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Photo Essays

I Find Fashion Photography So Boring; But Not Street Photography

Chris Gampat
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10/10/2017
4 Mins read
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Last Updated on 10/11/2017 by Chris Gampat

For work I shoot commercial and fashion photography and really, it is so fucking boring. So in my own time I just love to photograph humanity. I want to turn the mundane into something beautiful. I think this helps me cope with life, making the ordinary extraordinary. I have a Leica Q and like to take my camera out when I walk my dog every day. At school I wanted to paint photos realistically but I was crap, so I figured I could just take photos instead. I really enjoyed it and got a rush from the results and I just never stopped.

What photographers are your biggest influences?

Jamie Hawkesworth for colour and emotion, William Eggleston for being able to notice a moment and Alex Webb for composition.

How long have you been shooting?

Since I was 16/17.

Why is photography and shooting so important to you?

I wasn’t very good with school and learning so having direction and a goal to work towards when I was younger and having something you know you are good pretty much saved my life.

Do you feel you’re more of a creator or a documenter? Why?

This question has been the big turning point in my recent life really. I started out wanting to create, but I’m miserable when I’m doing jobs like that. Documenting real life and real moments is all that’s important to me and I’m never happier than when I’ve captured something real and can communicate that emotive moment to someone else through a photograph.

What’s typically going through your mind when you create images? Tell us about your processes both mentally and mechanically?

I like to just walk. I’m not a photographer that finds a spot and stays there, I always keep moving, I don’t look for a photo, I let it find me. I will just see something, a character, a colour, a shape, I don’t like to limit myself. My brain says take a photo and my body does it. I never really work a scene because that moment has passed the second after I press the shutter.

Want to walk us through your processing techniques?

I like to come home from my walk and get a drink and sit at my computer and see what I’ve found. I shoot with the viewfinder set to B&W because I find it easier to see tone and light so it’s interesting to see the images in colour on the big screen. I then just adjust the image how I see fit to portray the emotion I felt in that scene. I think anything past that emotion is overdone and anything under it wouldn’t do that moment justice.

What made you want to get into your genre?

It was just completely natural. I used to always carry a camera and just shoot anything I like and before I knew it I’m a ‘street photographer’. However I actually don’t like that term because I associate it more with just going out and shooting random crap in the streets for really no reason. I like to think of myself as more of a humanity documentary photographer.

Tell us a bit about the gear that you use and how you feel it helps you achieve your creative vision

I used to use an X100 and I liked it but I always missed the feeling of full frame from my work cameras. I like to shoot wide open for everything and APS sensors just don’t have the same quality and I always felt torn that I wasn’t getting the best shot I could in that moment. I scraped and saved for the Leica Q and it has honestly changed my life. I take 10x the photos I did before because it just calls to me to use it. It is a magical camera.

What motivates you to shoot?

If I stop for one second and think about all the incredible things in the world happening this very second I usually just grab my camera and run out the door. I’m usually quite busy and forget to think about this but when I do I’m outta there! It’s addictive.

I think I am just a regular Joe going out and trying to do something nice and take nice photos of nice people in nice places. I think this is something I’m good at and I think I will only get better and better the older I get so that excites me and keeps me going and I would just love to share my passion and enthusiasm with others and hopefully inspire someone one day! Be sure to follow me on Instagram.

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset
Submission and images by Joshua Lawrence. Used with permission.

fashion humanity Joshua Lawrence leica Leica Q people Photography street photography
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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