Jun
17
2009
Corner View – Street Fashion
I really wanted to play along with Jane of Spain Daily’s ‘Corner View’ project – and this week it’s ‘Street Fashion’. A leetle beeeet of a challenge when you live in sleepy Suffolk and the predominant fashion du jour is, well, beige. Beige beige beige everywhere you look, not really a surprise given that our town has a gracefully aging and rather gentile feel about it. I had doubts I’d find anything remotely colourful or interesting to shoot, and decided to leave the Nikon at home in favour of the brilliant Camerabag application on my iphone.
I absolutley LOVE this app and have had a lot of fun shooting candids and street photography with it when I’m working in London. It does crash with boring frequency but it’s so cool you forgive it. Basically it applies various filters to your iphone’s camera, and lets you view the various treatments on a photo before you save it. My favourites are the helga (a kind of holga effect), lolo, instant and cinema. It’s a fun little app which helps detract you from the fact that the iphone camera is pretty rubbish – although I hear the soon to be launched new iphone will rectify this. Huzzah, I neeeeeeeeeed one. You know, for my ‘art’.
So back to street fashion. Here are a series of snaps from my archive, all taken in London, in and around Soho where fashion is already out of fashion. Look how dark they all are, black, grey, gritty, urban….kind of dirty?
Nice bag, Paul Smith? This is ‘1974′
Naughty smokers…this one is ‘cinema’
This one is very cool..check out that huge sunflare! Plus union jack, ra ra ra…this is ‘instant’
Legs eleven…here come the girls…’instant’ again
And finally, from London, this cool statue…actually this was taken in the City…statues, love it. This one is ‘Helga’
So back to today and the sea of beige. I really thought I’d have to give up when all of a sudden little glimpes of COLOUR started appearing:
Oooh, another nice bag…Cath Kidson? Check out the 6th formers in the background…
Oh, yet another nice bag…spotted in the bakery…check out the cakes in the background
This is more like it! We’re on a roll now…this little girl was in full princess outfit. Her mother gave me ‘that’ look when I smiled at her. The weary ‘It wasn’t worth the argument, she can come out in her pyjamas for all I care as long as she behaves’.In the bakery again…a cake may accidentally have fallen in to my bag while I was there…
Oh, special, ankle socks and colour…and all on a grown woman…special mention for effort I think…although also a possible entrant in to the ‘crimes against fashion’ category (possibly a future Corner View theme?)
But, drumroll, the winner is….these fabulous pair of red shoes…ah, no wait, that’s me…those are my shoes…taken in a desperate moment when I thought I’d come home with only a Sea of Beige to show
No the real winner is this fabulous GUY. Oh, he was smart he was sassy he was stripes he was gold buttons he was burnished brown lace ups he was tall he was handsome he was slim he was winsome he was foppish he was dandy and, oh, he was also about 18. Damn, another Street Crush crushed by the mortifying realisation that the Object of Crush was young enough to be my son.
Well, this is as much of him as I snapped before I melted in to a puddle of crush love on the pavement. I love this photo, stripes, blue, angles..it’s all going on.
So, lovers of street photography who have an iphone, embrace Camerabag. Or, splash out, and get yourself to Photojojo and buy yourself a Spy Lens. Go on, because you’re worth it.
Great photos, and cool fiilters! Isn’t it suprizing how much color there really is out there?
great post! looks like you had a blast. i now have a new obsession… i need that spy lens… no really…
i love camerabag too, but hate that crashing thing. it did recently download an update, so maybe it will be better, i’m not sure i tried it since then. tho’ i took some snazzy pictures of some guy with a blue passport (not US tho’), capris and snazzy dress shoes without socks. i’ll have to post it and play guess the nationality.
i use only the holga treatment. the beauty of the iPhone is that you can take all kinds of surreptitious pictures and people just think you’re fiddling around, showing off your pretty phone and have no idea that you’ve…ahem…snapped the contents of their pretty flowery purse…
love your red shoes, BTW.
Great collection of “outfits”! I wish I had an Iphone as I’ve been to shy to take photos of people with my Nikon for this corner view!
Fab post, gorgeous pics and hilarious comments. And those red shoes …. yummo.
Oh and, see my previous post for explanation of a meme – I don’t tweet but I do spy
Oooh Molly you sneaky snorkel! I will read backwards and listen and learn…
Yes, B…I’m pretty gutsy generally but I just can’t bring myself to do street photography with a gigantic DSLR strapped to my face. The iphone is cool for candids, but I’m sure any phone camera will work. It surprises me how much pleasure I get from photographing ‘the everyday’ and people I don’t know. Plus makes boring chores like chipping in to town to the post office etc a whole lot more fun – adds a different dimension to the day. Join in!
Oh I didn’t know that, Julie, re the update. Because it crashes at least once every time I use it (normally just after I’ve taken a fab shot which I then lose). I will try updating. Mmmm the snazzy guy sounds special…let’s see him then.
I love the helga, actually I love all of them apart from the fisheye which is rubbish.
Hey Jane, thanks for the great idea and I’m loving playing along. Yes you need the spy lens, me too….perhaps the super spy lens…actually I need everything on photojojo. MrSpud are you reading? One of everything please? I thank you.
Thx Amanda! Yes once I started looking beyond the beige I was pleasantly surprised. I missed a couple of great outfits alas…girl in white linen trousers with a fabulous bright red top…VERY glam lady in a red linen shift dress with black strappy sandals and a black black jaw length bob. So striking. I was grappling with shopping bags at the time however..
Laughing at you poking your phone into people’s bags to take pics of their cakes!
You really do have a great eye for the everyday shots, and know how to turn them into something interesting. And funny.
Love the photos. I also have an iPhone but have never tried camerabag, going to check it out right this minute.
The blue striped pants remind me of some I had back in the early 80s…mine were skin tight tho’
Nice image, huh? Went well with my big hair at the time.
Love the blog
I love this post. It’s fun to be a voyeur, yes? I’ll have to try this. Loved it! That princess was quite a… princess.
I chickened out on the street fashion thingy… boo me. However I do want to point out that Mr Man Crush in the Bobby Crush (yes I’m old) jeans is actually carrying a PRIMARK bag….. ’nuff said!!! so sad!!!!!