In today’s episode, I’m joined by Victor Shohet from London. He’s been photographing since the 1980s. Traveling the world with his camera, he does not shy away from interacting with his subjects on the streets.
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Follow Victor Shohet
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victorshohet/
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- Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuRVp34UK3slv3Xfp8g_77opdIlUvfRWU&si=X9eI9mETmt86b_ZW
The summary of this episode + links
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:20 Victor Shohet introduces himself
00:01:45 What drew Victor into photography
- An old Zenith camera
- Backpacking around the world
- Selling his photographs to magazines
00:04:20 Financing his travels with photography
- Selling photos to magazines
- Selling gear in India
- Making the photos he liked
- Shooting film
- He’s only shooting digital now
00:08:45 His photography these days
00:09:40 Street photo project in Calcutta
- Sharing shifts with 50 photographers
- https://dotso.webflow.io/projects
- Shifts of 6 hours
- He took a shift from midnight to 6 am
- Taxi photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CtefcdaNHeS/
00:12:00 Sreet photography at night
- Using flash
- The surprise element with slow sync flash
- Proximity to his subjects
- Dash the fetish photographer: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-AJyaVIBv5/?img_index=1
00:14:39 How he approaches people
- Interacting with people asking for photos
- Telling people he has their photo and sharing photos
- Shock people with 14mm
- Similar to Bruce Gilden https://www.brucegilden.com/work
- Tiny Nikon flash
- Nude bicycle race: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8MNgrooCRL/?img_index=1
- Soho https://www.instagram.com/p/C9zNMI8o_Q8/?img_index=1
- Night and flash: https://www.instagram.com/p/C94Xrn3I0f5/?img_index=3
- Euros: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9cwwtOoTsE/?img_index=2
00:25:00 Crowd photography
00:27:45 Set of Victor’s rule for his photos
- #1 is the story
- Then follows composition
- The light
00:30:10 The photo of the singer
- The singer: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9B_AtfA_aM/
00:32:45 The lenses Victor uses
- 14-30 mm
- 24-110 mm
- 70-300 mm Tokina lenss
00:38:00 Perception of the people on the street to your camera
00:40:00 Lenses are just a tool
- India guy with a drum photo with a longer lens https://www.instagram.com/p/CvooTdNIuZD/?img_index=3
- Photo with the fingernails: https://www.instagram.com/p/Culz2wuo3yf/
- Woman with child: https://www.instagram.com/p/CvhSOYBo7wd/
- Guy drinking water: https://www.instagram.com/p/CuG7g1Egm5M/
00:41:45 Doing photography in India
00:43:50 Landscape vs. portrait orientation in his photography
- Lady and the phone booth: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6vkEwFoiJf/?img_index=1
- Hard hat in India: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7dvWdmo2TY/?img_index=1
00:46:20 Documenting vs editing
00:53:00 Instagram and other photography mediums and photo selection
00:57:30 Talking about his Zine and the creation of it
01:01:40 Documenting and cataloging your photos
01:04:00 Photography and socializing
- Street badass: https://www.instagram.com/street_badass/?hl=en
01:13:00 ISO for street photography
01:19:40 Differences in street photography in different countries and events
- Sassoon docks: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cru9m45Ib1w/?img_index=1
01:25:40 Outro
Thank you for listening to this conversation with Victor. Don’t forget to subscribe to be updated about upcoming episodes. Reach out via social media if you want to share any questions or ideas.
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