NEW STREET AGENDA

KNUT SKJÆRVEN

ON THE GO

WORKBOOK FOR NEW STREET AGENDA.

ON THE GO 2014 NEW STREET AGENDA

A DEDICATION

THIS BOOK IS FOR MY PARENTS AND THEIR PARENTS AND THEIR SONS AND DAUGTHERS.

SOME WERE THERE FOR THE PAST, SOME ARE HERE FOR THE PRESENT, AND SOME WILL BE THERE FOR THE FUTURE.

PHOTOGRAPHS LOOK AT EVERYTHING FROM EVERYWHERE. ALL IS VISIBLE IN ALL ELSE.

ALL IS STILL THERE.

COPENHAGEN APRIL 3, 2014.

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RAIN DANCE #1 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin, June 2012

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ON THE GO 2014 NEW STREET AGENDA

INTRODUCTION

This is a workbook on the go.

Not only can you bring it with you. It will also be under constant development. It is ready as you find it now. The next time you visit it may be even more ready.

Photographs might change place or be substituted and texts may be added.

The workbook will eventually hold 129 photographs. Not that many texts. After all, we are here for the visuals and not for the words.

The workbook it is also a personal statement on street photography. It goes beyond the narrow definition of the term.

It has no beginning, no middle and no end. It does not matter where you start and stop. Every photograph reflects all others. So does every piece of text.

At present it functions mostly as a picture book. Increasingly it will also become a textbook.

The workbook is intended as a tool for NEW STREET AGENDA: The Workshop. You will find information on NEW STREET AGENDA in the back of the book.

Good luck studying the workbook. Don’t forget that the photographs need to be read as well.

Knut Skjærven

Copenhagen, March 24, 2014.

If you want to support the project New Street Agenda, it is possible to make a donation or buy one of the framed photographs. For more information please see page 165.

Front Page Photo: The Greeting #00, Berlin, 2011

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THE WEDDING #2 LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen, June 2011

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TEXT CONTENT:

INTRODUCTION (3); TEXT CONTENT, PHOTO CONTENT; COUNCIL OF EUROPE (7); GESTALT FACTORS; DIFFERENCE IS EVERYTHING; MAP THE GAP; HONOURING HENRI; YOU NEED A PROJECT; TAPPING INTO THE STREAM OF LIFE; IN CONCERT; PICKING YOUR SECOND BRAIN; INTRODUCING THE LIKERT SCALE; WHY CONTENT ANALYSIS; TWO ROADS TO BERLIN; FIGURE/GROUND; KILL YOUR DARLINGS; OCCAM’S RAZOR; THE DEFINITION; HIGH AND LOW; TWIN SISTER; THE LADDER; WHAT COMES FIRST?; CONNOTATION PROCEDURES; ITCHING PHOTOGRAPHY; WALLS OF VISION; IS STREET PHOTOGRAPHY ART?; MEN ACT, WOMEN APPEAR; WHAT IS BAREBONES COMMUNICATION?; HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ARRESTED?; REFERENTIAL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY; VISUAL STORYTELLING; CREATICS; FROM CITY PLAN TO CITY STREET; TWO SPATIAL SYSTEMS; WHOLES AND PARTS; THE TWO HERMENEUTICS; BAREBONES´ BLOGS; SELECTED LITERATURE AND LINKS; WORKSHOP AND E-­‐LEANING PROGRAMS; ABOUT THE AUTHOR; LIMITED EDITIONS; THREE WAYS OF SUPPORT; NOW TAKE THE SAME WAY BACK.

TO BE CONTINUED …

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PHOTO CONTENT:

THE GREETING (FRONTPAGE 00);

RAIN DANCE; THE WEDDING; GIRL WITH BIKE; DIRTY DANCING; BIKE MENDER; FIVE IN A ROW; BRASS BAND; DOCKSIDE; THE SHADOW; DOCKLANDS (10); THE MUSICIANS; DAY DREAMERS; HOT SPOT; IN CONCERT; THE FLYING DUTCHMAN; HONOURING HENRI; BRIEF ENCOUNTER; LADY IN BLUE; AT THE GALLERY; IN MID AIR (20); LONG TALL SALLY; LAST CHANCE; THE READER; JUST PASSING; LOUVRE; POTSDAMER LOW; RINGSIDE; LOOKING BACK; GONE FISHING; POSITIONS (30); PIANO MAN; MARATHON MAN; VINTAGES; DISTRACTION; THE SPREAD; RAINY DAY; LEAVING HOME; THE STRANGER; THE INTERVIEW; THE GHOST (40); FRIENDS; THE CROSSING; THE BRIDE; ROCK MUSIC; SKIN TONES; THE LOBBY; PLAYGROUND; UNDER THE BRIDGE; SELF PORTRAIT; SPREE VIEW (50); PARISERPLATZ; MONUMENT MEN; TWIN SISTERS; PARTY TIME; SHOOTING SHADOW; IN A ROW; CAMERA WORK; SOFT SOLUTION; K-­‐DAMM COUPLE; BLUE NOTE (60); MONBIJO PARK; THE KISSING LINK; BLUE LADY; MOVABLE FEAST; THE SMILE; THE DANCERS; ART LOVERS; CHECKPOINT CHARLIE ; SMOKING; THE PHOTOGRAPHER (70); WAYS OF SEEING; KEEPING LOW; WINSTON’S VOCATION; THOUGHTFUL; MYSTERY MAN; FAMILY LIFE; DANCE LESSON; BOOKSHOP; BIKE BENEFIT; THE RECEPTION (80); POTSDAMER PLATZ; SURVEILLANCE; BUS DRIVER; SEX IN THE CITY; DOWN STAIRS; BLUE VELVET; COUPLES; DANISH DESIGN; LUNCH TIME; MONKEY BUSINESS (90); THE LETTER; PRESS CONFERENCE; LEGS; BLENDING; LUSTGARTEN; PICTURING PEOPLE; IN THE MOOD; THE KISS; MODERN TIMES; WINDOW VIEW (100); THE CONFERENCE; GONE SHOPPING; CLOSER LOOK; FRAMEWORK; IN COLOUR; BITS AND PIECES; THE BOW; LOOKING AT YOU; THIRST; MEN IN BLACK (110); BERLIN FASHION; SORROWS; REFLECTIONS; STREET ART; NIGHTLIFE; RED DRESS; CAPTAIN’S CORNER; WINNER TAKES ALL; MIRROR, MIRROR; NOT AFRAID (120); RESTING ARTIST; GENUINE SISOL; THE PHOTOGRAPHER; SOLID STATEMENT; HANDS ON; THE CROWD; WALL PAPER;

DANCING FEET (128)

TO BE CONTINUED …

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GIRL WITH BIKE #3 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin, June 2011

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COUNCIL OF EUROPE

In September 2012 I was approached by the Council of Europe. They said that they had seen my photographs on the internet, and kindly asked if they could use some of them for a larger project they were running.

This project was the elaboration of an online self-­‐study course for the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters.

The photographs were to be used as illustrations for this self-­‐study course. I had no objections and when the course opened in December 2013, it contained 47 of my photographs. All recently shot in Europe.

Most of the photos you will find in this book. When you find “COE” written behind the number of the photograph, it means that the picture is included in the online course for the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters.

Council of Europe is a huge organization that was established shortly after the Second World War to advocate democracy, human rights and peace. Today, it consists of 47 Europeans states covering some 820 million people. Yes, that is the population of larger Europe.

There will be a virtual exhibition of the photos in Strasbourg in the end of April 2014, and I will try to hold exhibitions in other Europeans cities as well.

I am grateful and honoured to be a part of the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters. It is a long-­‐term project which the Council of Europe will continue to develop.

