Interview With Petach

[streetshooter]

Pete has accepted my offer to do an interview. Pete and I will go back and forth with question and answers. I have a set of questions but will improvise along the way.
After the interview is published, please feel free to post on this thread any questions or statements you may have.

Let's get started Pete.

Question #1.
What inspired you to become a photographer?                 

[petach]

Don, Hi. I have always had a camera since I was a teenager. Started off with a Zenith E, a Canon AE-1 and an assortment of basic cameras. I was a bit of a snapper and tried to do (or even over- do) funky stuff; but without knowing the technical stuff necessary to carry it off.

I only became really seriously interested during a trip to New York with my wife. This was April 2011. I had a Panny GF2 with 14mm and 14-42mm lens. I had treated myself for this trip and thought I woulld try capture the hustle and bustle of the city. We were in a hotel near Penn' Station and each day would walk up to Times Square through the crowds on way to work. It's pretty exciting for a non New Yorker......the noise, the energy......intoxicating.

I had not long been diagnosed with Parkinsons and had a tremor in my left hand, enough to unsettle the camera. I had it with the 14mm lens on a neck strap, my right hand on the button. I saw this hoodie guy walking towards us and a waitress on a smoke break was leaning against a door to our right. The cop in me saw the whole thing unfold in slow-mo, the look in her eyes as she saw him, uncertain if he was a goodie or baddie. I just instinctively snapped the scene. The shutter noise was like a clap of thunder to my ears, he must have heard it. But we passed each other without so much as a by your leave. I looked at the screen and was astonished at what I had captured.

I later discovered some street photography threads and silver efex and this is the finished article:


Suspicion - Manhattan by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr

I was hooked and started snapping at all and sundry. In Manhattan........like shooting fish in a barrel. I am now obsessed...... ran the Gear aquisition race......over edited....shot like a machine gunner in the trenches. But I like to think I have calmed and matured with my camera approach work now.

To offset this obsession, I do night scapes in the city and landscapes etc. Joined a photographic club to attain more technical knowledge and experience. I retired in March this year so I can spend more time with my wife, grandchildren and camera (in that order)

What did I do with the 56 years before I discovered photography?

[streetshooter]

Pete, Thanks for the quick reply. It's interesting that you felt you only got serious in the last few years. There's a definite maturity in your images that comes with experience. No, not experience with a camera but with life. That can't be learned as it's a continuing classroom. Adapting photography to go along with this is the easy part. Getting the 2 in synergy is being a photographer.

The image above is excellent. I know that feeling all to well. Your description of it is dead on, so much so that the word "Rant" supports your feelings before and after exposure.
It also probably supports theirs.

Question #2.
What purpose does photography serve for you?

[petach]

Interesting question Don, and one I can answer without hesitation.  It gives me a form of validation and a sense of accomplishment or achievement.  I am making up for lost time.  I have cruised through life....never tried hard. My schooling was a disgraceful waste. My epitaph will read "wow.....that was lucky"

I have always envied those who could draw, paint, sculpt.....play an instrument.  I could do none of these things to any degree of ability above useless.  People have paid good money for some of my photographic work.  It ain't the money.......it is the fact that HE or SHE wants MY work in their home and to show it off.  I don't know what it says about me as a person to like this validation and sense of achievement.

Pretty much all my working life I have had time pressures put on me. Prosecution repeorts, court hearings, what you doin about this....that.....attention, left right left right in a military and law enforcement career from 1972. Now, I can work at my own pace.....certainly with landscapes, cityscapes, night shots etc. Take my time to frame, judge, pull the trigger. Street shots? I love the sense of purpose in going out on a hunt, the frisson of excitement down the nape of my neck when I spot and capture something. Sometimes.....I have cried when I think I am the only person in the world to have spotted and captured something that is unique and that no one else has accomplished it, except me.

It stops me going off the rails. The drugs I am on can make you obsessive and flirt with dangerous habits.......gambling etc. Happily, I am obsessive with photography.


