli outside and away from the things that were sketched out in my head.

This went hand in hand with the fact that I generally became more aware of my feelings. Because I used them for photography. The head is then only the endpoint of the process chain, not the beginning. It then triggers the thought "Mhm, and that looks interesting!" And sets the motor skills in motion so that I can take the photo.

Seems that you feel an inner comfort regarding photography, which I think is a great achievement. If you can think of yourself in 20 years from now, what else do you wish to have achieved through photography?

Hopefully in 20 years I will have captured many memories from my life in pictures. That would give me a lot of material to think about what kind of meaning it all had. It would be a shame if there were gaps for years to come. I don't think this will ever happen again, but life is unpredictable.

Will this material be mostly for you personal pleasure? How important does it feel for you communicating your work to the photographic community? You post your work in social media, but will this be enough for you in 20 years? Isn't a book a better way of communicating the photographer's work and soul? And is one or more books something you want?'

Mainly for me personally, but pictures are not an end in themselves and it would be a shame not to share them. I owe a lot of inspiration to the photographic community. When I entered the hidden corners of flickr 5--6 years ago ... what I found there was a sensation. It is still the case today that I am incredibly excited about a good photo of someone else, as if I discovered it on my own memory card. That's why I see myself as part of this community and share my pictures online. Communicating through photography has always been a basic motivation for me. The idea for a real book will surely find me one day and then I'll think about it more intensively. I'm currently working on two books on subjects related to people around me - each limited to 1 piece. This is a good opportunity to practice.

If you were sent to a remote island for a month, with just a camera and 3 photo books to keep you company and inspire you, which ones would these photo books be?

That would probably be "Evokativ" by Libuše Jarcovjáková, "On the sixth day" by Alessandra Sanguinetti and "Democratic Forest" by Eggleston. The latter because a month can be a long time.

And if you had a chance to spend a day shooting with a photographer you admire, who would that photographer be? And why?

Interesting question. Actually, I don't feel that much desire there, but a walk and a conversation with Alec Soth or Stephen Shore would certainly be interesting. Not only because they are great photographers, but also because I can relate to their thoughts; to Soth and his human-centered approach, his encouragement to starting new things and becoming a beginner again, and on the other hand to Shore's way of seeing photography partly as a form of problem-solving.

Thank you for an interesting interview Dominik. Was a pleasure.

Thank you for the talk and hopefully see you someday on the street again.

Links: https://www.instagram.com/imgki_erdenpol/

https://dominikpegler.tumblr.com

https://www.flickr.com/photos/imgki_erdenpol

TC Lin talks with Forrest Walker

I had the good fortune to hang out and go shooting with Forrest Walker when he was in Taipei some time ago shooting as part of his 100 Cities project. He had some valuable insights, and was very helpful and generous with his time, meeting with my students and sharing his experiences. So I'm happy to present here a detailed interview I conducted with him in which he discusses his beginnings as a street photographer, his projects, and a sampling of his work and the stories behind the photographs.

Please tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you come from, and what or who inspired you to take up photography?

Hello, my name is Forrest Walker and I grew up in a small town on the Oregon Coast in the US, later moving to Portland, but now mostly moving around the world the last five years working on a large photography project focused on major cities. I wouldn’t say there was a specific what or who that inspired me to take up photography, but there were a sequence of events and people that influenced it indirectly. A mix of overcoming a health battle years ago, work, travel, ex-girlfriends and finding a “Magnum Tokyo” book in a small shop in Tokyo one afternoon all contributed to my obsession with photography today.

How does your photography reflect your personality/state of mind? What do you hope to communicate or describe with your work?

Maybe it reflects my wide variety of interests and curiosity of life. I like walking everywhere, exploring places and overcoming challenges that would deter others. My mind tends to see/think about many things at once and photography helps slow things down for me. This at least affects what and how I shoot. I’ve always been highly sensitive and turned off to anything fake, be it in people, art or entertainment, so the candid and unposed aspect is important to me and holds much more interest for me. That potential power of photography is what initially turned me on in the first place and I hope that comes across in my work, along with a sense of my imagination and curiosity. It’s a bit cliche to say after so many others, but a mix of real and surreal, but in my own way of how and what I see.

