Personal Exposure: What Zen can do for your street photography?

In this second iteration of "Personal Exposure", I talk about how shooting street in Milan made me realize how important a "beginner's mind" in photography can be. I show you excerpts from a beautiful article I found in Vol. 2 of HODINKEE magazine about the Japanese camera collector Hitoshi Tsujimoto. I briefly discuss my new couch in the background of my videos. And recommend the Saul Leiter retrospective at the Kunstfoyer in Munich which lasts until September 15, 2019.

Vol 2. of HODINKEE magazine:

Saul Leiter Retrospective:

[hhn]

I’m a Leica camera collector and photographer, which is why I follow your channel. In February, I watched this video as it was suggested to me by YouTube. I never heard of Hodinkee before you mentioned their magazine. Since then I have become hooked into collecting high end vintage watches. Your video literally changed my life, thank you.

[drewthomas]

Some of my favorite photos that I've taken are the ones that I didn't originally think were good, whether because of exposure, too grainy, not framed right and perhaps unable to be cropped easily, and so they sat in a folder somewhere for a year or so until I rediscover them later with a fresh eye.

I'm always blown away by certain Japanese photographers, for example, and how they welcome imperfections in their photos.

At the end of the day its really all about the story that the photo tells, and not the technical aspects of it.

[jonmnelson]

This has become one of my favorite YouTube channels. I love your topics and how you talk about them. Very satisfying.

[Socrates...]

This adds great value to my life, please make many more

[colinosullivan]

Loving the lounge. You’ll have many a relaxing evening there. 👏

[robertfine]

I always find it interesting when photographers talk about their personal thoughts and intentions of their work. I find your way of telling a story fascinating in a certain way. For me, sharing experiences about cameras and technology is really informative, but stories like this one stay more in my personal memory and sometimes bring back a different way of thinking. I would be glad if you could bring episodes in this format from time to time in the future.

[nmd]

Enjoyable, thoughtful video. I collect cameras to learn about them. Reading and watching is not the same as experiencing cameras. Thus, my camera collection is small and limited. I use nearly all my cameras, from the simple Brillant, to folders, to rangefinders, TLRs, to SLRs and DSLRs. I've learned a lot about waiting, convenience (ie auto focus), thinking. The Zen, as you put it, is in the experience, being in and of it. Admiration, too, for the technology and design and building behind each camera. And then there is film . . .

[antothemanto]

These street photos in the beginning were some of my favorite shots I’ve seen you take. Really interesting point on finding the beginner’s mind. Nice video overall!

[nolansnook]

I am appreciating your work very much. Your on camera persona is very nice and as Naomi said, thoughtful. It is almost as if we are having a conversation. Thank you and please do more ...

[ZHONGHONGZHU]

Very nice exposure ;) how fascinating that you link the manufacturing time of the sofa to cameras

[Raychristofer]

Hello Max how are you? Yes its good for you to do this type video occasionally because theres much going on in life to talk about other than the products we are currently testing and it gives viewers insight into your day to day goals. I did a few episodes where I simply uploaded a video montage of my recent film photography images. 1000 Leica cameras in storage??? I dont know what to say about that, in a way its very impressive but shows prosperity is not always evenly divided in the world. thats a whole nother subject though. I will check out that magazine for sure..

[azzalos]

This is the type of videos I want to see! Thank you Max! True photography talk, no wood for the GAS fire 😁

[TheGazmondo]

As a late arriver to your channel, I must say it really does get better each time I view it.
And speaking as a very modest collector of cameras and photographs, this episode has been most interesting and very enjoyable.
Thanks G

[EarlofGray]

Another very interesting video Max, with a good range of topics covered. This idea of approaching each photo session with a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ is so true, but one which I find difficult to master, and I sometimes take very similar photos wherever I go. I am really trying to break this habit! The collecting mentality is familiar to me too...cameras, fountain pens, books and records, however, I am in the process of rationalising things just now! Best wishes.

[joefaracevideos]

Thanks so much for this Max. Videos like this have a bigger impact that you might imagine and has my head spinning with ideas.

[BSDos]

An enjoyable and interesting departure from the normal show format 👍. Quick comment on Milan as I was there visiting in May 19. Beautiful city to stroll around in with plenty of old and modern architecture to catch the eye. The natives are generally very cool, chic, cosmopolitan urbanites and they generally lens very well too if portraiture is your thing. One final comment; I left my camera with my new Voigtlander lens in the back of a taxi on our first night and only realized I’d left it in the taxi after the cab had driven off. You can imagine my utter horror. My wife was pretty pissed at me too as we feared losing the camera would sour the entire trip. However, the taxi had returned us to our hotel and after around 20-minutes, the driver returned holding my camera in the air. The relief was indescribable. I gave him a huge hug and a €30 tip for his trouble. Rest of our trip was amazing and my memory will always be sweeter when I remember the cab driver who kindly returned my camera.

[millerviz]

I really enjoyed this video. It's nice to see an intelligent, thoughtful person speak about a an interesting range of topics. I am a very modest collector of cameras, but find I almost can not turn away from an interesting specimen. No Leicas in my collection, but cameras I can use, cameras that represent a historical period, and even cameras that are just cute or quirky. I love the mechanical nature of early cameras. They are a pleasure to see, to hold, and to manipulate. Certainly you know the pleasure of a great film advance or shutter sound. I am not interested in electronic cameras with a few exceptions. I love knurled knobs, levers, cranks, bellows, folding mechanisms and such. It is important to me for cameras to work and to shoot film through them whenever possible.

[grahambridgeman-clarke]

Excellent. Well presented and of great interest. Always look forward to your videos.

[batworker]

An interesting question is what the difference is between a ‘camera collector’ and somebody who has a lot of cameras? Is it (and I think it is) about intention and theme. I acquire cameras because people offer me an old film camera or I see one in a charity shop and think it would be fun to use. Whereas I think ‘collecting’ starts when you start acquiring cameras made by a particular maker, or in a particular year, or something like that; and then you start looking for cameras to fit that theme. Oh, and that couch is great 👍

Hodinkee is a great magazine, even though I do not appreciate the way they collaborate with certain brands to release limited edition. But that's another story.
Collecting, whatever the material is, has common values: the appreciation for what the object means, the story it tells, and how the owner identifies himself to it. And budget never defined your degree of implication into collecting. I personally can't own a Leica or a Rolex, but my Spotmatic F and my Oris Pointer Date make me feel close enough to these values. And every collector should understand and respect this, in my opinion.
Great video Max, as usual.