The Kiss, The Look, The Hurry By by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr

[streetshooter]

Interesting answers Pete. I especially like the way you see the street as a hunt looking for that single moment. I guess that spawns from police work looking for that single criminal.
Pulling the trigger, that's all relative to what you are now from where you come from.

We will discuss some images in detail later but I have to say that you are developing a definitive style that reads you. There's another shooter that I know that has a similar stance as you but he doesn't yet have a hook. You are getting a hook that will eventually become your signature.
More about this later.

First we must establish the grounds your on.
So, I have to ask this next question that will go back to your early years as a photographer. I promise we won't delve into the past again unless we need to.

Question #3.
What did photography mean back in the beginning?

[petach]

Wow, Don.....that is so difficult to answer. As a young man I was rash, brash and arrogant. I was unthinking, untoughtful, full of myself. The pride in me would love to give an eloquent and elegant answer. I can only give a short one. It meant nothing. I had a camera, I took a few shots, tried to be clever and failed miserably. If I turned out my box of photographs......it would be considered a famine.

Now? I am like a golfer after that perfect swing......constantly looking to hit the sweet spot. I live and breathe it, think of it all the time, think what I can do next. I lead the street photo interest group in a very progressive photo club and will also lead in the city night shoot interest group. The chasm between what it meant to me back then to what it means now is almost unfathomable.

I bitterly regret not making use of my eye then. I have missed out on an awful lot. As I mentioned in a previous answer, I cruised through life, made no effort. I wonder what I could have achieved if I had applied myself. Now I am racing against Mr Parkinson.

[streetshooter]

Pete, got that. Racing against Mr Parkinson, well we are all racing against something...especially time.
Maybe you feel that you missed out on parts of your past and in a sense, photographically that may be true. You still lived it and that helps to form what and where you are now.

Question #4.
Have you ever or do you now work for hire?

[petach]

Interesting directional swerve!

I advertise myself for hire, and have done for about a week or so. I hope to facilitate anyone wanting to take night time shots in London. Reasonable rates!

I think my night scapes stand up to examination, I have some training background.......why not combine the two. I may have to spread my net wider.......ie, not just mr or mrs local but mr or mrs international holiday maker/business person.

A couple of people have asked me to photograph this or that for them as a favour, and I mentioned in a previous thread of a lady wanting her children photographed in informal fashion.

The closest I have got to making money out of my work? A local gallery owner has taken a shine to my London night scapes and sold some for good money. I may also (through him) have a spot in an important county exhibition running July to September. It is a good one to air your name. I hope to hear what the vetting committee thinks this week coming.

In short? I have a crap business model! Nice to make money from it, but it ain't really important enough for me to invest much time and effort to do so. Better to have travelled than to arrive?



moonlit_millennium by petach123 (Peter Tachauer), on Flickr

[streetshooter]

I'm glad you brought the work up. I see a difference on intent when I look at the 2 major bodies of work. The first being the night work, which by the way is very respectable. The second is the street. That also is respectable but i feel that your still trying to find your stance. The night visions are more about where you are and the street is more about what you are. There's a fine line but very well defined. It may be interesting Pete to see what the gallery owner thinks about the street work. I don't think you should stop either but you'll probably find that the night visions are more marketable.

Question #5.
What are your recurring themes?

[petach]

In terms of street work I look more for interesting faces, expressions, stances even. Something which......for a split second...........reveals the character of the subject. A wink, a smile.....grimace.....an arched eyebrow......a knowing look. I am after subtlety I think. Don't get me wrong, I'll shoot anything dramatic or whatever crosses my field of vision, but I constantly scan faces, look for that hint or spark of personality. I have always been a people watcher, so street is a natural progression I suppose.

Oh, and smoking. I have a thing for capturing people smoking. Why? I don't know other than that the way a person smokes reveals their character too.

For my night shots, I like big tableaux work.......panoramics with drama, lots for the eye to feast on. The City of London/Westminster area features because that seems to sell................and I like the juice....the buzz of being there, soaking up the atmosphere as I work.