The Leica M Photographer by Bertram Solcher

Author:Bertram Solcher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rocky Nook, Inc.
Published: 2015-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

The St. Pauli Piers

This reportage gives you a taste of life at the famous landing piers in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg. In contrast to the long-term projects introduced in other chapters, I shot this sequence in one day especially for this book. The fact that Leica had loaned me an M Monochrom to test was all the encouragement I needed to get out and shoot a new story. This sequence is also designed to demonstrate that you don’t need to travel far or visit spectacular events to produce exciting images. The St. Pauli Piers are a public space and it was easy to find out a little about their history. While you shoot, keep the journalist’s five “W” questions in mind: Who? What? When? Where? Why? You won’t always be able to answer them all photographically, but they provide a good set of guidelines. My gear consisted of the M Monochrom, my M9 as a backup, and my 35mm and 50mm lenses. My bag was so light I was able to leave the car at home and travel by subway to my chosen location. Looking for a parking space can be a chore and can seriously spoil your mood before you even begin to shoot. The St. Pauli Piers are also accessible by public ferry, so I was able to shoot from the water, too. This partially answered the “where” question, although the weather was poor and I wasn’t able to capture the overview I was hoping to snap from the boat.

Back on land, I did some reconnaissance at the water’s edge with my camera at the ready. I noticed a man selling tickets for harbor tours (“who”), some palm trees a café owner had set up on one of the pontoons, as well as seagulls, ducks, food stalls, countless boats, and even more tourists (“what”). At this point I concentrated on trying to register new impressions rather than falling back into old habits. The weather wasn’t particularly good, but do we really need blue sky and sunshine to take photos? Great photos depend on what you make of the situation you find yourself in. Rain, mist, and diffuse light all have their own special charm if you are prepared to open your mind and immerse yourself in your surroundings.

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