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In 2015, when I first started the project, I was living in Istanbul, Turkey, which is still easily one of my favorite cities. It actually ended up being the last one allowed, but back then, they somewhat allowed a Pride Parade. Due to Istanbul’s size and much of the surrounding countries/region not allowing anything like this, the one here attracted people from all over. It absolutely packed the streets all over where I lived near Taksim Square. It was crazy. Police were also everywhere and while they didn’t shut things down, they slowly kept pushing the crowds down the streets using tear gas. I took the photo below shortly after some tear gas caused the crowds to back up a bit from the line-up of police, leaving a moment of space. I noticed this woman dressed up in her strikingly unique outfit start to walk across in front of the police, paying them no mind. So I quickly ran up, kneeled down to create some separation from the background, took the photo, and moved on. Funny enough, years later, this woman contacted me on Instagram after seeing the photo shared and told me it was her and she loved it.

Your 100 Cities project is well known in the street photography community. How did you come up with this particular idea? How did you plan for it?

I was living in Istanbul finishing up some work there and had wanted to do something on a larger scale that hadn’t been done before. Something that would take years and full dedication, but could hopefully be put together into a work that was new. Over the course of the first 6 months, it grew into this project and has been my focus since.

I chose to focus on major cities for a variety of reasons. Many major cities don’t actually get photographed that much, while being filled with life and extremely important to the people, country, and history. I like how major cities connect to more people, even if they didn’t live there, they at least likely know it if they’re from the country or visited it. There’s a complexity to big cities, the variety of layers, diversity of people, scenery and life they contain. I also like how most people don’t understand why I’d photograph the big city instead of the picturesque little tourist town. There can be a negative connotation attached to big cities, but under that chaotic, not traditionally photogenic big city stereotype, there’s usually more interest to discover than anywhere else in the country, in my opinion. It just can be more of a challenge to find at first sight. Along with that challenge, there also can be more risks of photographing different areas, but that’s another reason many don’t get photographed as much, which also drew me. By covering major cities across over 75 countries and most major regions, I hoped to encompass the most variety of connections possible across the world, while finding the main connections we all share no matter the place, and put this together into work that would be much more than a just selection of favorite photos from different countries.

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Another one of my favorite cities for photography is Saint-Petersburg, Russia, especially in the Summer. During this time, due to their far north location, daylight lasts over 20 hours a day. They hold their “White Nights” festival during this time, which lasts weeks, but the main celebration is held the Saturday closest to the longest day of the year, which also combines with graduation celebrations. People start early and I was walking to the prime area where people watch the “Scarlet Sails” and firework show along the river. Unfortunately, the bridge I needed to cross was up in preparation for the sail boats, but I did take this photo above. Little did I know, an hour later, after walking to the next bridge, I’d be under water after being knocked into the river by a crowd of fighting drunk graduates (Long story). My camera was done for the day (it dried days later) and so was any photography of the event.

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I promised myself to return and photograph the “White Nights” event without any river swim, and the next year I did. Luckily, encountering much more peaceful graduation celebrates, like in this above photo.

Do you spend time just enjoying the places you visit, or do you go exclusively to take pictures?

Unfortunately, I rarely can spend time enjoying the places I visit, outside of photographing them. During each city, I spend every single day out photographing it as much as possible, and most nights I’m working on the computer. I know it’s nothing like people want to imagine it, but this project was never about travel fun and always about the photography and work. I treat it more serious than a job. But it’s not only due to my need to focus on the work. Fun and enjoying travel costs money, which I don’t have much of. So, I have to live by as low means as possible and pass up all that travel and tourist stuff for the most part.

Do you ever have issues photographing all of these vastly different cultures? Do you change your shooting style or practice in consideration of these different places and peoples?

