Welcome to another MondayPhotoPick, this week with Alex Webb. This week marks the first complete loop of participants and the start of round two. The last time I choose Christopher Agou partially out of a spur of the moment idea, rather than a deliberate conscious choice. That’s not to say it was a bad choice, but it wasn’t really my choice. This time I got to choose and so went for a photographer whom I consider to be one of the Masters. Alex Webb.
Alex Webb is a Magnum photographer from the States. I wouldn’t reduce him to a “street photographer” as I feel his work is more broad than that but certain includes street and has influenced many street photographers.
Alex’s earliest work was in Black and white but he switched to colour and along with Martin Parr, is one of the key influencers in colour street photography. I certain take influence from Alex in my use of colour in street photography.
My favourite Alex Webb Photo
This week, I can certainly pick a favourite photo from Alex Webb. It is the image of the young boy in Istanbul. The “hipster in me” (man I hate that guy) feels like I should pick a more obscure photo but I can’t help but love his choice for cover image in his book “Istanbul: City of a hundred names”.
Personally, I think this is the complete street photo. This is the benchmark I measure every photo I take against. It has everything. Depth (due to the mid, foreground and background). It has an emotive figure that evokes a reaction (the boy). There is no overlap in elements in the frame. It’s well exposed and the figures in the background combine with the light create a surreal and menacing feeling. The contrast of green and red and perfect as well.
I love this image so much, honestly, it maybe be my favourite image of all time.
Join in with #MondayPhotoPick
Check out Yuri, Pavel and Brook’s MondayPhotoPicks and leave a comment here (or on twitter) if you’d like to take part in next weeks round.
[…] the tips I heard recently is to look at who influenced the people who influence you. So if you like Alex Webb, look for one of his interviews and find out who influenced him. As such, It’s something I’ve […]