It was a pretty sad topic to be honest. Street photography in a pandemic or even a post pandemic world seems so implausible, at least in our country with all the lockdowns and all. And yet, it was at the same time a breath of fresh air. To be exposed once again to the sights and emotion of raw street photography was welcome respite to the dreariness of the lockdown. I suppose that pretty much sums up the talk by Allan Florendo, our guest speaker for this month’s Z Academy.

Unscripted but deliberate, open to whatever the streets choose to reveal to you. “And that’s why I love street photography so much. It’s so unpredictable. You could keep coming back to the same place and keep getting new photos out of it.” says Allan Florendo.

I read somewhere that with no restrictions, most artists will find it difficult to even start anything; that the restrictions in a way helps the artist truly create. Allan, I suspect is saying a similar thing. He goes out with a single focal length (27mm full-frame), his trusty Leica and a small handheld flash. On top of this, he also suggests being sensitive to certain thematic concepts, Figure to Ground, Lines, Similarities and Opposites, Layers and Series. With these as constraints, a budding street photographer is given a framework from where to leap and create. As your eyes get used to seeing, you’ll find yourself noticing these themes in the street.

The themes as constraints is a start. But his recommendations do not end there. A number of different items and additional concepts became apparent in listening to his answers to the questions that were asked during the hour and a half long talk. For example, it goes without saying

that you need to know your gear; know the focal length you’re using and what angle of view it can capture. Why you may ask? Because most of the time you’ll be taking photos from the hip to middle of the chest level and not through your viewfinder. That means you’ll need to brush up on zone focusing my fellow Zombies. There just isn’t enough time to fiddle about, you’ll need to be quick, discrete – take a burst of photos, then move on.

Allan then took the time out to show specific examples of each of these concepts. Each one clearly demonstrated the concepts he presented and gave the audience an idea of what he meant and what was going on in his mind at the time of the shoot. Being patient, at times staying in the same place for 30 mins or more could pay dividends when the right components of your shot fall into place. Milk the scene for all it’s worth so to speak.

In closing, Allan Florendo was a former President (2011) of Zone V who is now based out of Vancouver, BC. He is a published street photographer abroad.

Story by Tony Rivera