Trying to find Chinatown

Posted by Damon Schreiber (Toronto, Canada) on 2 February 2009 in Documentary & Street and Portfolio.

Day two of the B+W Street Photography theme. Sometimes a street photo works just because you want to get a better look at the people we pass by in the street. A moment frozen in time can be fascinating for humans, because we are innately drawn to other human faces.

I took this photo yesterday (on February First) as part of a long walk I spent doing street photos. Doing this effectively requires becoming as invisible as possible, which tends to mean convincing yourself that you are in fact invisible. Maybe I was - I took hundreds of photos of people, and nobody paid me any attention.

[Spadina & Glen Baillie, Toronto]

This list is as best I can tell everyone who signed up or expressed some interest apart from those who couldn't make it. If you want to be removed from the list or if you want to be added (and you are following the guidelines) please let me know using my Contact link. I'll try my best to accommodate you. There are some sites on the list that haven't uploaded photos yet for today. I'll leave the links there for now, but if they don't upload theme photos at some point, I'll remove them.

B+W Street Photography Theme photobloggers:
Addey Kehinde - Addey's Images
Ajinkya - Figment
Akihiro - My PhotoPod
Alina Livia Lazăr - a female possessed by a camera
Alphons - Alphons' Photoblog
Anita - Impressions
António Pires - Olhar e ver Photoblog
Barbara - Barbara's Photoblog
Baz - Mondoscope
Behrooz Sangani - BSurprised
Bernarrrd - Urban Stroll
bluechameleon - bluechameleon
browneyes - browneyes
chakrapani - Deja 'View'......
Cheryl - Cheryl's Daily Sightings
chiaroscurro fotoblog
coprodog - ...
Damon Schreiber - The Electroblog
Daryl - Digital Guff
DenisSm - DenisSm's Photoblog
djedfre - djedfre
dobbino - dobbino's photos
dogilicious - just plain dogilicious
Dwight Corrin - Life on the Prairie
Eugene Nikiforov - Twisted mind
Evelyn - Poppies in October
filipe franco - observer
Giovanni - shooting giraffe
Hikari - Hikari in Japan Photoblog
hugo poon - one day in my life
Ian Bramham - Ian Bramham's Photoblog
james mason - james's Photoblog
Jason Kravitz - Jason Kravitz Photography
Jorge - Jose Roy's Photoblog
Joan Mercadal - "LA FOTO DEL DIA"
k@ - Photo/Graphie
Kheoh Yee Wei - photoEvolution
Kiran - Expressions
Krisu - K's Photoblog
LauraS - lsederberg's photoblog
Linerberry - Liners' Photoblog
Lucca's Café - Lucca's Café
Luis A. De Jesus R. - Bit's Photography
luwi - luwi
Matt - Matt Demers Avatar Project
Michael Skorulski - Brunch with Battutah
Monte Stevens - Monte's Photoblog
Momo - Morris Taub Exposed
Mooraha - Small things make life nice
Mortola - foto-moto
Murphys - Murphys Photoblog
NADINE DERUYCK - NADINE DERUYCK
Nataly - Nataly's Photoblog
Nicole - Mon K10 et moi
Nicole - Nicole in Japan
Observing - Observing
ordinaryimages - ordinaryimages
Paco Díaz - FranciscoDiazPhotoblog
Pied Crow - Piga Picha
Pixim - Pixim Photoblog
R.J.Dee - Ralf J. 's Photoblog
raskolniikov - electric eye
Richard_Irwin - Richard Irwin - Photoblog
Robert - Robert's Photoblog
Ron - TEXERE: fabric of life
San G. - San G's Photoblog
Scene by Sharon Photography - Scene-by-Sharon Photoblog
Shashank - Coming back to life
shallowregret - shallowregret
Shirin Moosavi - Visual Vortex
Stephen Skok - Stephen's Almost Daily PicBlog
TJ - TJ's Photoblog
Taylor - Taylor's Perspective
Tia - ...attraverso i miei occhi...
tt - tt's Photoblog
Will - Bleu365
willow - Willow Tree
Yellowbear - Yellowbear
zahai - Focus Points
Zing - Zing Photography

vfxy Photoblogs | Listed on Photoblogs.org

Comments (56)

Andrew Gould from Sydney, Australia

Excellent classic style street shot. Very good rich tones.

2 Feb 2009 5:13am

Shirin Moosavi from Tehran, Iran

you are right in front of him and yet you managed to capture his candid expression!
That's wonderful!

2 Feb 2009 5:14am

bluechameleon from Vancouver, Canada

Great shot Damon! I love how this looks like film...the shiny wet pavement and the expression on this gentleman's face. Oddly enough, my shot is taken in Chinatown as well.
Excellent work...as always!