That’s one of the biggest challenges, but also one that I really enjoy and focus on. Places and cultures do differ vastly, which does effect photography, especially when it comes to police and security. My goal has always been to tackle each place the same photographically, though, so I don’t change my shooting style. Fortunately, I can say there hasn’t been one place I feel I wasn’t able to shoot my way, only some were more challenging. If I’m in a more dangerous city or area, I’ve committed to the fact I have to take the added risks without compromising how I photograph. But if I’m in a place that reacts to photography differently, I have to find a way to work around that, while still shooting the same. Sometimes this means being even more observant of my surroundings and body language. But the largest difference in me would be how I interact with people and carry myself. Smiling and joking, but in a confident way, seems to work well for me in most of these places. If people feel that you are comfortable where you are and you give off a feeling of confidence and that you can be trusted, you’ll get treated much better and any trouble is more likely to leave you alone. There’s a big difference between shooting in many of the places I covered. Some places are more relaxing and comfortable for photography than others, but I’ll admit the more challenging ones can provide more satisfaction and memories with the people.

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While covering Mumbai, I got up extra early one day to catch the sunrise and morning exercisers along Marine Drive, one of my favorite spots in the city. After walking it back and forth, unfortunately not much interest had been out there that particular morning. As I was walking towards its end, I saw a nicely dressed man enjoying some relaxation by the sea. This isn’t an uncommon sight, but as I walked by, I saw how at this angle it created this clean illusion.

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Coincidently, this next shot was taken less than 20 minutes after the last, providing 2 of my favorite photos of that year in less than half an hour. Almost makes up for the other 364 days worth of minutes that didn’t produce those results.

Has your relationship with photography changed over time, in particular the course of this project, and if so, how?

Honestly, It did get to a level of obsession that isn’t healthy or good for anyone. Over the last five years working on the project, I’ve been completely devoted to photography to an unreal degree. I had to give up all I had, from possessions, money and relationships to health, happiness and safety, over the course of it all. And every single day was on the streets photographing, while living out of a bag by the lowest means possible and trying to make just enough money to keep it going. Sanity and depression and health has been a struggle over the course of it, so I am happy to be done with the photography part of the project now, even though the actual photography part I never tired of. It was just everything else that had to go along with it. My obsession with photography can’t go away, but I’ll need to add other parts of my life back and find some sort of balance. I’d say when it comes to photography, though, I do see things differently than when I started the project just from the experience of seeing so many different things. And some things don’t interest as much as they did at the start, while some interest me more.

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I was covering New York City during 4th of July so I decided to spend the full holiday shooting around Coney Island, one of my favorite spots anyway, but even better during the 4th. After shooting from Coney to Manhattan Beach, I was walking back through Brighton Beach when up far ahead I saw a photo that immediately stopped my eyes and grabbed me. The type of unique scene from life showcasing what makes it all so beautifully unique and interesting, without any tricks. I had to make a photo of it. Not being a complex photo to make, the focus was only to make it at the right timing before it or the feeling changed and disappeared forever. The group of women were all waiting in line together, but noticeably all separate in their look and body language. They were full of individual character, while displaying a collection of attire. My only focus and worry in shots like this is getting close enough without disrupting the scene and making the photo before anything changes, a balancing act of moving quickly but natural, timing and luck. Fortunately, I got this one off at the right time, putting the camera to my eye and clicking the shutter in stride, just as I passed.

Have you been influenced by other photographers? If so, who?
Plenty. Looking at great work by others has been my favorite inspiration and teacher. Before each city, I always check the Magnum Photos archive for that city, among other photo searches. Discovering Magnum was my first serious influence so that’s where most of it can probably be found. Some specific names from there would be Alex Webb, Constantine Manos, Harry Gruyaert, Gueorgui Pinkhassov, David Alan Harvey, Bruno Barbey, Richard Kalvar, Bruce Gilden, Josef Koudelka and Carolyn Drake. Outside of Magnum, I’m also a big fan of Helen Levitt, Joel Meyerowitz, Tony Ray Jones, Lars Tunbjork, Cristobal Hara and Jason Eskenazi, among others. I like to look at a lot of work for influence and inspiration, but without getting too focused on one style or photographer.

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The next photo I made in London Fields park. I like this area around Hackney and was walking the park on a somewhat quiet day when I saw this older woman playing goalie for her grandson. Obviously, a funny scene you don’t see every day, I had to go in and take a photo. I didn’t want anything unnatural or posed so I just went up and started taking photos in a way where they didn’t pay me much mind. I took a few photos catching the free kick at different timings. Sometimes she got there, sometimes she didn’t, like above, but it was all fun to watch and shoot.

You studied business in school and worked for a time as an office worker. How did you make the rather radical pivot into this project? Have you done other types of photography, and how did that go?

