An Extraordinary Photographer: Mermelstein
Street photography is something that has always fascinated me. I really enjoy looking at books and albums of photographs. Last week Jeff Mermelstein, a street photographer, came to our class to speak about photography and show us some of his pictures. Some people go out to photograph a specific theme or idea, while Mermelstein prefers to shoot everything he finds interesting and then choose a theme later.
Mermelstein loves to use color photography, even though others find it better to shoot in black and white. He feels that color adds life and beauty into photographs and makes them much more interesting. Personally, I agree with this idea and I like color photography much better than black and white.
I never knew that it is completely legal to photograph anyone on the street. It always seemed like an invasion of people’s privacy and something that is not allowed. It was interesting to learn that the only thing that is illegal is to sell photographs to companies to use in an advertisement. I was always afraid of taking pictures of people walking down the street, but now that I know that it is completely legal, I will not be worried about it anymore.
Mermelstein likes to take pictures of very odd characters and scenes he finds on the streets of New York. For example, he showed us images of a man with a book in his mouth and a woman holding ten-dollar bills between her teeth. These images depict some of the weird, strange, and unusual scenes of New York. These pictures are often so strange, that it is hard to imagine that these people are real and not posed by Mermelstein.
The most realistic set of pictures he showed us was the ones of the old Jewish women playing mahjong at each other’s homes. This was especially interesting to me because my grandmother is constantly going to her friend’s homes to participate in mahjong games. She structures her days around her mahjong schedule, and is constantly talking about who’s home she has last been to. The women in Jeff Mermelstein’s pictures looked like the same type of women as my grandmother, so I found this pretty hilarious.
I really enjoyed seeing Mermelstein’s photographs and hearing what it is like to take photographs as a profession and not as a hobby. It is amazing that he has to take thousands of photos just to find one or two good ones. I would find this too frustrating, and I would probably give up. It takes a lot of skill and patience to be a good street photographer.