For more information about the Council of Europe and the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters, please follow the links below.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE: http://hub.coe.int

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF INTERCULTURAL ENCOUNTERS: THE PROJECT: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/autobiography/default_en.asp

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF INTERCULTURAL ENCOUNTERS. THE APPLICATION: http://coe.dokeos.com/main/newscorm/lp_controller.php?cidReq=AUTOBIOGRAPHYOFINTER&actio n=view&lp_id=1

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DIRTY DANCING #4 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin, June 2012

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BIKE MENDER #5 LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2013

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GESTALT FACTORS

One of the major set of tools for doing itching images are gestalt factors. They derive from gestalt psychology, which roughly speaking was a discipline developed at Humboldt University of Berlin in the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Major figures are Max Wertheimer (1880-­‐1943), Wolfgang Köhler (1887-­‐1967), and Kurt Koffka (1886-­‐1941). The two last were students of the first.

The original gestalt factors are these: 1) the factor of proximity; 2) the factor of similarity; 3) the factor of common fate or destiny; 4) the factor of objective set; 5) the factor of direction; 6) the factor of closure; 7) the factor of good curve; and 8) the factor of past experience or habit.

These are the factors mentioned in a ground breaking article by Max Wertheimer from 1923.

Gestalt means distinctive form.

Gestalt factors are factors that are at work dealing with the low road of perception.

The exception to that is the factor of past experience or habit.

Through past experience or habit you will be able to modify the impact of the other factors.

This factor links the high road and the low road of perception.

It is interesting to see how many of the famous street photographers, who, by pure instinct, use gestalt factors in their photography. It is not likely that they new much about gestalt factors.

Yet, they practiced it.

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FIVE IN A ROW #6 LIMITED EDITION 7 BERLIN 2010

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BRASS BAND #7 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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DOCKSIDE #8 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Hamburg 2011

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THE SHADOW #9 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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DOCKLANDS #10 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2012

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DIFFERENCE IS EVERYTHING

Difference is everything.

Difference is a fundamental condition for perception. Remember what happened to the white pearl on the white forehead? It turned invisible as it did not stand out to be perceived. You cannot see something that is visually not there. Even if it is actually there.

From micro worlds to larger cultural movements.

If there is no difference, there is nothing.

Two black pixels side by side cannot be seen, as there is nothing to set them apart. Fill a frame with pixels the same colour and you have nothing but colour.

Difference works well in street photography too. Surprise, surprise. If you know how to work differences you can make your photographs stronger.

Take the next photograph: THE MUSICIANS.

THE MUSICIANS holds two sets of distinctive figures: Three guys sitting on a bench. They are obviously the musicians. One contrabass laying in the grass behind them. The two sets are different and the photo would not be the same without them.

Yes, you could remove the contrabass and have the three sitting there on their own. Yes, you could remove the three people and have the contrabass on its own. That would be two very different pictures. Now they are there in the shot and they are there together.

That means two things for this photo. First it becomes a referential shot. The two figures, three people and the contrabass, reflect on each other. Secondly, and even more curious: the two do not wear each other out. Quite the opposite: they give each other strength. Being different they push each other to stand out.

It is a case of visual sharpening.

Want to make a visual point of something, then make sure that you include an element that is different from the others. That is what difference is about in street photography. From the tiny pixels to the larger relations.

You can take any photograph in the workbook as an example. The reason why you can see something at all, is that elements are different. That goes for the whole pictures as they stand out from the background, to even the tiniest elements, called pixels.

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THE MUSICIANS #11 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2013

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MAP THE GAP

One of the main instruments for New Street Agenda will be what we call a gap analysis. It is based on content analysis, but takes you a bit further.

Gap analysis functions as the first practical step in The Workshop and the courses for self-­‐study. They all start with a gap analysis.

The idea is very simple. According to Wikipedia a gap analysis “is the comparison of the actual performance with potential performance”.

Applied to New Street Agenda is comes down to this: If you know where you want to go with your street art, you need to map where you are at present and make a plan of how to get to that other point.

You have to map the gap and fill it. That done and you are there. With a little bit of luck, as the song goes.

If you have an idea of where you want to be in the future, and you know your point of departure, it is pretty easy to mark the way for your potential progress. Yes, I say potential progress because there is always the risk that you never make it to that other point. But that is risk you carry in all you life so why worry about it here.

Knowledge and stamina will most likely do it for you. The thing you know for sure is that if you don’t even try, you will never reach that other point. That other point is your benchmark. A benchmark is an ideal and what you strive for.

In New Street Agenda the benchmark is how the classical street photographers did their work. There are many to name but indeed Henri Cartier-­‐Bresson is one of the masters. Others are Robert Frank, Elliot Erwitt, Bill Brand, Tony Ray-­‐Jones and more.

If you see what these folks did and the way they did it, you have your benchmark. Much as it is formulated in the definition we have of street photography on New Street Agenda.

In New Street Agenda, having a benchmark and mapping the gap, are integrated tools in the larger process of you individual progress as street photographers.

You may ask: Is the idea then to make all of us classical street photographer? Definitely not. But it is good place to start so you can grow out of there.

Remember that Picasso was an excellent natural painter before he started to change the way we see things. He is known for breaking the rules. Not for following them.

And a good benchmark too. You map the gap.

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DAY DREAMERS #12 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2012

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HOT SPOT #13 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2011

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IN CONCERT #14 LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2012

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THE FLYING DUTCHMAN #15 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2012

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HONOURING HENRI

Honouring Henri (next page) is an inspirational.

Being an inspirational means that it takes inspiration from something else. Could be a photographic style, could be a single shot that you admire.

When I took an interest in street photography a few years back, I knew that one of the ways to learn was to study the work of the famous. I started reading books about Henri Cartier-­‐ Bresson and to look at his photographs.

I liked many and I decided to copy some of his concepts for practice. Not the actual photos but their concepts. I memorized a few and said to myself that I needed to be on the outlook for situations that were similar.

One of the photos I memorized was taken in Belgium with the two guys looking through the fence at a football match. One of them looking away from the fence.

Honouring Henri is an inspirational based on that famous photograph by Henri Cartier-­‐ Bresson.

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HONOURING HENRI #16 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2012

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YOU NEED A PROJECT

You are not going to make it without a project. That is the very simple truth.

Wanting to do street photography, make up your mind about it. Wanting to do street photography, you already have a project.

But you might want to be a bit more specific about it.

Why do you need to have a project? Simply because it helps you focus and do the job you want to do. If you don’t like your project after a while, don’t stay on it. Make yourself another project.

A project may be wide or it maybe deep.

The collective project we have set up for the workshop in Berlin in 2014, is Berlin Vibrant City.

By using the word vibrant you are already half way there.

Vibrant is defined as positive, lively, exiting, itching and respectful. You have set aside the part of the world that is negative, not lively, not exiting, not itching and disrespectful.

Humour is in there too.

I made a project some years back. It was, roughly, to shoot street scenes. I am still on that project but have broken it down in smaller projects.

Street scenes was defined as; a) having people as the bearing element; b) being contextual and shoot for scenes with people interacting; c) taken in public areas; d) being respectful concerning the people in the photographs.

Going for straight photography with minimal post-­‐production.

Street photography was and is (to me) more of an attitude than a locality. That gives me room to shoot anything I like but still with an eye on the project.

Good luck with you own project. You need to have one.

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BRIEF ENCOUNTER #17 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2012

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LADY IN BLUE #18 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2013

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AT THE GALLERY #19 LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2012

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IN MID AIR #20 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2012

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TAPPING ON TO THE STREAM OF LIFE

Think of it this way: Street photography, when it is best, taps in to the stream of life. You don’t only see it. You feel it.

