|  Istanbul by David Schroeder
"Yes, and..." The light is never right, the weather is seldom cooperative, and there's not enough time to let things develop naturally. Added to this, my wife continually threatens to go on without me if I lag behind the tour group "one more time" in order to work a scene. Travel photography is challenging, at best, and attempting to capture worthwhile images, as tourist, seems, wee, mostly impossible. But that's what makes it so intriguing and exciting - at least to me- at least some of the time. I enjoy taking the time to explore and develop an image as much as most photographers, but I also enjoy the chaos and unpredictability of less controlled situations in which it's sometimes possible to go off in new directions and see things from a different perspective. In thinking about this unsettling aspect of travel photography, I realized that I've had a variety of experiences in my past that have led me in this direction and have also taught me ways of dealing with the less structured elements of shooting on the run. In a previous lifetime, as a member of an improvisational theater group, I learned to accept, support and add to situations over which I had little control in order to create a scene. To be effective in this type of atmosphere, the other actors and I used to practice a theater game called "Yes, and..." in which an actor's first response is required to be "Yes" - matter what is presented. (No arguing, balking or eqivocating.) The actor then has to "add to" the concept - building on what's there. Under these conditions, it's often possible to end up in new and wonderful places - creating something you couldn't have imagined if you'd stopped to think about what you were doing. Photographically it's almost the opposite of "pre-visualizing" the image you want to produce. For example, not long ago, a group of friends were planning to go on a photoshoot at a nearby covered bridge. One the day of the shoot it was drizzling. Most of the group opted out in favor of hot chocolate at a local cafe. A few of us, however, said "yes" it's raining,..."and" the subtle colors of the rocks near the river will be more vivid when web. The hot chocolate group is still trying to duplicate the wonderful textures and colors that we captured in our shots from that day. More recently, on a tour of the Eastern Mediterranean, I had many opportunities to practice what I preach - 17 ports in 24 days. As might be expected, some days were photographically better than others. What I noticed, however, is that some of my best images (to may way of seeing) often came of days during which I had given up trying to take "pretty pictures" and just shot what was there. For example, I liked my photos of Venice when it was raining better than the tourist shots of canals and gondolas I'd taken on clear, sunny days. In Naples, when I lost interest in the architectural monuments of the city (the light was extremely flat), I became entranced by lovers in the park and swimmers lying on the rocks in the harbor - a unique way of capturing the essence of the city. My favorite example of this approach occurred in Istanbul, where we were lucky to have some personal friends as guides through the city. They made the city come alive but they couldn't control the hazy sky that washed out most scenic photos. As we waited in a large city square for a trolley, I looked around at the chaotic mix of people and vehicles seemingly flowing in all directions at the same time and shot off a few frames to see what was there. In the corner of one picture I noticed a modern, glass building, reflecting the distorted image of an older building on its' facade. I quickly moved across the square to better align the two images and shot several more frames. When I finished this brief "yes, and...and..." journey, I became aware that I was now separated from our little group, standing alone amid the people and places of Istanbul - exactly where I wanted to be. The picture that resulted from this small excursion captured, for me, the feeling of a people living and working in a world that is both ancient and modern - a picture that seemed to describe Istanbul more than the formal images I'd made of the major Mosques, for which the city is known. And, yes, my wife found me and led me back to the comfort of our little tour group. |
Learn 