I’ve done a variety of photography work, without sticking with much of it for long until I found the type of work I shoot now. Headshots, weddings, some fashion work for a period, a few ads, and then documentary work, which was the one thing I truly enjoyed, and led to this project. As for the radical transition, I did save up money from my previous job for over a year in and sold most of my belongings in plans of making the jump, but it still was a big leap into a completely different world.

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Halloween in Tokyo has become one of my favorite events to photograph. I’ve gone the last few years after discovering the surprising degree that they celebrate it here, especially in Shibuya. It’s crazy. So crazy, that last year the city upped the police force with a 100 million yen budget just for it. While you can see locals dressing up throughout the week, the day of Halloween is the biggest celebration, going throughout the night around Shibuya’s streets. While the street activity is still a sight to see, I made this photo below before they cracked down more on alcohol consumption and street parties. While most photographers of the event are standing at corners taking photos of all the costumes, I like to get involved and in the mix. So, I dress up in a costume and try to get into some real scenes. Here in this small parking lot, they had a dj blasting music, alcohol flowing and all types of costumed partiers stopping to dance. At this point of the night, the police had had enough though and they shut it down, which helped create the unusual scene above. And fortunately I was right there in the middle of it all.

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The major cities in Sub-Saharan Africa don’t get photographed too often, especially when it comes to street photography. There are a number of challenges compared to most other places, but I wanted to focus on cities everywhere, as equally as possible so I made sure to cover some of Africa’s biggest cities. Accra was one of my favorites. It wasn’t always easy, mostly due to daily police and security guard hassle around the more local neighborhoods, but I loved the life. Bukom was one of those places I loved here. While near Jamestown, one of the few areas visited by tourists in Accra, you’ll only see local life in Bukom. For me, it was the most interesting part of Accra, filled with a vibrant and authentic local life that poured out onto the streets. I came here more than anywhere and on this day I noticed this child walking with a yellow box on her head. Bukom is a colorfully painted neighborhood, especially when it comes to their national colors, so it provided a nice color match of yellows. I tried to time things to connect a few layers of life along with the colors, got up close and made the photo above.

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Lima has become one of my favorite big cities for photography in South America. I grew up on the coast and I love to photograph cities on the sea. Not only do I enjoy the atmosphere of walking along the ocean, but I also enjoy the life they attract. The Miraflores district of Lima has one of those atmospheres that will get me out shooting as much as I can. Along the beaches below, you have the beach activity you’d expect, especially on weekends, along with a strong surfing culture. What makes Miraflores even more special is how it’s situated just above the ocean, with some really nice parks stretching along the cliff that connects below. You get miles of beach and park life right by each other, all with that picturesque view and atmosphere. In the photo below, I noticed this couple with matching white pants, which could create an interesting look at a particular angle. I’m also attracted to themes of love and people connecting in street photography, so I liked how it all could be combined here. Along with that Miraflores setting.

You can see Forrest's work on Instagram and his website

TC Lin talks with Teresa Chang

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BME Interview series: TC Lin talks with Teresa Chang. This interview was conducted in Chinese and translated to English.

1. Hello. Could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Teresa Chang. I have been shooting in the streets for more than three years. My day job as a secretary is quite stressful, so to relax I took advantage of an opportunity to meet with some friends who are into street photography, and whenever I had the time, I would go out shooting with them. I never expected that I’d becomeso addicted to it. Now, if I don’t take photos, something just doesn’t feel right; it seems I’ve fallen in love with it.

2. How did you come to take up a camera and start shooting?

I was following my group of street-shooting friends in Taichung. I didn’t pay much attention to the specific equipment because the main thing is to be willing to go out and try to connect and interact with people. The camera is really secondary to that. I’ve been using the same camera and lenses from the beginning, and I’ve become used to using two fixed-focal-length lenses for everything. At first I just observed from behind my friends, just to see how they shot. I didn’t think I’d get so intoit, but I did. In the course of shooting street, you can discover all kinds of places, fascinating places you would normally not give a second glance to, just on your way to or from work.

