Such a matured person and an incredible street photographer. Ronald Grauer is a VFX Supervisor by profession and has definitely got some time for street photography beyond those render times. He speaks about what inspires him to shoot the moment, his vivid feel for compositions and colors and a lot more in this brief interview.
Speaking about his photographs, his theory of a complete street picture is evident and makes us go in awe for his stunning work on a project called Flash, where he has shot numerous photographs with flash on right at the person. A wonderful portfolio here and a great talent to watch out for in the upcoming years.
Can you please introduce yourself?
I’m a 38, Belgian amateur photographer, leaving in Brussels. I’ve started studies of architecture but after few years I switched in the cinema industry, working as a visual effect supervisor. I’ve always been in relation with image & composition.
What first drew you to photography and how did you discover it?
As mentioned, I’ve always been in love with image, lighting, colors, composition and graphical element. Younger, from time to time I was taking pictures. But At the birth of my son, over 6 years ago, I bought a new digital camera. And since than I never stop taking pictures.
What does ‘street photography’ mean to you?
It means the decisive moment of an every day scene. I love the naivety, the intuition the unexpected nature of it. Nothing is prepare, and most of all, you never know the next picture you are about to take.
What mostly catches your eye as a street photographer?
Lines, shapes, those elements are the background of an action, a scene. For me, those graphical elements are as important as the decisive moment of an ephemeral scene.
I love the battle and love of shadows and light that you can find in the cities. None of them can exist without the other… Those contrast, those strong lines, are pretty representative of my work.
Please tell us few words about your project « Flashed » and what you learn from that?
It’s a project that I started one year ago. I can’t say that the project is Finnish, it’s just that for the moment I’m less working with my flash. You can’t mix « classical streephotography session » with a session with flash. Those are differents ways of working, approaching people, different way of saying things.
I started this project to overcome my fear, to learn about my self.
I did learn a lot with this project, but most of all I learned about people. Contrary to what you might think, I had only 2 negatives reactions from the hundreds of people I took on photograph. People don’t really care about what’s going on around them. And a big part of them did not even realize I was taking a picture of them! Off course they are some tricks to avoid being to « obvious »… but what ever the trick I use, at the end, I take a picture of a stranger with a flash right in his face!
The result of this, I have a great set of people, us, people that makes our cities. This is the focus of my project.
Click here to view complete set of pictures
Your favorite photographers?
The usual one like Garry Winograns, Robert Fanck, etc…
I loved to discover few years ago Vivian Mayer, and the whole story around it. And right now, Siegfried Hansen is simply blowing my mind.
Your gear?
A sweet little Panasonic LX100.
Any advice for aspiring photographers?
At home: Read books, surf on the net. Get inspired. Do not be afraid to imitate the work of the big names of street photography. You’ll see you’ll find your own style sooner or later…
Out side: Just open your eyes. Everything is in front of you! And always have your camera with you. Always.
You can find Ronald Grauer on the Web :
Copyrights:
All the pictures in this post are copyrighted Ronald Grauer. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.
3 comments
I do not wish to criticise Mr Grauer’s photographs, which are nicely executed and engaging. But I am put out by yet another repetition of the widespread but profoundly mistaken view of Cartier-Bresson’s conception of ‘the decisive moment’.
For Cartier-Bresson, the decisive moment is not some sort of dramatic climax of action or, even less precisely, just when ‘something interestingly odd happens’. Cartier-Bresson was concerned with visual design and compositional geometry (an obsession he learnt from his painting teacher, the minor Cubist painter – but very important teacher – André Lhote.)
For Cartier-Bresson, the decisive monent is the fleeting instant when the elements in the frame come into compositional alignment according to the canons of compositional geometry that Lhote identified and taught his students to organise their pictures with. If you’re really interested in HCB’s decisive moment of perfect compositional geometry, try reading Jay Hambidge’s ‘Elements of Dynamic Symmetry’.
Happy photographing!
Hi Archie,
thank’s for your comment which I believe is true.
HCB is a master, a great one. But he’s far from being the only streetphotographer (or call him as you want).
I’ve noticed a lot of your comments on other forum/sites talking about HCB.
Maybe you should accept that we’re not all attached to his work as you do.
My pictures are my own vision, a more graphical vision of streetphotography than others. Not beter, not less good, just an other one.
Best regards,
Ronald.
loved it. thanx