The difference between photography and mere mechanical picturetaking, is seeing the difference and reacting on it.

Street photography does this in a way that is unique compared to any other type of photography. It is closer to life than any other.

That is where the fascination comes from.

Tapping into the stream of life depends on four things: that there is life; a way of seeing it; that there is someone to record it; and finally that there are instruments to record it with.

So what is necessary, then, are these four things: the photographed; and a way of seeing; the photographer; and a photographing device.

In no way is this an easy task. Of the four, a way of seeing is the most important.

Street photography, when at its best, is just this.

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LONG TALL SALLY #21 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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LAST CHANCE #22 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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IN CONCERT

Have you ever been to course in creativity, where the instructor has asked you to characterize yourself as an animal? I have.

Maybe you see yourself as a lion? Maybe you are a mouse? Maybe something in between? Or something very different.

The idea is that the answers tell about your personality and even suggest which type of positions in a company you might be good at handling.

There are much more to it than this, but I am sure you get the idea.

Let’s try this in a slightly different way.

I often compare a street photograph to a piece of music and ask a few questions: One, what type of music is this photograph? Second, are there false tones played.

I might say; oh this is a typical bob dylan, a grieg, a mozart or even a wagner. Maybe a gun’s and roses or a typical pavarotti.

The overall question is always this; do these guys play in concert? Do they fit? Are the signals clear and are the noises kept in proportion?

I particularly hunt for visual noises. Visual noises are those visual elements that compete with or even disturb the main message of a photograph.

You could use this technique already when shooting. Go for a clear rhythm where elements are in concert. Or you could apply it later.

I find such a change of perspective to work really well. It lets me see things, that by giving them other names, becomes visible in new ways.

If you are a lion you may want to try this. If you are a mouse, you’d better not.

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THE READER #23 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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JUST PASSING #24 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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PICKING YOUR SECOND BRAIN

I am sure you have heard the expression picking someone's brain. It is a fast and clever way to get new knowledge sitting on the shoulders of others. And perfectly legitime, by the way. It simply means that you share someone else’s good knowledge.

Without picking other people’s brain the human race would not go far. Think of the first hunters, who learned to kill from their forefathers in order to get food on the table.

What about starting by picking your own brain? Most of us have a second brain and even more brains to chose from. I try to use mine as best I can. Sometimes it works.

Picking your second brain means that you deliberately use information from one area, in another area. You take tips and tricks and solid knowledge, that you have from one area and apply them to street photography.

One such piece of information I have from phenomenology. In phenomenology they use an expression, epoché, that originally comes from Greek. It means suspension.

When suspending you try to set aside all your practical knowledge of the world and dive into the phenomenon in question.

Another word for it is brackets. When you bracket you freeze a moment to investigate it.

To me there are many similarities between bracketing and photography. Freezing a moment is one. Having taken a photo you have all the chance in the world to investigate it. It does not run away like the rest of the living world around you.

In photography you suspend the world to hold on to particular moments. When you do black and white photography, as opposed to colour photography, you already start suspending. You suspend colour information to better concentrate on aesthetic aspects of your visual. It is easier to see form, when you discard colour. Just as an example.

For me this technique works well. I am in no doubt that it will for you too. But you have to find it first. Your second brain.

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LOUVRE #25 LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2013

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POTSDAMER LOW #26 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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RINGSIDE #27 LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2013

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LOOKING BACK #28 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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INTRODUCING THE LIKERT SCALE

When you look at a photograph, you execute a tacit content analysis. When you regard a real life scene, you perform a content analysis, as well.

In ordinary looking and seeing, be it a real life situation or a photograph, content analysis is already at play. How else would you know and appreciate what you are looking at?

Science is more specific. There is a distinction between a quantitative and a qualitative method.

If you have a series of photographs in front of you can count the number or people in each and come up with an average of people per photograph. That would be a quantitative analysis.

If you look for attitudes of the people involved, as an example, that would be part of a qualitative analysis.

In describing photographs in New Street Agenda we will go a step further: we will introduce a Likert Scale.

A Likert scale is a simple way of detecting attitudes or opinions. You simply mark a scale when you answer.

The opinion you want to investigate could be this: Do you think that street photographs should have people as the bearing element?

The scale you are asked to mark, could be like the one below:

High agreement Average Agreement Low Agreement * -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ * -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ * -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ * -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐ -­‐*

Mark the scale and you have your answer.

There are at least three critical areas using such a scale. You need to know them all:

The first is formulating the case you want to investigate. The second is your ability to read images. The third is the truthfulness in giving the answer.

A Likert Scale can be used to detect your strength and weaknesses as a (street) photographer. It is possible to suggest a road ahead and set up a customised training program. As you like it.

Obviously, this will not only improve your street photography but you visual instinct as a whole.

The Likert Scale, by the way, is called so because if was first put to use by an American psychologist named Rensis Likert (1903 – 1981).

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GONE FISHING #29 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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POSITIONS #30 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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MARATHON MAN #31 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2012

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WHY CONTENT ANALYSIS?

Why content analysis in street photography? Why not let photographs be as they are without making too much theoretical fuzz about them?

Both can be honoured.

Content analysis has a special place in New Street Agenda. In a learning situation, it can help bring you from one phase to another. It may show you were you are at the moment in your photography, and suggest a road for further development.

Content analysis is a tool for progress.

There are, basically, two types of content analysis. They serve different purposes.

The two types are quantitative content analysis and qualitative content analysis. The first goes wide and might end up in statistical overview of a series of photographs. The second goes deep and may expose things like attitudes or judgements in the same photographs.

You may want to know the percentages of men and woman used in a specific newspaper over a period. You simple count them and give the result as numbers. That would be an example of quantitative content analysis.

If you in addition would want to know how men and women are used (positive, negative, neutral), you would have to look closer at each image to see how people are placed in relation to each other, what kind of lenses used, how colours are used, are people smiling, etcetera. That would be example of a qualitative content analysis.

The two differ in another aspect as well.

It is relatively straightforward to make a quantitative analysis of the type mentioned. You need to be able to recognize men from women and to count them. It can be relatively complicated to do a qualitative analysis of the same photos. You need know what it is in a photograph that constitutes the qualitative aspects of it.

You are much more reliant on the person, who does the analysis for you, when you ask for a qualitative analysis as compared to a quantitative analysis.

You could say that that quantitative versus qualitative contents aims at describing the hard and the soft contents of a photograph. In New Street Agenda we will use these terms.

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PIANO MAN #32 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2013

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VINTAGES #33 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Hamburg 2012

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ALL YOU HAVE GOT

If street photography sometimes can turn out artworks, what is it that characterise such works and set them apart from both classical disciplines as painting and sculpture, and from the stream of average street photography?

Let us look at some basics before I answer questions related to this.

The first point to be made is this: Street photography is made with a technical device called a camera.

This technical device, whatever form it may take, have the capacity of fixing visual expressions. Such fixations have to be made in split seconds at the right time at the right place.

For street photographers such expressions are gathered from public life.

It is the overall characteristic that public life very seldom stands still. You have to take every single photo in a narrow window of two simultaneous movements: your own movement and the movement of that or those you are picturing.

On top of that you need to free your subjects from contexts that will destroy your photograph if you don’t keep them at low noise. You even have to compose your shot in way that the composition supports the overall expression.

That is really, really a tall order. Indeed a challenging task.

You do not have the chance of the painter or the sculpturer to come back after a break to erase some and add some. You do not have the benefit of the street documenter to come back the next day to do it all over. You do not have the opportunity of the landscape photographer to wait till the sun shines once more.

