It seems that for the longest time people have talked about photography and the need for “tack-sharp images”. I really noticed it when digital cameras stormed the scene and that hasn’t changed in the intervening years. Maybe it goes hand in hand with the insatiable appetite for increased resolution. For the drive for the most ‘perfect’ and clean image.
For a few years I have been going in the opposite direction. Of course I have used digital cameras, but analogue photography has been calling to me more and more. And I believe it’s made me a better photographer, freer to make mistakes and create images not perfectly executed.
I think of certain images by the late German fashion and portrait photographer Peter Lindbergh that are slightly soft and it lends them both nostalgia and a romantic edge. Like Lindbergh’s famous close up of Helena Christensen smoking, captured for Vogue Paris in Spring 1991. Not sharp, but deeply arresting.
Slower Shutter Speed
Another technique that I love is introducing motion blur by slowing the shutter speed. I use it sparingly, but when I experiment, it can offer some really interesting results.
I recently bought a copy of Fragments, a book of inspirational photography by the Ivorian-French photographer Alex ‘Très Cool’ Dobé. He has been lauded for his vision and style in the fashion world. He deliberately uses a slower shutter speed to capture movement on the world’s catwalks.
If you are not familiar with his work, I suggest you have a look.
85STYLE #002
Near Brighton - 29.1.2026
I photographed S on a winter’s morning by the coast. The light levels were low and I thought, why not try a walking shot with a reduced shutter speed. This was at 1/15th of a second.
I like the atmosphere here. I can feel the movement, and for me, the moment comes alive. It takes some experimentation, but isn’t that a cornerstone of anything creatively satisfying?
So I intend to take more chances, and keep more photographs that might not be sharp. Maybe this is especially important in today’s world of increasing AI imagery.
“I think perfection is ugly. Somewhere in the things humans make, I want to see scars, failure, disorder, distortion.”
Yohji Yamamoto.