Photo Challenge

Urban

This week’s photo challenge is guest hosted by Terence S. Jones of A Guy With a Camera. Read on for…

Photo courtesy of Terence S. Jones

Photo courtesy of Terence S. Jones

This week’s photo challenge is guest hosted by Terence S. Jones of A Guy With a Camera. Read on for more about this week’s theme and his photography tips!

Urban. The idea behind urban photography is to photograph your city and the streets where you grew up as they are. Unlike the photoshopped pictures to which we are accustomed nowadays, urban photography presents a more direct, unaltered view of life. It is about documenting urban living space and how people adapt their environment to certain needs and vice versa. Urban photography shots provide cultural, social, economical, and ecological context all at once, and can capture social tension.

Think of urban photography as a complement to street photography—it provides the context in which street photography unfolds.

Share a photo that means URBAN to you!

Tip: You do not need any fancy gear. I often use a point-and-shoot camera for my urban photography. Seeing is the key here: focus on what you see, what objects you find—discarded belongings on the street, satellite dishes on a building, shoes on a wire—and what they suggest about the people living there. You might develop a better eye if you revisit a place several times. Pick a time of day when people are back from work and on the streets. Also, consider using the “exposure compensation” (or putting the camera in manual mode) to deal with strong backlight in order to balance darker streets with a lighter sky.

Terence S. Jones is an Atlanta-based photographer. Check out his blog, Terence S. Jones Photography – A Guy With a Camera. There, you will find regular updates and current projects as well as other photography-related topics. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Here’s how it works:

1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.

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    1. Hey there — I was intrigued by it, too, when I first saw Terence’s post (it’s linked above). As his post describes, it’s a famous “advertising pillar” in Gostenhof called “die schönste Litfaßsäule.” Writes Terence: “The idea behind the concept is that the pillar serves as a trading point. Whenever you do not need something you just put it there and if you found something you are interested in, you just take it.”

      Cool, huh?

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      1. I especially like Terence’s thoughts on this: “Think of urban photography as a complement to street photography—it provides the context in which street photography unfolds.”

        From what he describes in this challenge to the shots I’ve seen on his blog, I interpret “urban” to encompass more than just the scene that’s presented — more than the visuals “on the surface” — I think urban photography reveals more about a city or neighborhood, and its residents. As Terence writes, it provides the context in which action and movement happen…

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      2. yes i got (and liked) terence’s thoughts on urban photography, but isn’t street photography also intended to “reveal more about a city or neighbourhood and its residents”? in which case, what is the role of street photography in this context? it would help (me) to have an “urban photography is X, whereas street photography is Y” type definition/explanation.

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      3. Actually I myself had a doubt there. Wiki pedia describes urban areas as locations characterized by higher densities of population. I do my street shooting in the most crowded areas of my city. This particular post for example, was taken in a market place. This is my understanding. Correct me If i’m wrong.

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    2. I had a problem posting a comment on your blog. I thought your street photography portraits just really drew me in. I liked that you did them in black and white to focus in on the people’s faces.

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      1. I always feel b/w helps in focusing on the essence of the subject, especially in portraits, by removing the distraction of colour. Thanks for your comment. I don’t know what was the problem while commenting on my blog. I’ll look into it.

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