Street photography is a very different ballgame. It solely relies on your ability to see and to capture those rare moments that are there for an instance and will vanish forever thereafter.

You only have that split second window that either makes or breaks your photograph.

That is all you have got.

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DISTRACTION #34 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2010

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THE SPREAD #35 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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TWO ROADS TO BERLIN

If you read the text beneath the photographs in the workbook, you will find that many have been taken in Berlin.

Why is that?

I am sure that we all have our favourite spots for photography and mine have, for some years now, been Berlin.

Even if I live in Copenhagen and spend most of my time there, it is very seldom that I bring a camera with me.

When I visited Berlin for the first time in 2007 I had the feeling that the city was good for photography. And I was right. Berlin has an appreciation for photography that I have found nowhere else. People seem to love it.

When I go there, I always bring a camera.

But there is another catch to it.

New Street Agenda is practically born out of Berlin. In a most curious way. I can even be more precise: It is born out of Humboldt University of Berlin. That you did not know.

Let me explain. Carl Stumpf (1848 – 1936) founded Berlin School of Experimental Psychology in 1893. There arrives Max Wertheimer (1880 – 1943) to study. Later came Kurt Koffka (1886 – 1941) and Wolfgang Köhler (1887 – 1967). Wertheimer, Koffka and Köhler are said to be the founders of gestalt psychology.

Gestalt psychology roams in the background of New Street Agenda.

Also: Rudolf Arnheim (1904 – 2007) was a student of Max Wertheimer. He got his doctorate there in 1928 on a thesis on facial expressions and handwriting. That later took him into the study of the visual arts. Including film and photography.

Want more?

The psychological department was located at two floors of the The Imperial Palace, Berlin Schloss, that today is being rebuild as a house of art and culture, Humboldt Forum.

The Imperial Palace, was mentioned by Edmund Husserl (1859 – 1938) when he for the very first time addressed photography in his work that later was known as phenomenology. That was in 1904.

You could say that New Street Agenda goes way back.

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RAINY DAY #36 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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LEAVING HOME #37 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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FIGURE/GROUND

One the most important distinctions you will ever hear about in visual communication, is the distinction figure/ground. Another name for it, that may be even more illuminating, is the distinction signal/noise.

As street photography is a discipline within visual communication, both distinctions are of paramount importance there too.

If you don’t know or experience the difference of how figure/ground or signal/noise stick together, it is not likely that you will ever take a good shot.

The figure is the single most distinctive element in a photograph. The ground is everything else. The signal is the single most distinctive element in a photograph. The noise is everything else.

The basic idea is to have the figure as you main element and have the ground support it. Too much visual noise and you will not hear the visual signal.

In The Stranger (next page) the young lady sitting is the figure and everything else is the supportive ground. She is the signal and the noise orchestrate nicely around her.

That said, you can change the figure in a photograph but that is more of a clinical exercise than anything else.

You can have the man in the background as your figure/signal by directing your attention to him, but he will never be in natural charge of the photograph in the same way as the young woman.

The woman is the natural figure/signal in this photograph. No doubt about it.

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THE STRANGER #38 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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THE INTERVIEW #39 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2012

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THE GHOST #40 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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KILL YOUR DARLINGS

I did not invent these words. Somebody else did.

That somebody else was William Faulkner. He said, that in writing you must kill your darlings. Our task is to adapt this to street photography, and say that even in photography you must murder your darlings.

In street photography your darling are those concepts, those ways of seeing, those clichés that you use under the illusions that others may perceive them in the same way that you do.

Because they are your darlings.

Are your handling of your favourite themes just as eminent as you find them to be? Looking at street photography in general, themes are repeated over and over. So maybe not.

It is not a bad idea to let a photograph simmer over the night. Let is be for a while and come back after some time to review it.

If you have a text, read it out loud for yourself and listen to what you say. Come back the next day if it is a text or a picture that you enjoy. See if you enjoy it as much the day after.

It is a hard task, this. You need to be your own critic. In an age of egocentricity this takes training. And guts.

I am not saying how it could be done. I am only suggesting that is should be done.

Can New Street Agenda help you in this? I think it can because New Street Agenda might teach you how to take things apart to put them back together again.

You may want to let that idea simmer too.

Always a good idea to know, who your enemies are before you start killing them off.

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FRIENDS #41 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2012

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THE CROSSING #42 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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KILL YOUR DARLING

THE BRIDE #43 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2010

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OCCAM’S RAZOR

Occam’s Razor is borrowed from philosophy.

It states, that if there are two or more hypothesis’ available for interpretation of a phenomenon, the more simple is will be chosen.

In street photography, as in other forms of visual communication, Occam’s Razor states, that if there are two or more possible interpretations available, the simpler will win.

If you want to structure your street photographs, and help the viewers get your visual story, a little help from Occam and his razor might work well.

It is a question of simplicity and the way you order things. Rudolf Arnheim calls the latter for orderliness.

Working with Occam’s Razor is training the ability see what perceptually comes first and how the first links to what comes after.

In The Bride (last picture) the bride is suggested to be the dominant figure and the couple leaving a somewhat less dominant figure. The whole seen is very simple. The shot is suggested to be in accordance with Occam.

In Rock Singer (next picture) the female singer is suggested to be the main figure and the band her ground. Yes, like in figure/ground. That shot is also suggested to be in accordance with Occam.

I use the work suggested for the simple reason that in street photography, things are nor written in stone.

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ROCK MUSIC #44 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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SKIN TONES #45 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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THE LOBBY #46 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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THE DEFINITION

Street photography can be different things.

The understanding of what street photography is depends on how you define it.

You can go for a descriptive definition, a normative definition and even no definition at all by simply pointing to the photographs or the photographers you mean to include.

In New Street Agenda we have chosen to work with a normative definition.

A normative definition is not right or wrong. It is practical. It lets you know how to understand what we mean with street photography in this particular context.

Street photography is first and foremost an attitude to photography. It is not a piece of geography.

As long as pictures are taken in a public area, that will do. Indoor public spaces works as well. Like museums, galleries, train stations, shopping malls, cafés and even restaurants. And the like.

Pictures must not be staged or posed.

Street photography is storytelling photography. It is contextual and depicts people in their social settings. The bearing element is human beings.

No sole dogs or cows or parrots or pigeons. No architecture or portraits.

The definition is consistent in what you find in classical street photography.

Not to forget that street photography is straight photography. Post-­‐editing should be held at a minimum and have no other purpose than to naturally enhance what is already there.

On top of that, our understanding of street photography is that is it a discipline that gives back more than it takes away.

Street photography the new agenda way, is affirmative photography.

Some times even with a sense of humour. In the best of cases, it is itching photography.

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PLAYGROUND #47 LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2013

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UNDER THE BRIDGE #48 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2012

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SELF PORTRAIT #49 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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HIGH AND LOW

In street photography there is a high road and a low road. You need to walk them both.

The high road are those perceptions that reside in your knowledge and experience. The low road are those perceptions that you bring with you as a species. As a human being.

High road perceptions differ with the individual. Low road perceptions do not.

In psychology, you talk about perceptions from above and perceptions from below.

You can code your photographs if you know about the high road and the low road. You can decode them too.

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SPREE VIEW #50 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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PARISERPLATZ #51 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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MONUMENT MEN #52 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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TWIN SISTERS

One of the most important gestalt factors in street photography is the factor of similarity.

The factor of similarity tells you that if two or more things are alike, you will perceptually tend to group them.

So it is with the two musicians in Twin Sisters (next page).They belong, and are perceived as one group. Not only do they look alike, they also act alike.

This likeness it the itching element in this shot.