2 Feb 2009 5:15am

Addey Kehinde from London, United Kingdom

This is a really cool "Jeff Mermelstein" type-shot. (I gotta try this someday!).

2 Feb 2009 5:16am

@Addey Kehinde: Thanks, Addey! I'm a big fan of Jeff Mermelstein so that's quite flattering for me.

Linerberry from Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand

It really does look like a scene from an old movie!! Excellent capture and i love what you say about 'street photography; and being invisible or convincing yourself you are!!! I nearly did that!! need more practice!

2 Feb 2009 5:40am

Zing from Hamilton, New Zealand

Excellent shot, love how you captured his character.

2 Feb 2009 5:43am

Barbara from Florida, United States

Excellent! Like a scene out of a movie and he is the main character.
This challenge has given me a new direction, taking me out of the ordinary routine I put myself into with my images.
While I prefer an urban scene for this challenge I captured what is available in "vacationland" but with a different approach that I needed. Thanks for the Challenge.

2 Feb 2009 6:14am

Daryl from Amagasaki, Japan

Nicely balanced light and dark...

2 Feb 2009 6:33am

Observing from West Cheshire, United Kingdom

A brilliant shot Damon, perfect framing and focus, it's like a still from a documentary... which it is of course.

2 Feb 2009 6:45am

djedfre from schaumburg, United States

what an amazing face!
(enjoying the challenge - thanks!)

2 Feb 2009 6:51am

dobbino from Cape Town, South Africa

Fantastic capture - the contrasts here are superb.

2 Feb 2009 6:56am

k@ from France

Oh, would do a fantastic duet with Bluechamelon shot !! Love it, the same great portrait in the foreground (but yours smiling) with the street and backs in the background - extraordinary compo !

2 Feb 2009 7:02am

NADINE DERUYCK from KLUISBERGEN, Belgium

great expresssion caught in an excellent composition...

2 Feb 2009 7:51am

Paco Díaz from Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Strong character in this photo, good contrast for the b/w and splendid scene. Well done.

2 Feb 2009 8:16am

zahai from Berlin, Germany

Beautiful capture. Well done with the invisibility :)

2 Feb 2009 8:27am

DenisSm from Prague, Czech Republic

i like it,very nice ...congrats...:-)

2 Feb 2009 10:47am

Tia from Desenzano del Garda, Italy

great lights and interesting angle...well done!

2 Feb 2009 11:35am

Ron from Saint Louis, United States

A face full of character ...

2 Feb 2009 12:13pm

Scene by Sharon Photography from Kingston, Ontario, Canada

great candid shot - love it!

2 Feb 2009 12:14pm

Anita from Quito, Ecuador

Very cool image! Love the man his expression and the textures in his face.
Great perspective and light.

2 Feb 2009 12:31pm

Giovanni from Milan, Italy

Excellent capture, very classic! Love the man's expression!

2 Feb 2009 12:47pm

Bernarrrd from Toronto, Canada

Nicely done! You did a great job capturing his expression while he remains oblivious to the fact that his picture is being taken. Very natural!

2 Feb 2009 12:57pm

Hikari from Kumamoto, Japan

Toronto and Vancouver conection !! , I love this kind of close aproach !
He´s like an actor , such a character.

2 Feb 2009 1:08pm

Hikari from Kumamoto, Japan

By the way ... I forgot , here in Japan is impossible for me to become invisible in the streets, everybody look at me !! ... but I´m getting use to it and think I´m invisible !

2 Feb 2009 1:12pm

@Hikari: Really? I find when I'm in Japan that contrary to my expectations, almost no one looks at me (at least not overtly). Maybe it depends on the location. Certainly there are a reasonable number of non-Japanese in the Kobe/Osaka/Kyoto area that I usually go to, so I'm probably not a curiosity. Only once, in downtown Kobe, when I was working as a chef, a group of schoolkids started pointing and chanting 'gaijin!'

browneyes from Kanagawa, Japan

Wow! Sorry, I can't help "wow-ing" on am3 lately. Beautiful depth of field shows wetty texture and snow. Excellent!

2 Feb 2009 2:13pm

Taylor from Charlotte, United States

great expression and composition! Love the depth of field. Really well done!!

2 Feb 2009 2:25pm

Virgil from Richmond, United States

This is really good; I like the expression on his face.

2 Feb 2009 2:33pm

Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada

Wow I love this totally missed this theme, sorry Damon, it's a great one...is tomorrow too late? I'll post one anyway...a cityscape, well now, I have a lot of those, but you can't always see beyond the snow, lol ;)

2 Feb 2009 2:48pm

@Lorraine: Of course, you know you're always welcome, Lorraine!

dogilicious from Millerstown, PA, United States

Very nice capture. I'm learning alot from this challenge.

