Let's head this week to the USA and Manhattan to discover Imsouchivy Suos 's Sho(r)t Story.
Canon 5D Mark ii with 50mm F1.4
What is the Sho(r)t Story?
In July 2012, I was fortunate enough to visit my best friend and his family who I haven't seen for long time in Toronto, Canada.
I love street photography and so does he, so we decided to shoot street photography for almost 13 hours each day for 12 days all the way to from Toronto to New York City.
While walking on a busy street in the middle of Manhattan, I saw two friends who happened to be in the deep conversation even though one of them is standing outside the car while the other one is sitting inside the car. I was quickly raising my camera up and get this candid shot without asking them so I don't ruin the natural pose. My heart stopped when the shutter released at a split of a second. Both of them looked right at me after I took the shot and I just smiled at them and moved on. Coming from a big busy city like Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Hong Kong, New York is in fact completely different from what I've expected. Even thought the way they dress are really New Yorker but according to their accents, it didn't seem to me like they were from that area.
Why is this one of your favorite pictures ?
Because of its simplicity yet so complex at the same time. The background, color combination and the composition were just right at that moment. The shadow and the depth of field of this photos also work the way I expected them to be. While some photographers try to include lots of elements in the frame, I always try to take as much elements as possible from the frame in order to convey a better scene. There has been always one thing that I always remind myself before taking a photo, "Less Is More". Interestingly, this shot was actually the only shot that I took from that moment (there are no other shots in my digital contact sheet) yet it's my keeper as it talks to me and makes me wondering, what if I change the title of this shot to something else? Is the person inside the car his friend or just a stranger? What if I tell you it was a lady inside that car? What was their conversation about? Was this shot really taken in New York?
Which equipment did you use, and any technical considerations?
Canon 5D mark ii with my previous lens Canon 50mm 1.4 (I'm using 50mm 1.2L at the moment). I love shooting wide open with 2 stops ND filter to balance the exposure and maintain the sharpness and detail with dreamy background. I measured the exposure in the center so I can eliminate un-necessary flare and enrich the contrast of the shadows. All my work flow was done in Adobe Lightroom 4 with minimal color and exposure correction. Most of my shots were done with the sun in the background and this shot is one of them.
Tell us about you and your photography?
I'm originally from Phnom Penh, Cambodia but I have been studying, living and traveling around the world for about 20 countries (include living in Hong Kong for 2 years) for the past 3 years. On my first journey back in 2009, I had a small point and shoot as a birthday gift from my parents and I decided to start documenting my personal journey and cultures that I have encountered. After doing it for awhile I realized that it's actually one of my passion because there are actually a relationship among my cameras, my photos the audiences, the connection to the subjects and I. I've also been working and exploring various types of photography include working as freelance photographer for my college here in mid-western, USA.
Discover more about Imsouchivy Suos (G.V.)'s work at:
If you would like to participate to this new series, send me an email at yanidel@fastmail.fm with the following information :
– your name and location
– one of your favorite picture (max width of 1280 pixels, you obviously retain all the pictures copyright)
– answers to the above questions.
– any links to your work (website, Flickr, Facebook, …)