Mind you, similarity comes in different forms and with different content. It does not have to be physical, human similarity like in Twin Sisters. It can as well be colour, distance, tonality, form, size, expression or other. You name it.

If you handle the gestalt factors well, it is easy for all to see what is the driving factor in a specific photograph. Then the factor takes charge of the image.

If you need to argue about it or to write a Russian novel to convince others, you have already lost. There is probably nothing in charge in your photograph.

Don’t tell, show in stead.

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TWIN SISTERS #53 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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THE LADDER

Nobody in their right mind should spent the amount of time on street photography, that I seemingly do.

The good thing is that I don’t.

Yes, I enjoy taking photographs of this type. I freely admit that. It takes me to strange places and people that I never have seen or met before.

In many senses of the word, I get around. I don’t even have to travel much. Not that I mind.

That said, enjoying and writing about street photography is only the lowest step on the ladder of knowledge. Higher up there are photographs and pictures as such, and visual communication. Science and art and philosophy follows too.

Even higher, you will find the rest of the world. Including yourself, which can come as a bit of a surprise.

Talking about gestalt factors or Occam’s Razor or whatever little theme touched upon in this workbook is indeed relevant for street photography. But it is also relevant for the area of everything else.

If you learn to understand the codes and decodes of a single photograph, that is a step on the way to handle everything else.

You may not succeed in all of this because the task is tall. But you are allowed to say that you have tried. Or are working on it.

That is the beauty of it.

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PARTY TIME #54 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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SHOOTING SHADOW #55 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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IN A ROW #56 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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WHAT COMES FIRST

Yes, the question is relevant.

What comes first? Theory of street photography or street photography?

It is so that the photographs you see on these pages are shot with a camera in one hand and an instruction book in the other? Are pictures taken to illustrate Occam’s Razor, the factor of similarity, the factor of whatever, to fit, if not a written workbook then maybe a conceptualized workbook?

If there is a positive relationship between texts and picture at all? Because I am not sure that there is, even if I in some cases suggest so.

The answer is straightforward.

Even if there may have been some unconscious ideas about ways of photography, these ideas were never realized till after. It started few years back when I was asked to provide 16 photographs to illustrate an interview.

Incidentally, I had ordered prints and had the chance to place them side by side on a dining table. I discover that all photographs were pieces of the same larger picture. Call it a concept. Many were built the same way and many even looked the same.

I am not trying to say something about quality. Only to say something about a certain approach. And approaches, as such, carries no quality.

Specific curiosity into street photography started there. Texts on street photography came after actual street photography. But if definitely helps what to look for when you have a name on what to look for.

That said, there is always a pre-­‐understanding that might lead to a progress of that understanding. Such a movement is not only a circular movement, but formed as a spiral. It always adds to, and takes away from itself.

Always on the go.

It is a continuous movement implicating that every time you decide to start on something, start has already begun.

How else would you know what and where to start?

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CAMERA WORK #57 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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SOFT SOLUTION #58 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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CONNOTATION PROCEDURES

Let’s not forget Roland Barthes and his connotation procedures from 1961.

No, things don’t fade with age. They mature. Particularly in this business where so many have so little to say about so much.

We will listen to Barthes once more. Here are his connotation procedures from the article The Photographic Message, that he published in 1961.

Numbered nicely as Barthes did it. There are 6 connotation procedures: 1) Trick Effects; 2) Pose; 3) Objects; 4) Photogenia; 5) Aestheticism; and 6) Syntax.

Connotations are normally set apart from denotations. Denotations are what is shown in a photograph. Connotations are the way it is shown.

Look at K-­‐DAMM COUPLE at the next page. I would say that the picture shows a young man and a young woman. That would be what is denoted. Pretty straightforward.

They are pretty relaxed, aren’t they? That would be what this photograph is connoting: Relaxation. Among other things.

Denotations would normally be fairly objective. Connotations would be said to be more subjective.

Barthes connotation procedures are tools that can be used to understand connotations. And use them in your street photography.

Some procedures are more elegant than others.

Maybe a few have timed out after all.

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K-­‐DAMM COUPLE #59 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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BLUE NOTE #60 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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ITCHING PHOTOGRAPHY

Street photography, the new agenda way, is itching photography.

What does it mean to be itching photography? Itching photography means that pictures tries to get under your skin and that each photograph has a level of attraction and attention that is higher than normal.

In a positive way, and in the best of cases, they take you away from the routines of just getting along. They should be an aesthetical challenge from the norm of normality.

Itching photography, is not satisfied by being documentation. It is also documentation, but not first and foremost.

In itching photography you add a little. You structure the whole, the details and the combination of these in a way that the photographs stand out from the madding crowd of street photography.

And you do this visually for all to see.

How you do this is up to you. There are, however, certain basic models that you will get to know in this workbook.

As a starter.

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MONBIJO PARK #61 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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THE KISSING LINK #62 LIMITED EDITION 7 BERLIN 2010

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WALL OF VISIONS

There is a wall in Europe. It is not an iron curtain or the wall in Berlin. It is not a solid wall at all.

You are free to visit both sides of the wall. There is no one there to stop you.

But somehow someone seldom do.

You may have heard of this separation. It is wall of science. Two different ways of seeing. Often symbolized by The English Channel. Dividing the world in an Anglo-­‐Saxon way of seeing, and a Continental way of seeing.

On the one side UK, US with Scandinavia in a sidecar. On the other side Germany, France, Italy and maybe Spain.

Let’s remember them at the Continental Way and the Anglo-­‐Saxon Way. They have other names as well. The Anglo-­‐Saxon Way is sometimes called as a way of explanation. The Continental Way is sometimes named a way of understanding. The first deals with bit and pieces, the second with larger structures.

How do this reflect on New Street Agenda? It is a nice to know or a need to know or, maybe, a not to know?

Look at is this way: Are images, pictures, photographs, street photographs objects in an external world that the human brain visually captures and thereafter possible explains? After having thought about them for a while? Or are these objects already understood, or partly understood, the spit second you approach them or they approach you?

Ways if seeing. You may certainly call it that.

Difficult questions. Those who specialises do not always agree. That is why they are called specialists.

As for the mediating approach of New Street Agenda the two ways come together. What is sound and practical should be reconed. Complementarity is a word you could use. Phenomenology is continental but making it operational might be Anglo-­‐Saxon. Gestalt psychology might be berlinish but some of its prime advocates turned Americans.

Think about it.

Norway is on top of The English Channel. Not on either side. Not part of the continent and closer to the sea.

Maybe that is a reason why?

Think about that too.

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BLUE LADY #63 LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2013

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MOVABLE FEAST #64 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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THE SMILE #65 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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IS STREET PHOTOGRAPHY ART?

Is street photography Art? You hear the question now and again. Discussions often follow. The answer is clear: no. Street photography is not Art. Nor is oil painting, sculpture, body paint, or jazz music.

Even urinals are not Art. The question is wrongly posed. Art does not refer to any specific objects of the world like those produced within photography, painting, sculpture, writing, singing, or what you can think or. There are, however, certainly people within all these areas that are capable of producing Art. E.H. Gombrich says it in the first sentences of his big book The Story of Art: There are no such thing as Art. There are only artists.

That seems to be it in so far as we speak about a type of activity. Art emerges thought the making of it. It does not belong to a type of objects, but to a special kind of successful activity that in some lucky instances produce what we call objects of Art.

What is special for this kind of activity? Here are some answers that do not characterize the making of Art: Art is not lazy, it is not unengaged, it is not casual, it is not easy to do, it is not stupid, it is not without training and knowledge. It is not without experience. Art is not without talent. It does not have to be rational. It is not without curiosity. Art is not average. It is not painless. It does not even have to be irrational.