3. What do you hope to convey through your photography?

I don't know what most people think about the environment here in Taiwan; many might see it as very messy and lacking the kind of beautiful scenery you see abroad. But in my eyes, Taiwan is quite unique, and I feel my work reflects a unique Taiwanese flavor. Some pictures might seem quite conflicting, but that is one of the characteristics of Taiwan. One of the reasons I’ve sought to participate in some international competitions over the past three or four years is that I hope people from other countries can see and appreciate the street scene in Taiwan, not just the usual scenic and portraits. What are the defining characteristics of Taiwan? What are our streetscapes like? I really want people from other countries to see it all.

4. What exactly do you mean by “conflicting” work?

For example, some back alleyways and barred-up windows…many people think that such sights are ugly, as well as the old vegetable markets. In fact, these kinds of enviroments have been created over time by the daily habits of Taiwanese people. What I am recording is not a matter of beauty or ugliness; authenticity is large part of what attracts me, but also a sense of the surreal...it’s hard to describe.

5. How has your attitude towards photography changed in the past three years?

The camera is a tool;street shooting is a method. I was shooting aimlessly in the beginning, and after meeting with my friends and also seeing a great deal of work from around the world, I began to come up with my own ideas and organizing series. Street photography for me can't just be a simple, aimless pursuit, so I worked towards making series, as I think this is very important.Simply shooting single street images, I feel, doesn’t let me speak my own truth, and the final work won’t be complete; it will always just be about the single image. If it is only a street scene, it won’t be accepted by most of the art circles in Taiwan. If your photo is good, but there is nothing behind it, it is still just a general street view and cannot attain the status of top-notch work here. You’ll just be stuck, and if you are stuck at that stage for three or four years, there is nowhere to go, no way to improve, so you should try to break through that, think about what is going on around you, what the series you want to create is, and then organize and edit it. It’s much better to have parameters.

6. Regarding the series you just mentioned, do you plan a series of photos first and then shoot it, or do you come up with the series from photos you’ve already shot?

I think that both approaches can be done at the same time. The first thing is to shoot broadly. Whatever you see is related to your life, so you can try a wide range of shots, and then edit the photos. There will be sufficient context, and you will know generally what kind of shots you’re most interested in getting.

7. Does a series have to tell a story? Do you need to plan it first? What advice would you give to people who are starting out?

It can be a story or a description of one thing. You can shoot with or without a plan, or take a subject and either narrow it down or extend it. In fact, none of this is set in stone. Some people may be more suited to working in a certain way, while others are not, and this of course applies to everyone. Alec Soth’s book Sleeping by the Mississippi is not just recording the places he visited on his trip, but it’s also telling the stories of the people he encountered along the way. He planned the shooting in order to successfully complete the book. Alex Webb, on the other hand, shoots street scenes, just shooting where he goes without a solid, deliberate plan, but he is very good at shooting and has his own personal characteristics. So I feel one shouldn’t limit oneself too much;just be willing to go out and shoot a lot, and you’ll discover the right direction for yourself. Although I’ve only been shooting for a little more than three years, during this time I have gotten to know many friends who practice many different types of photography.So I think I have grown a lot in this respect.

8. How does your work reflect your personality and ideas?

I’ve liked painting very much since I was a child, but traditional Taiwanese families always feel that painting has no future, so most of my elders did not encourage me. I felt restricted in such an environment. Later, photography helped me discover my own direction. Many people have experience in photography, and/or have taken a class on the subject. The teachers will generally teach composition, the rule of thirds, etc. I never learned those or what was supposed to be the best angle for shooting, or apertures or shutter speeds, etc. I tend to rely on my intuition, being attracted to certain images even though I may not know why at the time. I’ve tried looking at some photography books;they bored me back when I started, but after I’d been doing photography for a while, I began to realize the meaning behind the collections.

9. How did you get the idea to make a photobook?

Actually, this was the first one;there are only twenty pages. The main purpose of the photobook was to let more people see my photos. The collection was published by an independent publishing company in Taiwan. Everyone knows that photobooks are perceived by most publishers in Taiwan as not being that sellable, so most photographers here have to self-finance limited-issue photobooks. They are all working to express what they want to express.

10. How did you edit and sequence your photobook?

I actually have a lot of photos, so I asked my friends to help me edit them as they have more experience in that regard. Taiwan is more than just the usual wedding photos, studio portraits, and landscapes…with my work, I hope to gradually subvert some of the more traditional views of photography here. Street photography is quite common in other countries, and the concept is a good one.

