Photographing chaos - Strategies?

[Daniela]

Yesterday, I went to a carnival/fair/not sure what the right name is. I went with the intention of photographing one particular attraction and got that done. However, as I walked through the rest, overwhelmed by the sensory overload from colors, smells and sounds, I couldn't take any more pictures and that left me frustrated. I know there's a way to organize that chaos (isn't that what we do every time we lift the camera?), but I just couldn't find my way through it.

I just attended a Stephen Shore's class and the way he spoke about the importance of taking time, really observing and composing, finding the "grammar" of making an image, etc was enlightening. Still, I couldn't quite figure it out "in the wild".

What strategies have you found useful for dealing with complex scenes like that? Another aspect of it is that I don't find all that plasticky stuff beautiful to begin with, but that's exactly why I'd like to take on that challenge!

Thanks for sharing any thoughts or advice

 

[Kino]

Trying to organize chaos is like herding cats.

Sometimes, you have to shoot from the hip in an "unstructured environment", as they called in in Journalism School.

While finding the grammar of a serene scene is admirable, uncontrolled and chaotic demands you switch to gaming mode and let instinct take over.

At least that's my 2 cents...

 

[runswithsizzers]

Some strategies to try:

1. Look for details (get closer)

 

[runswithsizzers]

2. Work the edges. Sometimes you can find less distracting backgrounds at the edges of the location, looking away from the chaos.

 

[runswithsizzers]

3. Work the light. Try to use shadows to isolate elements from the chaos.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Our brains separate chaos and ignore elements that can confuse us. Not so the camera. It has to be simplified. Move closer or zoom in. Pick one or two elements to shoot and eliminate the rest.

 

[runswithsizzers]

4. And if your camera has interchangeable lenses, try using a "normal" lens or longer which should help isolate details and blur backgrounds better than wider lenses.

 

[runswithsizzers]

Personally, I enjoy the plasticy colors, but I keep hearing people say color is "distracting." So you could try monochrome, but for me carnaval / festival scenes demand color. Fuji digital vs. Fomapan 200.

 

[BrianShaw]

Great advice and examples provided! These mimic my approach. “Big picture” images of big events have not only frustrated me but eluded me whenever attempted. I no longer try and go closer every time.

 

[Saganich]

I think the most important factor is to be in the chaos when your shooting.

 

[gary mulder]

It’s some thing that I call visual logic. Let people know why the picture was taken and more important why they have to look at it. Remember composition is a tool to emphasise what you want to say .

All examples taken with a 24mm on 24x36mm

 

[Sirius Glass]

Edges, focus on details, repeated patterns, using a longer lens than wide angle such as normal are several ways to fighting chaos.

 

[jeffreyg]

2 more cents. To me chaos is a lot of scattered order. See don’t look.

 

[Daniela]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I feel like street photography has allowed me to practice the "look for details/get closer/isolate" type of approach, and I'm comfortable with that. This time, I'm interested in getting a bit more of the controlled chaos in visually charged scenes, so if I look at the examples provided here, I see strong visual elements that are static and provide structure (like leading lines) and the moving/busy/whimsical bits sprinkled on top of that...picture getting clearer...

 

[cliveh]

I think it was Robert Doisneau who said something along the lines of "when you see a lot of photographers taking pictures, you can be sure there is nothing worth photographing". Try to remember that when amongst chaos, the camera hears only silence, it doesn't smell, it doesn't taste, it doesn't touch, it merely records reflected light.

 

[Tel]

While finding the grammar of a serene scene is admirable, uncontrolled and chaotic demands you switch to gaming mode and let instinct take over.

At least that's my 2 cents...

+2 cents. Most of the photos I've taken that I really like are ones where I shot instinctively and didn’t give them much thought. Often it’ll be a situation where the context looks interesting and I have to wait for someone or something unexpected to enter the frame before I fire the shutter. I’ve shot enough that I can frame up intuitively—mostly I get the horizon level or the vertical lines vertical and the point of interest placed well enough in the frame without having to think about it. And I long ago got over the idea that film is precious and I shouldn’t risk wasting a frame (or five or ten) to get the one that’s just right.

img391P by terry, on Flickr

ducks by terry, on Flickr

Aungier Street by terry, on Flickr

turnabout by terry, on Flickr

 

[Tel]

Thinking about this discussion further, it seems that there are really several questions being posed. One is ‘How do I shoot a chaotic scene?’ and another is ‘What do I shoot when confronted with a chaotic scene?’ They’re two very different things. I’m drawn to SJC1952’s work on the forum, which often is shot in public gatherings, rallies, protests and parades around Edinburgh. He is able to convey the context of a chaotic gathering but he usually finds a few interesting people to focus on, which catches the viewer’s interest and draws us in. That’s a difficult thing to do and I’m amazed that he can frame up, pull focus and get a good exposure in those circumstances. I haven’t been able to; Most of my street photos are of people who have somehow separated themselves from the crowd already. I’ve never been able to shoot a scene and convey a sense of chaos, probably because I tend to avoid them instinctively.
And maybe I just feel that the people on the fringes of the crowd are inherently more interesting...

 

[Chuck1]

Shoot chaotically to match the situation(especially if 35mm, much less for larger formats)
You never know

 

[Arthurwg]

Most of the photos I've taken that I really like are ones where I shot instinctively and didn’t give them much thought.

I agree. Chaos requires instinct, and probably lots of exposures.

 

[Pieter12]

Embrace the chaos. Shoot wide angle (very wide if you can, like 21mm). Get close, be part of it.

 

[loccdor]

Decide whether you will switch to telephoto and pick out subjects or wide angle and try to get interesting alignments of everything you see.

 

[Harry Callahan]

...
However, as I walked through the rest, overwhelmed by the sensory overload from colors, smells and sounds, I couldn't take any more pictures and that left me frustrated...

If there is a chaos you should realize that

- you may not be able to sort all of it, sometimes any of it

- there will be things you will miss.

As others have pointed out there are strategies that help to sort a chaos, but sorting things usually takes time and energy. The bigger the chaos is, the more time and energy was necessary to master it - and if the chaos is too big, respectively if your time and energy is limited, you cannot make it.
As you say yourself, you were overwhelmed, you couldn`t take any more pictures and you were frustrated. That`s just normal, when the chaos is too big - or your time and energy is limited.
If so it is better to take the chaos for a game or for buying some inexpensive lottery tickets for fun, because everything else will leave you frustrated.
Set yourself a limit, assuming you shoot analog, take one 36 exposure film as the "stake", see what you will "win", but be aware that you also will loose. If the chaos is too overwhelming and frustrating, leave the chaos because it`s being mean on you. Sometimes there is a kind chaos, providing you nice things, but sometimes there is a mean chaos giving you hell - better leave it as it doesn`t have anything for you.

 

[cowanw]

One of the limitations of photography is that every photograph needs a subject, usually a single identifiable point of interest.

 

[gary mulder]

A single point of interest is too easy.

 

[jeffreyg]

cowanw said:One of the limitations of photography is that every photograph needs a subject, usually a single identifiable point of interest.

IMOP not necessarily. Sometimes more than one "subject" work together ie juxtapositions.

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