Within street photography, or within photography as such, it leaves you with a very small group of people capable of doing it. Much smaller than I could ever have imagined. You see it when people do it right.

That is, if you have the special capacity of seeing and know what to look for. Not unlike the situation you are in as a street photographer.

Back to the question: Is street photography art? No, it is not. But certain street photographs made by luck or by un-­‐luck, or by other means, from a small group of people, certainly can be.

E.H. Combrich has no problem with it either. On page 624 in my version of his big book he shows Henri Cartier-­‐ Bresson’s Aquila degli Abruzzi. Taken in Italy in 1952.

Beneath the short text accompanying the image, is written one word: Photograph. It is no possible to state it clearer than that.

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CHECKPOINT CHARLIE #66 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2008

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ART LOVERS #67 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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CHECKPOINT CHARLIE #68 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2010

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SMOKING #69 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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THE PHOTOGRAPHER #70 LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2012

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MEN ACT, WOMEN APPEAR

One of the most inspiring thinkers you can meet in this industry is John Berger.

One of the most inspiring books you can read is his Ways Of Seeing first published by BBC in 1972. I have a Penguin version of the book from 2008.

For those street photographers, who still master the art of reading, it is definitely worth picking up a copy of Berger’s small book.

For those street photographers, who enjoy images more than texts about images, the good news is that Ways Of Seeing contains chapters where not a single word is written. They are strictly made up of pictures.

There are different ways, Berger suggests, in the modes men and women have been and still are portrayed. In paintings and in photographs.

With men it is about the power. A man’s presence is dependent upon the promise of power which be embodies, Berger states. It has to do with what he can do to you or for you.

Women, on the contrary, constantly have to include a reflection of themselves. How does she look to others? Her appearance it is not a question of what she can do to and for you. It is a question of what can be done to her by others. This is expressed in gestures, clothes, taste, surrounding, expressions and more.

By this mode of reflection she has turned herself into an object. First and foremost a visual object – something to be seen. A sight.

Men act, women appear.

These are some of the words spoken by John Berger.

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WAYS OF SEEING #71 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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WHAT IS BAREBONES COMMUNICATION?

What is barebones communication?

You see use of this expression from time to time. Not so much in this workbook, but in many of the related activities.

Even so, this workbook is a barebones communication effort. It is in short a barebones activity.

The term has been in use since November 2007, when the first post on the first site that targeted visual communication, was posted. The blog soon became an activity for photography. It is still very much alive.

The name of the blog was originally barebones communication. And it still is when you look at the URL. Only recently, in March 2014, did I change its name to On Street Photography & Visual Communication, to reflect what might be targeted in the future.

I left it more or less untouched from the middle of 2010, as a wanted to concentrate on street photography.

Barebones communication was originally not intended for that.

Back to the meaning of the term. As one the pillars of New Street Agenda is phenomenology the reason why goes like this.

Edmund Husserl (1859-­‐1938), often spoken of as the father of phenomenology, used a phrase: Zu den Sachen selbst. Translated that would be To The Things Themselves.

The term barebones communication is from that pool of inspiration. Applied to visual communication. Later to street photography.

Phenomenology is an approach and a method. It deals with the description of things as they revealed themselves as phenomena. Applied to street photography, it might reveal what street photography is all about.

Much more can be said about this. That must be another time

Here is what barebones communication looks like today: http://www.barebonescommunication.wordpress.com. As I said, the site is still very much alive.

You should go there. Now you have a clue as to the meaning of the word.

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KEEPING LOW #72 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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WINSTON’S VOCATION #73 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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THOUGHTFUL #74 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ARRESTED?

Have you ever been arrested when you are our walking the streets for a good street setting? I have. It happens to me all the time.

Have you ever been arrested by Marilyn Monroe? When out having nothing else to do?

No, Monsieur Cartier-­‐Bresson, street photography, has very little do with hunting. I think that you got that wrong.

Nor has the art of archery much to do with hunting. You got that wrong, too.

Street photography has more to do with being arrested when out having nothing else to do. Like being surprised when you least of all expect it.

It happened to me in 2009, when as was walking the narrow streets of Potsdam. I was arrested by Marilyn Monroe in the window. All dressed in pink.

Not only did Marilyn arrest me. The whole setting did. Look how nicely she is framed behind glass. Neatly balances by the door as if she still was reachable if you went inside.

Come on in, she seemed to said.

The whole scene was right.

It is a good thing to be arrested like that. It happens when all that you have learned comes together in recognizable moments, and they touch you instead of you hunting for them.

It is true then, that moments come to you instead of the other way around? Yes, it is true. If you don’t believe it, just ask Marilyn. She might still be there in the same window. With her friends.

If not there, she will be elsewhere. Arrests happen all the time.

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MARILYN IN THE WINDOW #74A LIMITED EDITION 7 Potsdam 2009

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MYSTERY MAN #75 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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FAMILY LIFE #76 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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DANCE LESSON #77 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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111

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BOOKSHOP #78 LIMITED EDITION 7 HAMBURG 2012

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REFERENTIAL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

What is referential street photography? What does a referential photograph look like?

In New Street Agenda we speak of contextual photography. From contextual street photography to referential street photography, the jump is not long. There are differences, though. Let’s look at it.

In contextual street photography you treat subjects in a context. Meaning they are distinctly among other things or other people. That spurs the element of storytelling.

Referential street photography builds on top of that. It points to a distinct reference, or connection, made in your photograph. Could be a reference between people. Could be a reference between people and objects.

Referential photography is always contextual, but contextual photography does not have to be referential.

The reference needs to be there for all to see. Not a little and implied reference that is only seen by the photographer.

A reference does not have tell a story actually taking place in front of you when shooting. It can as well be a story told by you by selecting the scene and framing your image.

There are plenty of examples of referential street photography in the workbook. Let me point to a few:

In BIKE BENEFIT (next picture) you see two persons. They are in reference to each other. The main reference is the biker looking at the passing woman, who in return projects her sexuality back upon him. In BOOKSHOP (past picture) the two women are in reference because of their closeness and similarity.. But also because of their differences. They are of the same gender, but of different age, style and culture.

To be in reference means to establish a virtual connection between two or a few significant parts in a photograph.

You make this reference so strong that Occam would be in no doubt about it.

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BIKE BENEFIT #79 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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VISUAL STORYTELLING

I am sure that we all have our favourites photographs.

I have many. THE RECEPTION (next) is one of them. It is a low-­‐key, low noise picture that I took in the gallery area of Berlin a couple of years ago. At first I did not think much of it since it is shot around midnight and it was almost too dark to shoot anything.

I lifted the dark areas and lowered the bright areas in LR and started looking at I properly. It seemed to work after all. Today I enjoy it. Not because of it technical qualities, but because it is a good example of what I call a storytelling photograph.

Let me mentioned that visual storytelling in New Street Agenda fall in one of two categories. You have pictures where the story largely is told within the photograph. And you have pictures where the story is told, if not mainly, but to a large extent outside the photograph.

Elsewhere we call this for closed and open images. Closed or open stories.

Photographs will often be a combination the two.

THE RECEPTION is an example of a closed image. The story is told within the image. You don’t need much extra information to see what it is all about. It is all there.

The story is that you have a guy literally telling a story. Sitting with glass in hand. The two people surrounding him are obviously enjoying his story since they pay full and smiling attention. You can follow their eye directions and find that they cross in front of his face.

There are two minor and supporting stories. One story is going on in the group of people at the back of the room.

Another is the relation that has been established by the two dogs and the photographer. Here the story is opening up towards something that partly going on outside the frame: the photographer taking the picture.

You have a single picture. Stories are three in one. Supporting and complementing each other.

Question: Are all street photographs storytelling pictures? Either open or closed or combined?

I think not. In this workbook most of them are. For the simple reason is that storytelling belongs to the very idea of street photography.

You may want to take a look at JUST PASSING (last). Be welcome to tell the story. Don’t take my word for it.

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THE RECEPTION #80 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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116

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POSTDAMER PLATZ #81 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2010

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SURVEILLANCE #82 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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118

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BUS DRIVER #83 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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119

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SEX IN THE CITY #84 LIMITED EDITION 7 HAMBURG 2012

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DOWN STAIRS #85 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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BLUE VELVET #86 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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COUPLES #87 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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DANISH DESIGN #88 LIMITED EDITION 7 Paris 2013

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LUNCH TIME #89 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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CREATICS: A TACTIC FOR CREATIVITY

Many years ago I thought up a new word. The word was Creatics.

There is a road that connects creativity and tactics, I thought. The word Creatics is a good term for it. So I took it.

I even wrote a series of articles about it. Click here and you will see. Unfortunately it is in Danish.

The idea is that if you set you mind to it, learn a little bit of technique, you ideas can come to you in stead you going looking for them. Or have them served by others.

Seems that people, in all wakes of life, follow a common pattern in the way they deal with challenges that involves innovation and idea generation. Be it in the business world, be it in science, be it in innovative contexts, be it within the confinements of arts. Maybe even in photography.

I must learn that, I thought.

I am not implying that luck shines on this method all the time. But once in a while results come out right.

Here is the core of it all: The process for creativity, is a road with 4 steps: The first step is preparation. You need to know the area you deal with and give yourself specific tasks within that area; the second step is forgetting all about your task; the third step is by George I think I’ve go it; the fourth step is the evaluation of the creative idea.

Two of these steps are conscious steps: the first and the fourth. Two of these steps are unconscious steps: the second and the third.

There are fancy names for the four steps. Wikipedia uses the terms preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. Use those names if you want to.

I added a tactical aspect to it. Set you mind to it and gather the necessary information first. Give yourself a task to solve. The weight lies in preparation, if you ask me.

In street photography, you gather information by looking on and reading about what others have managed.

Photographers, and other visual artists.

Don’t try to do advances in astrophysics if you have not trained for it. Don’t try to win the Darby if you can’t ride a horse. Don’t think that you can do street photography without knowing anything about its peers. Stick to your own path. Then Creatics will work.

Having done your homework, the rest of the creative process may come pretty easy. You might even end up with something that is really good. Like an eminent street photograph. Or two.

If you are lucky.

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MONKEY BUSINESS #90 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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127

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THE LETTER #91 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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PRESS CONFERENCE #92 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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129

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LEGS #93 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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BLENDING #94 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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FROM CITY PLAN TO CITY STREET Not that big a jump in terms of associations, is it? From city plan to city street. Roads on the same map.

In the lay out of a city the American architect, Kevin Lynch, says: “Nodes are the strategic foci into which the observer can enter, typically either junctions of paths, or concentrations of some characteristic”.

In street photography it is just the same: A strategic loci into which an observer can enter. Any visual point where vectors meet or cross.

A note is not a static thing like a volume just sitting there. Nodes are meeting point of energy. Like in a city junction. A crossing.

Since street photography, in our definition of it, definitely has to do with human beings, particular attention should be paid to the human body and its nodes. If the human body, the torso, is the volume them the limbs are its vectors. Like arrows pointing. Arms, feet, head, fingers.

In stead of city junctions, you have body joints or the joining of bodies.

Arms crossing, legs crossing, grasping, fingers pointing. Not only in a single individual but in encounters with others. A couple dancing, holding hands, crossing feet, making street love.

Rudolf Arnheim stresses bodily contractive and expansive movements as important nodes: outgoing breast and arms confining the head, are the words he used in a description of a Gustave Courbet nude: Woman In The Waves.

There is no reason to define nodes in street photography more strict than this. It is no hard science anyway.

Go figure it out on your own.

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LUSTGARTEN #95 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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PICTURING PEOPLE #96 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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IN THE MOOD #97 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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TWO SPATIAL SYSTEMS

It is such an amazing feeling you get when an obscure, little idea gets an unexpected backing from a reliable source. It makes the work worth while.

Not long ago some of us participated in what was called The Academy. The Academy was, and still is, a closed Facebook group for focusing on, and training basic visual principles that are relevant to street photography.

I say, still is, since the group has only taken a break over summer to let all gather new energy.

The Academy held monthly challenges that all could participate in.

One of these challenges focused on finding a main visual figure and structure a supportive ground around it. Even if the wording was a little different, the idea was to establish a visual center.

A month or two after the challenge was very different. The idea was to shoot for what I called a spread.

You make a spread when you place people of the same size and shape, well separated, over the total frame. Top to bottom. Left to right.

None of these concepts are difficult to grasp as ideas. From idea to execution there can sometimes be a long road. And in the challenges there were.

Why should this be particularly exiting, you may ask?

It turns out that figure and spread fits well as photographical executions of what Rudolf Arnheim calls the centric and the eccentric spatial systems. The first arrange things around a common center (figure).

The second arrange things so that no place is distinguished (spread).

This gives us two new terms for the wordbook that accompanies New Street Agenda: the centric and the eccentric spatial system.

There is much more to it than this. What opens up is a road to visual composition that is quite new and highly potent and will do well for street photography.

That is what the amazement is all about.

More will come.

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THE KISS #98 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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MODERN TIMES #99 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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WINDOW VIEW #100 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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THE CONFERENCE #101 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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GONE SHOPPING #102 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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WHOLES AND PARTS Street scenes are always grasped as wholes.

Without such wholes there would be no context that parts could be part of. All would loose their meaning. After all, parts are parts because there are wholes to be part of.

Parts are of two types. There are parts that are pieces and there parts that are moments.

This wisdom comes from phenomenology.

The difference is that parts as pieces you can, literally speaking, take apart. Parts as moments you cannot take apart.

If you confuse the two, you miss serious points.

Imagine that you are holding a print of a fine photograph. You tear a corner from it. Then have two parts. Those parts are pieces and the two have now a life of their own. You can frame them both and hang them on the wall.

Take the colour of the same photo. You cannot tear the colour out of it even if that too is a part of the picture. The colour is a moment.

Other words for this phenomenon: Pieces are independent parts. Moments are nonindependent parts. The first are abstractions, the second are concretes.

Here is one important consequence of this: The perception of a photograph is a nonindependent part. It is a moment. Meaning: there is a bond between the photograph and the viewer of it. That bond you cannot get away from.

Seen from the other side, there is never a photograph unless there is a viewer of it.

Think about it.

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CLOSER LOOK #103 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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FRAMEWORK #104 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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In Colour #105 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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BITS AND PIECES #106 LIMITED EDITION 7 PARIS 2013

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146

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THE BOW #107 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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LOOKING AT YOU #108 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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THIRST #109 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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MEN IN BLACK #110 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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BERLIN FASHION #111 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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SORROWS #112 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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REFLECTION #113 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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THE TWO HERMENEUTICS

The two hermeneutics. What are they?

Let’s look at the term hermeneutics first. It refers to the interpretation of texts. Traditionally, biblical texts, literature and philosophy. It is a technical discipline that instructs you how to interpret older texts. This is what we call hermeneutics as methodology.

But there is also hermeneutics in a more fundamental way. It suggests that hermeneutics is a not only a method for the scholarly interpretation of texts. It is also, and even more important, the way human beings approach their world quite generally. Every meeting with the world is a hermeneutical meeting. That is what we call hermeneutics as ontology.

Does hermeneutics only work with texts or does it also cover visual messages?