11. What plans or developments do you have for your photography over the next decade?

I’m just going with the flow. I say this because, in Taiwan, one has to be very persistent to accomplish much in the photographic circles.This is quite difficult to do because there seem to be many unwritten “rules” in Taiwan! Ideally, I should be following my own vision step by step, not forcing it, because, after all, I am not a full-time photographer; photography is an interest of mine, letting me relax, and it’s the life I want, i.e. it’s enough for me for now. Of course, after I won the Miami Street Photography award, many people started to notice me, and this may also be a good motivation for me to speed up some of the things I’ve wanted to do.

12. What motivates you to continue to practice street shooting?

Photography is just a matter of course for me. Like you, when I see a picture, I just take it. It is a natural reaction, not something I do with any particular deliberation.

13. Which photographers/photography books have had the biggest influence on you?

I really like the Alec Soth book I mentioned above;it is very quiet and poetic. He connects the scenes together in a way I really enjoy. When I first started, I was attracted by the images of Alex Webb, as he uses so many layers of light and shadow, and I also like Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi; she tends to shoot some abstract details, but with strong emotional connections. And there are actually many others I like.

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This one, which won the Miami award, is quite funny. Some netizens sent me a message describing the composition of my work like this: The character fits exactly in the block of color, the light on the neck of the main character is a nice finishing touch, and the right foot fills the composition...they told me all this very systematically. In fact, when I saw it, I just thought it was a nice scene. The colors attracted me, so I waited there for a bit. I won't wait too long…I know some people will wait for a long time to get a photo, but I won't; I just tend to wait for a bit and, if nothing seems to be happening, I just move on. I won't force myself to shoot something like that in particular. For this photo, I took about three or four shots there. When I saw the scene, I pretty much knew what composition I wanted. I knew that children would be coming down the slide, so I waited, and the appearance of a pair of feet at that time was quite fortuitous, as I didn’t have to wait that long. Without the feet, I feel that the picture would not be that interesting.

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I generally prefer to take interesting, somewhat quirky pictures. I don't know if people can see the relationships and connections in this shot;many people ignore such small details; I may record things most people see as boring but which I think are interesting. I wanted to try some different things here, so I talked to them and asked if I could take a couple more shots. I told them that it was because they were quite interesting, and even though they had no idea what I meant by that, they still agreed to let me shoot them.

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This one was taken in a fishing port in Keelung. The fisherman was washing next to the pier. He also asked me what I was shooting; I said I was just shooting everything. Although I took a photo in a bit of a fun-minded spirit, I never shoot with ill intent. If it will provoke people or insult them, I won’t take the photo.

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This was taken at the Flower Expo in Taichung. I love the feeling of the light and shadows cooperating to give the impression of the boy being tied up in light. I didn’t wait for this scene; I just happened upon it.

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The scenes I shoot are often quite ordinary. If this scene hadn’t caught my eye, I would have passed it by. The tent looks just like a house;some people’s figures are revealed by the light and shadow, but most people aren’t able to see just what is going on from just looking at the shot, and are curious about how and where I shot it.In fact, this is just the light and shadow in a tent set up in Taichung Park at night.

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This one was shot at a temple fair in Lukang, in central Taiwan; it’s a bit like an Alex Webb shot. I think the main thing about this photo is the face of the auntie on the right, because her eye makes the photo. If she weren’t there, the whole picture would be too flat. This is a close shot taken with a 28mm lens. When people start shooting, they often find it difficult to start taking close-ups because they are embarrassed and afraid of others. When your behavior is strange, people will think that you are very strange. In fact, you only have to be generous and open, and act naturally. People may be curious and ask what you’re doing, but there shouldn’t be any hostility. If you really don't want to interact with people, just pretend you’re shooting something else! Once, when I was wandering around a village in Southern Taiwan, I just happened upon an indigenous wedding…so I just walked in and started taking pictures. They asked me what I was shooting, and I just told them that the wedding was fascinating to me. So they invited me to join them in their celebration, the dancing, the food…they even offered me some betel nuts! The point is to go with your feelings when interacting with people on the street.

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