2 Feb 2009 2:50pm

WABIKOJA from Shiga, Japan

Excellent composition well framed !

2 Feb 2009 2:57pm

Jeffster from Long Island, United States

Another captivating street scene. The expression on his face says alot. I won't be able to participate this time, but look forward to the next themed shoot. Thanks.

2 Feb 2009 2:59pm

Momo from Montpellier, France

this is classic Damon...nicely done...love the crop on this, the guys expression...and i feel like you...to be invisible, it's a zen thing :-)

2 Feb 2009 3:04pm

Dwight Corrin from Wichita, Kansas, United States

Thank you for getting this challenge going. Besides presenting a fine group of photos, it has done other good things as well. It caused me to go back through shoots looking for shots which will translate to black and white in a way that I haven't done for a long time. Hopefully it will get me back into a tri-x frame of mind while I'm shooting, so that along with looking for good images, I'll more consistantly also be looking for good black and white images.

2 Feb 2009 3:40pm

Richard_Irwin from Belper, United Kingdom

Its amazing just how you can sometimes slip through the city, invisible with your camera. I think its to do with how you feel inside. If you are self conscious, you are noticed by everyone, if you look like you belong, you are left alone. I really like this shot, the composition is tremendous.

2 Feb 2009 3:50pm

Rags from Plano, United States

Great image. I really like the mans expression.

2 Feb 2009 3:51pm

Gelinda from Avellino, Italy

Complimenti. E' davvero bella

2 Feb 2009 3:52pm

hugo poon from hong kong, Hong Kong

Superb framing and wonderful tone... one of my favs of the day!!!

2 Feb 2009 4:32pm

Xavi Heredia from Badalona (almost Barcelona), Spain

Great... a picture that makes us think of the great American photographers of the Great Depression.

2 Feb 2009 6:24pm

Sandrine from Cincinnati, United States

Great street shot! I'm such a wimp when it comes to this kind of photography!

2 Feb 2009 9:04pm

tt from dublin, Ireland

i love the strong contrast and his expression. very nice composition. great image.

2 Feb 2009 9:14pm

Pixim from Nice, France

I am in admiration in front of this type of photographic composition and the photographer. Surely because still unable to do it by fear of people. The B&W are perfect of depth and of direction, I like these movements reverse characters who compose the photograph, and the life of humanity in this portrait taken randomly, but is summarized perfectly the chance? Bravo ;)

2 Feb 2009 9:28pm

peter from new york, United States

excellent portrait damon. his face could tell thousands of stories. nicely done!

2 Feb 2009 10:21pm

Twelvebit from Victoria, United States

Still, a bold shot. When I get the opportunity for street photography I use a Crumpler bag that doesn't look like a photo bag, and allows a fast draw, and I keep my camera out of sight except when I'm shooting. I don't really try to be invisible though, once the camera comes out I take the approach of being acting like I belong there taking photos. I also find that with professional looking equipment, many people seem to assume you have a professional purpose, and that seems to bother them less than the idea of taking photos for yourself. Still, I have to put myself in the right mental state for it.

2 Feb 2009 11:10pm

Ronnie 2¢ from London, United Kingdom

Very fine example of the genre . . the 'invisibility' aspect you mention is key . . thinking oneself invisible.

3 Feb 2009 1:24am

Nataly from Santa Monica, United States

Great shot, Damon! This man looks as if he sees something he`s been longing for a long time now.

3 Feb 2009 3:36am

DarkElf from Perth, Australia

superb capture! great focus on the man passing by and good DOF to leave background slightly out of focus... great street scene!

3 Feb 2009 4:35am

-1q5yChØt!c- from karaj, Iran

well done...

3 Feb 2009 10:03am

Barbara from Florida, United States

CONGRATULATIONS! Damon this image made it to the AM3 Spotlight.
Well deserved. This is such a winning shot!!
So rewarding for orchestrating a wonderful challenge too.

3 Feb 2009 1:06pm

Anna.C from LA ROCHELLE, France

a great shot ! I love it ! excellent composition with the man in first plan, I love his expression !

3 Feb 2009 2:09pm

bluechameleon from Vancouver, Canada

Congrats on being in the Spotlight! Well deserved!

3 Feb 2009 2:14pm

Luis A. De Jesus R. from Mexico City, Mexico

You must be invisible to get this close. Interesting approach of killing the fear in the thought processes. Great results. Love the candid capture of expression here.

3 Feb 2009 6:37pm