Last Updated on 04/20/2015 by Chris Gampat
All images by Marius Vieth. Used with permission.
Photographer Marius Vieth has graced our site a couple of times, but one of our favorite projects by the award winning street photographer is called “Under My Umbrella.” It features many candid street photos taken in the rain–a time when the streets are crazier than normal and light shows of all sorts happen.
“Once itâs starts raining, the city turns into a whole different place youâll never see in bright daylight. All of a sudden everything melts into one amazing mixture of lights, reflections and colors I canât even describe with words.” says Marius. Indeed, his images reflect events that don’t usually happen when the sun is out. But even more so, he combines interesting color usage with capturing candid moments in the downpour.
Phoblographer:Â What made you want to compile photos for an Umbrella project?
Marius: If thereâs one thing I love more than anything else, itâs shooting in the rain at night. Once itâs starts raining, the city turns into a whole different place youâll never see in bright daylight. All of a sudden everything melts into one amazing mixture of lights, reflections and colors I canât even describe with words. Thatâs why I created âUnder My Umbrellaâ.
As soon as it starts raining, everyone grabs their stuff and flees the scene. They all hide inside to stay dry. No one except for a few crazy people stay outside and start dancing in the rain. I totally get why people donât want to get wet and rather get inside. But I love the rain so much. I love the energy it has, the power to remix a whole city, the clean and fresh change of scenery it brings, the emotions it evokes.
A man who is already wet isnât afraid of the rain anymore. So go out there, jump in the puddles, feel the rain and rediscover that creative child inside of you!
Phoblographer:Â How do you feel the rain affects people when it comes to street photography?
Marius:Â Itâs amazing how may beautiful, authentic and golden moments appear once it starts snowing, raining or a storm breaks loose. All of a sudden the streets are filled with people jumping around, couples running hand-in-hand, some are dancing in the rain, others are furious to no limits. Thereâs such a broad spectrum of emotions and behavior. How could you not love that?
Phoblographer:Â Some of these images seem to have a specific color scheme. What creative thought processes do you go through when creating scenes like these?
Marius:Â I always take my photos in RAW. That way I can decide later how Iâm going to develop the shot. But I generally know during the golden moment what kind of story Iâm going to tell. And that heavily influences the development in my digital darkroom. Do I want to tell a somewhat darker and more surreal story or will the moment come over as uplifting? Just like everyone perceives rain and bad weather differently, you can add another layer of interpretation and story telling through post processing. Not changing the moment, but underlining what you felt.
The funny thing is though that Iâm slightly color blind. I have a red-green weakness and I think Iâm seeing colors a little less intense in general compared to others. Thatâs why Iâm always looking for rather strong and intense colors that I can feel as well. Just like one of the founders of Ben & Jerryâs, who has underdeveloped taste buds. He wanted to create something he loves to eat as well and thatâs how they came up with cookie dough and all that. Strong colors and color schemes is my cookie dough I guess.
