For my Image Communication class, we attended a Lecture in the art building on Lanes main campus, with a street photographer named Ed Aust. He was a very quite man from Oakland California with glasses, jeans, plaid shirt, hiking boots, and a very shy domineer. When looking at his work before he began, I was interested to hear the stories behind the photos. Street photography wasn’t a category I was aware of, but naturally I was curious about it and sat awaiting for some more information.
http://ed-aust.photoshelter.com/index
When he began the lecture he seemed extremely nerves about the volume of people crammed in a small open room. Quickly he began to warm up about the topics of the photographs he shot. The most interesting photos were dark, rustic, had an old feel to them with grain, which felt vintage. He said he only used black and white for his photography and recently switched from film to digital SLR cameras. No surprise on the switch, since using film demanded more time and energy devoted to setting up and processing. He mentioned that there are still some that do film, but with him really not getting paid for his Street Art category, he found digital to be faster. Which I totally agree with. Even though film has a supernatural feel to it compared to digital, when it comes down to the time…it is not going to win in that department, unless someone is willing to pay for that time. I will not say that someone wont but now-a-days it’s an extremely fast paced world, which demands fast needs. When hearing about not getting paid for this style of photography I was wondering what he did do for a profession. He quickly answered with Web Design, like he knew somebody was going to ask that question in a matter of seconds, saving himself the time and energy. He did mention he did do other things in photography like Commercial work, weddings, and special events. Web design was his steady work.
When attending his second lecture in the multimedia building, he was more into the business side of how, where, why he got some of the pictures he did with different examples not found in the arts building. I had a rare instance to meet his son that did video editing in California, which I took advantage of for a contact. This presentation he spoke for was well made with examples of work he has done in the past and some recent projects. He went into detail about what makes street photography hard and fun. The hard part for him was about taking a photo of someone passing by or on the bus. For some people its freighting, because of the reaction of the person. What if they don’t want their picture taken, or if they get hostile about the fact. What made it fun was getting the timing right for the best possible photo. Right when somebody jumps while trying to grab a branch to hang onto, for example. To me, that is why I love taking photos. I felt his professional presence was well worth the time spent reviewing and listing too. He would be a really cool guy to hangout with for a day and have a beer talking about photography, video, composition, lens, and all other things media.
One of my favorites of the collection.
