How street photography changed the way I see other people

When I was young I was a very shy guy. I can´t look into other peoples eyes and had trouble doing simple things like buying a cinema-ticket. And then I made some new friends and started with skateboarding. That gave way more self confidence. After that I were a new wave/goth for a longer time. I did my own parties and become a DJ and later a VJ. About 10 years ago I discovered photography and all the possibilities and tried all kinds like studio, architecture etc.
But as I saw the work of great street photographers like Henry Catier Bresson I was fascinated by their work. And then Ricoh (500GX) and Fuji entered my life and changed the way I take photographs with a camera that is always with me. These small cams are not between me and the subject I want to take shots of. A great start to take better photos in the streets without a bulky cam.

Today I met this great guy who is a real rocker who lives his alternative lifestyle.

Photograph TOM II by Nils Kuelper (robvisual) on 500px
TOM - a real rocker (X-PRO1 / 18mm @ f2.8)
Photograph skull by Nils Kuelper (robvisual) on 500pxI saw him and his bike across the street and I was thrilled by his style. In my yesterdays I never had the balls to speak with him and ask him for a photo. But with my camera and my wish to document human life I kicked myself in the butt and walked over to him. I asked him: "is this your bike?". He returned: "do you see another guy next to the bike?" and smiled. We had a laugh. I found out that Tom is an awesome guy who had a real motorbike in the past. But today he has not enough money to ride a chopper again. So he started to pimp bicycle to look like a chopper. Today he was at a motorbike-fair in Hamburg to buy some retro stuff to make his bike even brighter and cooler.  Unfortunately his hip is ruined because he worked hard at the Hamburg harbor in the past. So he has no job. But he has his dream and enough creativity to ride a real cool bike with all that modifications! Tom rocks!

By doing street photography you can lear so much about other people and their desires and stories. It widens your horizon and helps you more to understand life and other views and opinions!


Photograph TOM (detail) by Nils Kuelper (robvisual) on 500px
the nail is real! (X-PRO1 / 18mm @ f2.8)

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