Ghebosu Florin Emil Channels the Romance of Cartier-Bresson

Last Updated on 05/03/2024 by Chris Gampat

Over the years, I have used photography to socialize, personal rediscovery, and archiving moments of visual-plastic expression. Or at least that’s what I thought at first. But along the way, I discovered how projects are formed over time and become more than a personal experience, a small historical archive of places and characters over which time passes mercilessly. I no longer feel this photographic game as personal, as well as a debt to the multicultural history of the places. In my portfolio, I present how the characters from my travels have left their mark on me.

This is a guest blog post by Ghebosu Florin Emil for the Phoblographer and edited accordingly. Check out his website and Instagram. Want to submit one? Check out how to be featured here.

I love photography gear, both digital and analog, as a kid. I am not necessarily a fan of new technologies but rather of different methods of technical expression. Developing film at home becomes a method of discipline with a more tangible process than digital. In the field, I always have a digital camera and an analog one at hand because every time I witness a little battle between new and old techniques, I enjoy always choosing the most vivid and least post-processed frame.”

I had to buy a digital camera to keep my memories with my friends from the trips we made together. We went so often that I barely managed to collect money to buy the camera. I was so happy when I got it that I started shooting everything.

Robert Capa once said: “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” This is my first rule in photography too. I like the works of William Eugene Smith, Alex Webb, and so many others…

I like the way W.Eugene Smith showed us his photography skills through projects and love the framing way of Alex Webb.

I am a big fan of Magnum Photographers and history through the images; that’s why I still love to shoot black and white film too.

It’s been 15 years and counting. Now I know what I want in photography, and I feel that I can do it all my life and still not long enough. I feel that it’s like reading; when you meet new people you learn new stories.

I like to see myself as an enviromental portait photographer, so I often go to the rural areas, but I am on the streets every day searching. I feel that today we are not connected anymore in real life but more in social life. That’s why I go out and meet new people or just capture a moment in their life. To feel connected with people but as an introvert :)). The camera is my defense gear.

I use film and digital cameras; I like to use the most my Fuji XT2 with 23mm/f1.4 and Nikon FM3a with 50mm/f1.4 Planar or Pentax KX with Zeiss Flektogon m42 adapted. But I have different setups in my camera bag, the Ricoh gr3 with Nikon l35af, a Nikon d810 with Tamron 35mm/f1.8, a Zeiss Super Ikonta 534/16, and a Mamiya 35 II. Love them all. I use different setups for the size and the shooting style. I like to be prepared at any time.

Natural, just because I like it more, it feels more documentarian. But if I really need artificial light, I have no issue using one.

I’m more of a creator than a documenter because I like all the elements inside the frame to say something about the moment, character or my impression of society. I often use 35 mm to get many things in the frame and keep it clean.

I am looking for interesting people and aesthetically clean and interesting backgrounds with many elements that describe the place, moment, or the character. I use bw film and Zeiss lenses to be more disciplined and small cameras to look less aggressive when shooting on the streets. 

With Fujifilm, I use film simulations and shoot raw + jpeg so that I have a raw backup to adjust the exposure, and the shadows when in need. On film, I like to push film one stop, or use iso 400 for the grain. I home develop bw film, the color I take to the lab. I don’t edit too much now; it feels better to get it in the right tones and light from the camera.

I have open projects, one of them is about a family; I just go and take portraits of them in the house or outside yearly, with their animals, hear their stories, and see the change in time. Another one is Boyhood; it’s all about something that feels the same as my childhood, staying outside all the time, friends and games, which is no longer so much available in the big city today.

I like the joy of it. The pleasure of seeing new moments, meeting new people, and playing with my cameras.