Shadow & Light is a list of curated photography stories, features, techniques, news and inspiration that I’ve come across this month.
In this month’s edition we look back at American street life in the analogue age and learn how to get great shots in the most mundane of spaces. We visit a fading Arkansas town and spend a blissful 5 minutes listening to the delectable sound of a range of camera shutters.
So, with no further ado, I give you this month’s Shadow & Light Monthly. Go grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy this month’s selections below. Please let me know in the comments what you think.
Pick of the month – Headed West – A portrait of American street life in the analogue era
Between the 1960s and ‘90s, photographer Paul McDonough made numerous trips across the nation to photograph quintessential scenes of contemporary American life that have become artefacts of the analogue era.
These have been collected into a new book, Headed West (Stanley/Barker). McDonough brings together vibrant scenes of Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Portland, and New Orleans, as well as on the road, to create an elegiac topography of the late twentieth century.
There’s an excellent article over on Huck where you can read more and see more of McDonough’s excellent work.
Additional reads
Parking Garage Portrait Challenge – Shooting in the most mundane of spaces
I always find it interesting to see how photographers deal with less than ideal conditions or locations. Being able to draw on experience in order to adapt to situations is a really important skill.
This video is a great example. Here one photographer takes on the challenge of shooting high end portraits in a decidedly uninspiring parking garage (or a multi storey as us Brits would call it). There’s some great content in here – not just in terms of finding great spots and angles but also blending ambient light with flash.
Keeping a fading Arkansas town alive through photography
Photographer Eugene Richards returned to his home town of Earle, Arkansas in 2019 after many years away and was struck by an overwhelming feeling of absence:
No men and women picking cotton. No old folks on the porch staring out at you. No children running and jumping around. The sharecropper shacks that were here 50 years ago have vanished. Once there were four or five of them every couple of miles — tin roofs, plastic sheeting over the windows, front yards rutted with tire tracks, littered with rusted-out cars, bed springs, things that once meant a lot to someone, but didn’t any longer.
He started to document the town and it’s history and eventually turned the work into a book called ‘The Day I Was Born‘. You can read more about the project, and see more of Richard’s work over on Delaware Public Media. You can find Eugene Richards at his website and on Instagram.
Lovely shutter sounds from 18 cameras – from 135 full frame to 810 large format
There are two types of people in the world. Those who, when coming across 5 minutes of camera shutter sounds look confused and those (like me) who sit back, close their eyes and enjoy the beauty of the click.
If you’re the former then you probably want to stop here. Thanks for coming and we’ll see you in the next edition. If you’re a kindred spirit though, you’ll enjoy this as much as I did.
Sit back and enjoy. Ahhhhhhhh…
Until next time…
I hope you enjoy the articles above. Don’t forget you can follow my Shadow & Light magazine over on Flipboard if you’d like to see more of what I’m reading if you like what you’ve seen here.
Stay safe x
Shadow & Light Magazine
Shadow & Light is a list of curated photography stories, features, techniques, news and inspiration that I maintain on Flipboard. It’s a great way to create myself a ‘read later’ list. Feel free to follow the magazine for updates or keep an eye on my blog where I regularly post Shadow & Light monthly highlights.
