Twirl/Run on the street
My head is firmly rooted to street photography at present, possibly due to a project idea I am mulling over, so I was intrigued to find a new book by one of the best street photographers out there, Jeff Mermelstein.
Twirl/Run, not the most obvious words to combine, but Jeff has done just that. This collection of pictures from the street show people twirling their hair, or running, just as the title suggests.
Weird, well yes it is, but he's captured some fascinating moments. Physically those pictured may well be in a crowded space, but mentally they are miles away.
The pictures are intriguing, and the beauty is in the details of the absent minded poses, or the imagined stories of the runners striving to make that appointment, or catch that bus or whatever.
It's enhanced by the presentation, each page has a series of three images placed together with no text, no attempt is made to explain what is going on.
I asked Jeff where he likes to work and if he ever encountered any problems with those photographed:
Jeff said:
"I have been walking the streets and sidewalks of New York City for nearly 30 years with camera in hand, this is where I am most comfortable and it remains fertile. I search for something that comes from beyond the corner of my eye, always at work to be ready for surprise. Resistance does at times happen but is not something I like to dwell on."
From a photographers perspective it's also a good lesson in the way a project can come together, Jeff said:
"Both the Twirl and Run themes began unknowingly, but as time went on I began to see what was building. The span of the two bodies of work in the book is 1995 - 2008 and I still continue today."
This is a long term project, and one that didn't start out as anything more than a few shots on similar themes, but over time the realisation that there was something going, something worth exploring led to this book.
It's worth bearing in mind when you decide whether to take a picture or not, you never know where it might lead.
You can see more of Jeff Mermelstein's work here or view a three part video of him at work on the street photographers site, 2point8.
Photos with kind permission from Twirl/Run by Jeff Mermelstein, published by powerHouse Books.
I'm 
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These are great. Street photography rarely gets talked about but its a real art.
Anyone interested in street photography should also check out the work of another guy famous for pounding the streets of New York, Bruce Gilden (my favorite photographer)
[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]
'I'm known for taking photographs very close, and the older I get, the closer I get,"
Bruce gets right in the face of his subjects, using a big flash. It's very confrontational, but the responses reveal something powerful about what is hidden beneath the human veneer. In recent years he has been working on the financial crisis in America, focusing on the people who have lost their homes. Magnum in Motion have a great piece around this which can be seen here: http://bit.ly/qxGM6
Thanks for this post VIEWFINDER
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It must be me. I don't find any of these photos very interesting, nor do they look particularly technically demanding. Who do you have to know to get your photo book featured on the BBC website?
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Ok then press F11 and show it :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41232198@N06/show/
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The clever bit is thinking up an original subject. The result is mundane and pointless. Art it isn't.
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Nos3
Yes the moderators can talk about the very reason street photographers like me are side-lined and treated with suspicion. Its there staring you in the face.
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A completely pointless book in my opinion. This kind of "whacky look at street photography" has been done before and better. The images show nothing and don't show the photographers talents at all. Snapshots. Cartier-Bresson and Erwitt did it better and will always be the kings of street photography.
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I don't think this stuff is nearly as good as Alias Johnny Stiletto's. It just doesn't have the wit or interest.
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Oh God! There's a man with a camera in public! Must be a terrorist. Arrest him.
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Good grief, is that a pair of naked knees that I see in one of the photographs. I thought it was frowned upon to take pictures of bare skin. He would be arrested if he did that on Bournemouth beach and no mistake. Very suspicious!
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Amazing! Just amazing the banality that passes for art these days.
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Its a shame that the comments here reflect such a lack of appreciation and knowledge of the importance of street photography to the history of photography and street culture.
We see a different value through the filter of change over time and an importance that wasn't known at the time :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpWbp4kx7uQ
I'll pass on the sentimental music addition. And at the time the only thing that would have been unusual about this reality is that it had been filmed. To us its a valuable historical record. This is why what seems to us (in our time) to be banal has value - its a future value found through change.
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Wow streetphotobeing that was an amazing, amazing film you linked to!
Made my day watching that. THANKS.
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an interesting idea for a series of street photographs but i have to agree with the commenter above in that the end results are not that stimulating.
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Can anybody comment authoritatively on the legal position here? If the photographer has published these for commercial gain I would have thought model releases would be required. Did he have to chase after these people (some of whom look to be in a hurry to be elsewhere) and persuade them to sign? Or does that not apply in the land of the free? And what would the position be in the UK? Despite the best efforts of the police (especially in Chatham), it remains legal to take photos of anyone in a public place, but if you want to sell the rights to those images model releases are required, no? Or do you just cross your fingers and hope that the subjects never see themselves in print!
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These are some of the most boring street photos I have ever seen. I wouldn't worry about reproduction rights. Who would want them?
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re: richard thomas' posting.
If you're in a public place you're fair game for having your photo taken, and providing it's use in the correct context you dont need a model release to be signed. It's how most of the big news agencies work anyway. If a photo were used to advertise, say drug dealing, under age drinking or whatever, then it breaks the rules and the people involved can prosecute or demand compensation.
But yes, the photos arent the most interesting street photographs you will ever see.
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