I’ve decided to give myself a restriction.
For the foreseeable future I’m going to photograph people I encounter on the street using one camera and one lens: a Canon 5D Mark IV and an 85mm f/1.2.
I’m calling the project 85STYLE. I’m excited to share the idea behind it with you here.
The idea isn’t really street fashion, although clothes are where it begins. I’m interested in the small things that make somebody visually arresting: the way a coat hangs, an unexpected combination of colours, a pair of shoes, a silhouette, someone’s posture, the way they carry themselves.
Sometimes it might be obvious. Sometimes it might be nothing more than a person walking past who, for a fraction of a second, looks completely right.
The 85mm is an important part of this. It’s not the obvious street-photography lens. It’s relatively long, and it forces me to see differently. I can’t simply stand in the middle of a scene and photograph everything around me. I have to look, wait, isolate something, and make a decision.
That’s what I’m interested in finding out. What happens if I stick with one focal length for a long time? What does an 85mm make me notice?
And perhaps most importantly: what kind of photographs will I make when I stop worrying about what I’m supposed to be doing?
I’m deliberately not going to turn this into a gear project or a photography tutorial. There will be no YouTube channel. No endless discussion of cameras and settings.
No promise that I know where this is going.
I’ll just go out with the 85mm lens, really look at people, and photograph the things that catch my eye.
This is the first one.
Let’s see where it leads.
85STYLE #001
Brighton - 1.10.2018
Our paths only crossed for a brief moment in the centre of bustling Brighton, but there was something about the kindness in these eyes that made me stop in my tracks.
I remember thinking…wow, there’s real individuality here.