Indeed it works with visual messages. How else would you understand Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper (1495-­‐ 1498); Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (1485); Jackson Pollock’s One (1950); Henri Cartier-­‐Bresson’s Aguila degli Abruzzi (1952). Or all the other visuals that meets you on a daily or a non-­‐daily basis.

For that matter the two photographs flanking this text: Reflections and Street Art. Hermeneutics are at work every time you open your eyes to the world. That includes looking at photographs of it.

Visual objects have not flown in from afar, nor are they god given. You, as the spectator, are always there to give the artist a helping hand in unfolding his message. Interpretation is always the first phase of such a meeting. The first phase of any meeting.

The two hermeneutics don’t exclude each other. They work in complement.

The ontological approach is there since it belongs to the basics of being. On top of that you have the methodological approach, which brings with it technical ways of understanding: Looking for how gestalt factors operate, how connotations are established and unfold, what impressions are embedded in each different colour.

Und so weiter.

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STREET ART #114 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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NIGHTLIFE #115 LIMITED EDITION 7 Hamburg 2012

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RED DRESS #116 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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CAPTAIN’S CORNER #117 LIMITED EDITION 7 Copenhagen 2012

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WINNER TAKES ALL #118 LIMITED EDITION 7 Hamburg 2012

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MIRROR, MIRROR #119 COE LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2011

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BAREBONES´ BLOGS

Berlin Black and White http://www.berlinblackandwhite.wordpress.com

Knut Skjærven Street (Slideshow) http://knutskjaervenstreet.wordpress.com

On Street photography and other life changing events http://www.knutskjaerven.wordpress.com

On Street Photography & Visual Communication, used to be barebones communication http://www.barebonescommunication.wordpress.com

Phenomenology and Photography http://www.phenomenologyandphotography.wordpress.com

Street Photographer’s Toolbox http://www.streetphotographerstoolbox.wordpress.com

The Europeans http://www.theuropeanseu.wordpress.com

OTHERS:

Creatic(s) / Danish http://creatics.blogspot.dk

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NOT AFRAID #120 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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SELECTED LITERATURE AND LINKS:

LINKS

Wikipedia on Gestalt Psychology http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology

Wikipedia on Hermeneutics http://www.phenomenen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics

Wikipedia on Phenomenology http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(philosophy)

Wikipedia on Street Photography http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_photography

LITERATURE

Arnheim, Rudolf: Art and Visual Perception, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles 1974

Ellis, Willis D (ed): A Source Book of Gestalt Psychology, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1974.

Gombrich, E.H.: The Story of Art, Phaidon, London 1996.

Gadamer, Hans-­‐George: Truth and Method, Continuum, London & New York 2006.

Kandel, Eric R: The Age of Insight, Random House, New York 2012.

Sokolowski, Robert: Introduction to Phenomenology, Cambridge University Press, New York 2006.

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RESTING ARTIST #121 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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GENUINE SISOL # 122 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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THE VISITOR #123 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2013

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SOLID STATEMENT #124 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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HANDS ON #125 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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WORKSHOP AND E-­‐LEARNING PROGRAM

For those who want to train some of the principles for street photography that are suggested in this workbook, there are several options.

First of all there is the upcoming 3 days workshop that will be held in Berlin June 12-­‐15, 2014. There are few places left. The workshop will be repeated in September and possibly in October/November 2014.

For more information on the workshop, please follow the link below.

For those who don’t want to travel, there is a newly developed e-­‐learning program that runs over 6 months. It includes an analysis of your present work and suggests a road ahead. You are coached along the way though a series of 8 shooting sessions.

Please be aware that both in the workshop and the e-­‐learning program there is work to do. You should not take it too easy. It is not complicated, though.

For more information on any of these, please send an email at knut@skjaærven.com. And you will get an answer.

LINK TO MORE ON THE WORKSHOP: http://newstreetagenda.wordpress.com/berlin-­‐june-­‐12-­‐15-­‐2014/

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THE CROWD #126 (From The Summit in Berlin 2012) PRIVATE PRINT Berlin 2012

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Knut Skjærven, is a Norwegian born photographer, writer and researcher living in Copenhagen, Denmark.

For many years he was a communication consultant for one of the largest Danish companies, TDC. That took him to positions as a manager, business developer, project management and key account sales.

TDC is the incumbent telecommunication operated and as the company sold off to hedgefunds and started dismantling the company, he opted out. He is now full time on different aspects of communication, photography, research and writing.

Knut Skjærven, was educated from University of Bergen, Norway, and University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He holds a B.A. in philosophy and M.A. in film science. He has completed one of the most esteemed Danish courses in advanced business development (PIL – Perspective in Leadership).

He has written numerous articles on communication and held a column on communication for the Danish Newspaper, Børsen. In 2013 he was selected as the sole contributor of photographs to Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters under Council of Europe.

Since 2010 he has initiated a number of sites and social groups on street photography:

BLOGS: Berlin Black & White (2010); Phenomenology & Photography (2010); The Europeans (2012); The EDGE (2013); On Street Photography and other life changing events (2013); Street Photographer’s Toolbox (2013); New Street Agenda (2013).

SOCIAL SITES: On Every Street (Facebook Group); The Europeans (Facebook Group); The Edge (Facebook Page); Street Photographer’s Toolbox (Facebook Group); On Every Street; The Academy (Facebook Group); On Every 2ND Street (Facebook Group).

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WALL PAPER #127 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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Series One: American Nutwood. Series Two: Black Stain Maple

LIMITED EDITIONS

You have a chance to buy limited editions of a selected group of photographs. It is a high quality series. We call it The FRAME. There two series are: American Nutwood and Black Stained Maple.

The prints are digital silver prints. Frames are all hand made and are only made to order. Limited Editions are 7 per series.

The frames are produced by Bilderrahmen Landwehr in Berlin. This is the very best frame maker I could find. Yes, the quality is grand.

The outer measurements are roughly 29 cm x 29 cm.

The price is Euro 600.00 per picture.

Each frame is checked by the author before shipment. Free shipment in Europe.

All photographs come signed, numbered with a Certificate of Authenticity.

For further information or order of photographs, please write directly to knut@skjaerven.com.

Read more about The FRAME: http://frameselection.wordpress.com

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WALL PAPER #128 LIMITED EDITION 7 Berlin 2012

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THREE WAYS OF SUPPURT

New Street Agenda is a new and alternative way of looking at street photography.

It moves street photography into the area of art and science and draws on disciplines like philosophy, psychology and art history. Not limited to those.

The workbook is in the making and will continue to unfold. It is called a workbook because you have to work with it. Is has no beginning, no middle and no end. Just dive into it anywhere you like.

Look at the photographs, read the texts and make up the larger perspective yourself.

A project like this is never finished, but it will come to a practical end when it contains 129 photographs. Not that many texts. We are here for the pictures and not for the words.

If you would like to support New Street Agenda there are three ways to do it. You can a) make a straight donation; b) participate in one of the workshop or educational programs; or c) buy a framed photograph from the limited editions.

If you are keen on any of these, please send a word to this mail address: mailto: knut@skjaerven.com

A lot of effort is going into this project. It is privately run and developed.

Have a good day.

Best regards Knut Skjærven Copenhagen, Denmark April 2014.

Last page: MARILYN IN THE WINDOW ©(#129), Potsdam 2011

© KNUT SKJÆRVEN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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ON THE GO 2014 NEW STREET AGENDA

THANKS. YOU HAVE ARRIVED AT YOUR DESTINATION.

© KNUT SKJÆRVEN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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ON THE GO 2014 NEW STREET AGENDA

NOW, TAKE THE SAME WAY BACK.

© KNUT SKJÆRVEN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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