Welcome to the third and final series of “An Image From My Life”. While my fellow SNAPSHOT experts, Ross and Sean, have featured older photos in their blogs, my photo above was captured just last week. The photo was taken in Saint Jean de Luz in the very South of France (right on the border with Spain). Here I’ll explain a little bit about the sport and why this image helped me overcome my fear of street photography.
Pelote Basque – Is It Just French Squash?
The group captured in the photo are playing a local sport known as Pelote Basque. The sport involves a bouncy but hard ball and every player has a curved racket that they use to rebound the ball against the wall. There are 16 variants of the game that can be played with different types of rackets. We played an easier version with different rackets known as Pala, pictured below. While there is an immediate resemblance to the game of Squash, this sport seemed clearly much more challenging and, to me anyway, much more enticing.
The Scary World of Street Photography
One of the reasons this photo is important to me is because it was one of the first proper ‘street photography’ images I have taken. I did not know any of the people in this image and I hadn’t asked anyone for their permission to take the photo. Street Photography and The Law is very much a murky area and the rules change from country to country. In fact, I’m currently Googling what the laws are in France around street photography and there is a lot of contradictory information. From what I understand, the French government have previously attempted to restrict street photography because of terrorism fears. I’m not sure how much sense this makes – I’ll leave that for you to decide. Regardless, this is the country of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Doisneau for crying out loud! I am a firm believer in the need for street photography. It gives insights into the human condition that other forms of art just can’t.
But back to the image. As with the vast majority of budding street photographers, I was anxious about taking these photos. I asked my friend who comes from the area if it would be okay and he told me that he wasn’t sure and that people around here could be quite tough. Oh great, I thought. But I knew that this image opportunity was too great to pass me by, so I got my camera out and got snapping.
To my surprise, nobody said anything. A few parents looked at me, and that was as scary as it got. Wow! It might sound insignificant, but this was a huge moment for me as a photographer. I had put myself out there and taken a risk, and it was far less terrifying than I had imagined. The photo looked great, and I couldn’t wait to get home and edit it.
Just Do It
For those of you who are fascinated with street photography but are worried about others’ reactions, I hope this article gives you that extra bit of courage that you need to go out and do it. If you believe that what you are doing is important in some way, it makes it much easier. Pointing a camera at a stranger can feel awkard at first – and that’s normal – but you will eventually get used to it and your camera will soon start to feel like an extension of your arm. Just keep this in mind, aspire to get to that stage, and you will be there before you know it.
