Am I close enough?
Distinguished war photographer, and founder of Magnum, Robert Capa, is credited with the observation that: “If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough.” This has long been regarded as a guiding principle for street photographers who often feel it is vital to ‘feel the fear’ and get as close physically to their subjects as they possibly can. However, more recently, a debate has emerged around what Capa actually meant by his famous maxim. Was he really talking about physical proximity or was he seeking to imply emotional immediacy instead? Or perhaps both?
Evening at Camden Lock, London - August 2023
Yesterday evening, I was wandering around Camden Lock on the Regent’s Canal in north London. Once a vital means of moving goods and supplies for the city’s residents and workers, over the past 40 years, Camden Lock, and the adjoining Camden Market, has developed as a centre for fashion, music, food - and a wonderful place simply to hang out. Like Brick Lane in London’s inner East End, it inevitably attracts a cast of flamboyant characters - and urban photographers like me.
When I’m concentrating on documenting life on city streets, I often sense the need to get close to my subjects. The resulting images can make informal portraits that say much about the city people are living in and the lives they lead. However, there are downsides to pursuing physical proximity at all costs. Most obviously, not all people like being subjected to the full ‘Bruce Gilden treatment’ with a wide angle lens being poked in their faces. Not only may this upset people but it can lead to unwanted altercations and, in extreme cases, to physical threats.
Secondly, you have to ask what you are seeking to achieve by getting so close to someone that you effectively eliminate everything else from the resulting image. Occasionally, you will encounter a person whose face or what they are wearing are the subject matter alone. When this is the case, I try to summon up the courage to ask them directly whether I can make a photograph. More often than not, I am surprised to find that I get a positive response.
But most of the time, I am more intrigued to make images in which people are but one element of a wider street scene. Accordingly, I judge that Robert Capa was seeking to emphasise emotional proximity as much as physical closeness.
For this image of Camden Lock, I found myself intrigued by the man in the smart white jacket and tie - and his seeming interaction with the couple to the right of the image. In fact, he is a street saxophonist who was asking some people out of shot whether they could mind his belongings while he headed for a loo. He was completely oblivious of the couple - who I realise are reacting to the sight of me with my camera.
Nevertheless, I enjoy this image because it seems to capture an essence of Camden Lock: people strolling and relaxing, interesting characters, street art, and the unceasing interplay of people on city streets - all overlooked by the shadows of Victorian London and its industrial past.
Am I close enough? I think I am.
