Mju I and invisibility.

John Bragg · Jun 30, 2015

I have just spent a fantastic hour in Birmingham City centre just shooting street shots with my Mju I and a roll of Tri-X. Very liberating experience it was too, from the fact that to all and sundry I was invisible ! I have come to the conclusion that eye level shooting is far less obtrusive than someone shooting with an arms out stance and a digi compact. The clamshell design and palm size helps too !

Brian Puccio · Jun 30, 2015

The GF has a Hasselblad 500 CM and while it's a giant camera, no one really knows she's taking a picture because it is neither held out like a digicam nor up to her face like an SLR until after the heavy KER-CLUNK.

gone · Jun 30, 2015

I agree, TLRs and other waist level cameras often fly under the radar. Olde folders often do to to a certain extent too.

Nothing beats the hidden camera method that Walker Evans used for three years on N.Y. subways. He made some of the most remarkable candid photos that were ever made, and in all likelihood ever will be made. Of course it helps to be Walker Evans, but his method enabled the ability to make the wonderful pics.

One could spend all day in a studio with a camera with these people and never photograph the true character that he discovered in his photos.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wal...6Fe1w1B0M:&usg=__s4dbuMfkc-LDBp3PpF7JL8vBeas=

PCC · Jun 30, 2015

Back in my high school days I used to pull the prism off of my Nikon F Photomic FTN and shoot it waist level. I got a lot of photos of camera shy classmates this way because they'd pay me no mind when I was "fidgeting with my camera" but would duck and cover whenever I brought my FE2 to eye level. Quite a few of those photos ended up in the yearbook, too.

I was just given a Mju (known as an Infinity Stylus in the U.S.). I never thought about using it for street photography but that isn't a bad idea. I'd just need to manually turn off the flash every time I open the clamshell.

ajmiller · Jul 1, 2015

I have the book of this series - Many Are Called - and it is fascinating, though I do sometime imagine that some of the faces of the people he photographs have a look of wondering what that bloke opposite is fiddling about with in his pocket. (the shutter release).

The first project we had to do at college was going out into the streets and photographing 'isolation' - people on their own. A good exercise in losing your inhibitions with the camera. After a while you realise that most folks just aren't aware of much going on around them.
The mju is a nice camera for that kind of work I'm sure.

momus said:
I agree, TLRs and other waist level cameras often fly under the radar. Olde folders often do to to a certain extent too.

Nothing beats the hidden camera method that Walker Evans used for three years on N.Y. subways. He made some of the most remarkable candid photos that were ever made, and in all likelihood ever will be made. Of course it helps to be Walker Evans, but his method enabled the ability to make the wonderful pics.

One could spend all day in a studio with a camera with these people and never photograph the true character that he discovered in his photos.

..........

Mju I and invisibility.

John Bragg

Brian Puccio

gone

PCC

ajmiller

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency