“Spyros is a street photographer and blogger from Greece. He had a passion for photography from a very early age. He loves the unpredictability of the genre and loves to meet new people. His images are often close ups of people as he enjoys the intimacy and challenge of getting really close. We spoke with him in length about his passion and about his very successful blog, Streethunters.net“
Q. Hi Spyros, good to have you with us today, please tell us about yourself and your early interactions with photography.
A. Hello! Firstly I would like to say thank you for this amazing opportunity! I am a big fan of APF Mag and it is a true honour to be asked to be interviewed by you guys. Gratitude. I am Spyros Papaspyropoulos a street photographer born and raised in Athens, Greece that currently lives and shoots mostly in Rethymno a small town on the island of Crete. The first time I used a camera I was a young boy of about 12 or 13 and I remember that my fascination with photography was apparent even back then. My father was an amateur photographer that loved making family photos, but his true passion was for fine art B&W photography. He had a manual Nikon and a Yashica Electro 35 that has now passed on to me. I don’t know where the Nikon is. That is a mystery. Anyway, my father passed on to me his passion for photography as well! Thank you father. My first serious attempt at shooting photos was when I was 18 years old. I shot loads of portraits of a girlfriend of mine. I remember I used B&W film and I used to shoot manually, trying to figure out exposure and the works. Since then, I have always had one camera or another and I have always documented moments of my life. I must have three massive drawers of printed photos at my parent’s house with literally thousands of prints.
Q. What is it about street photography that got you hooked to the genre in the first place and what keeps you going?
A. One word. Unpredictability! I just love the unexpected. As a creative I get bored quite easily, so I constantly seek new ways to entertain myself. I found that street photography is so unpredictable and surprising that it works as a means of catharsis for my soul. It has a therapeutic affect on me; it makes me feel as if I have been meditating. The effect it has on me is so profound that when I don’t shoot I get all edgy and snappy and feel as if I am missing something. I think that when I don’t shoot I get withdrawal syndrome. What keeps me going are the same reasons. I love the unpredictable nature of the genre, the mini adventures I experience when shooting street and the awesome people I get to meet. I have found myself in strangers apartments being shown around while taking photos, or I have travelled to unknown destinations, or I have broken bread with people I have never met before and will never meet again, or I have made photos of guys wielding massive machetes wearing smiles on their faces, or I have found myself taking snaps of AK47 assault rifles stacked on hundreds of bullets and more! I just love where street photography can take me. An every day photo walk or street hunt as I like to call them, almost always ends with at least one interesting story to share. I just love that!
Q. Please tell us about your process of shooting on the streets. What are you like, what goes on in your mind and what attracts you to a particular scene?
A. I try to look for things that attract my attention. I work instinctively and spontaneously most of the time and I have found that in the past couple of years I really enjoy capturing interesting faces. As years go by I have noticed that I enjoy getting closer and closer. I love the intimacy of the close up shot, the thrill of it, and the way my lens plunges in the action I am capturing. When I am shooting I am usually lost in my photography. I am zoned in, totally focused on what I am doing. If I have to interact with someone after I have made his or her shot, I always make sure to wear my smile, as wide as possible and to always be polite. I think it is very important to be polite and to smile, it makes the person you talk to feel as if they are talking to a non-threatening individual and they don’t get annoyed if you take their photo.
Read the full interview in the latest issue of APF Magazine. Download HERE from the iOS store today.
APF is pleased to announce the first Leica Feedback Friday winner, Koushik Sinha Roy. Feedbackfriday has been one of the most unique features of the APF Magazine Street Photography Group, one of the largest and most active Street Photography groups in the world today with over 134K active members from 100 different countries.
The idea behind LeicaFeedbackfriday is simple, to provide meaningful feedback to members, an hour is dedicated to providing critique and having a meaningful dialog. Leica was kind enough to back us up and present one of the most iconic books, Leica Practicum – Theory and practice of LEICAgraphy – silver halide and photo detector imaging with Leica M cameras by Erwin Puts.
We will like to take this opportunity to thank Leicafor their commitment to the craft and always being generous to the community.
We are also proud of Koushik Sinha Roy for his continued effort and showing improvement in leaps and bounds. He is a hard working photographer and we wish him all the best. Congratulations once again. This particular image presented for feedback.
Vineet Vohra and Rohit Vohra – This is a great shot, going in close and getting the picture in the phone as well. Works on many levels. Great layers, the water droplets and details, everything adds to the composition. Eye moves nicely from right to left. The eye just keeps moving in a circle not letting the viewer out of the frame.
Thanks admins for always taking the time out and making this a success.
To know more about Leicafeedbackfriday, join our community here.
The challenge, the spontaneity, the joy of capturing that perfect moment when light, texture and all the elements coming together in that one frame.
Here is a story by Vineet Vohra from Last years Pushkar Festival for the Leica Blog
Held each at the time of the Kartik Purnima full moon, Pushkar Camel Fair is one of India’s most highly-rated travel experiences, a spectacle on an epic scale, attracting more than 11,000 camels, horses and cattle and visited by over 400,000 people over a period of around fourteen days.
For visitors it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the colour, spectacle and carnival of one of the last great traditional melas, which brings livestock, farmers, traders and villagers from all over Rajasthan.
APF is organising a 3 day intensive Photography Master Class which is tailor made to cater to needs of anyone who wishes to train their eyes to find order in chaos of Pushkar Mela.
WORKSHOP MENTORS
Vineet Vohra, APF Co-founder,Leica Brand Ambassador and Mentor
Rohit Vohra, APF Co-founder, Leica Brand Ambassador and Mentor
The Pushkar Master Class will be limited to an intimate class of max 8 passionate individuals who want to polish their skills and break out of their comfort zones. We’ll talk about street and travel photography. This workshop is designed to help improve your photography, enhance your style and find your vision by providing expert advice and knowledge specifically aimed at helping you achieve success in your work.
During this Intense shooting 3-day workshop, we will focus on the following topics:
Travel Photography and art of story telling
How to work towards a theme and focus on projects.
How to edit your images to enhance the final result.
Photography assignments to put theories to work while walking with the mentors in Pushkar.
The mentors will work with students both in critique sessions and in the field, sharing their working knowledge and techniques.
Each day will include shooting and theoretical session on all you need to know about Street and Travel photography, dos and don’ts, ways to overcome the fear of getting close, detailed look into various composition aspects and the common mistakes while composing, understanding layering in photography, Gestalt vision and its application in photography, developing ones own style, understanding peripheral vision, ways to see and treat light, video documentary of how their images are made as they shoot and how they fine tune their vision and more.
During the course of this workshop, the mentors will discuss technique, composition, vision and intent and how to use the camera and lens in a creative way. They will discuss careers, talk about how to get published and how to work on a story.
On the final day we make a presentation and have an in depth review session with the mentors and each participant presents their work.
The top essay also gets a chance to be featured in the Magazine.
Charges are for workshop only, The participants are responsible for travel costs, visa, air tickets, train etc, accommodation and local transport. Staying in Pushkar is fairly reasonable and airbnb starts from under Rs 1000 ($20) a night. If you want any assistance regarding your stay, you can mail Mehar at contact@artphotofeature.com
There are no pre-requisites for attending this workshop. The workshop will be best suited for photographers who have some understanding of how to operate their camera, have had some experience in photography and want to take their skills to the next level. If you are unsure as to whether or not the workshop may be a good fit for, please contact us at contact@artphotofeature.com for a consultation.
You will need to bring the following to the workshop: A digital camera (DSLR, Leica, Micro 4/3rds, Point & Shoot, etc). You can use a film camera, but you must get your film processed overnight and scanned to present on the last day of the workshop. You should bring your laptop with editing software to edit images. Also, please bring a notebook to take down notes during the workshop. If you have any questions or inquiries, please email us at contact@artphotofeature.com and we will do whatever we can to help!
WORKSHOP TIMINGS
27th Oct 2017 : 12:00 pm – 7:30 pm
28th Oct 2017 : 7:00 am – 7:00 pm (lunch 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm)
29th Oct 2017 : 5:30 am – 2:30 pm (lunch 12:00 pm – 12:45 pm)
REGISTER NOW!
If you would like to register, send an email to contact@artphotofeature.com. After you register, we will send you an email regarding the deposit and payment options. To secure a spot in the workshop, you must send a deposit. Register soon, we anticipate spots will run out quickly for this workshop.
Born in Delhi/India, Vineet did masters in fine arts from the prestigious college of arts. He is a self-taught photographer and street photography is a passion that he follows like a discipline.
Vineet started shooting as a wild life photographer for two years and then switched on to street in 2001, it instantly became his passion.Vineet considers street photography a journey that he travels everyday. He believes in learning and unlearning and thrives to improve with each shot. Life in general which is so unexpected, he tries to be as honest through his lens as he can. His main focus is on how to make ordinary moments look extraordinary.
Currently Vineet presents workshops globally and has judged MSPF ( Miami street photography festival ), currently judging San Fransisco street photography festival and conducting a seminar and a workshop in SF. His works and stories have been published on various prestigious magazines all over the world including National Geographic. He is part of the famous collective www.streetcollective.com which comprises of only 8 members from the world and a part of APF collective which has 20 members.
In 2015 he was placed 5th in the top 20 most influential street photographers.
Rohit Vohra is a street/ travel photographer, educator and Co-founder/ Editor in Chief of APF Magazine. In a search for methods to read the city, his photographs are often about contact with humans and basic living elements. He received his BFA from College of Arts, Delhi in the year 1997 and has been photographing for over 15 years.
He is one of Asia’s most prominent street photographers. His works have appeared in numerous Newspapers/ Magazines all over the world.
Among other commercial work, which includes product and fashion, he personally likes street photography because of the uncertainty, the challenge, the joy of capturing that perfect moment, perfect in terms of light, texture, and elements all perfectly in place.
For him street photography is one of the purest forms of photography. He says, “It is also one of the most difficult forms of photography. It’s difficult because we usually don’t have much control over the environment, well at least as much as we might like.”
He is on the judging panel of some of the top Photography awards in the world. Including IPA, PX3, SIPA, MIFA, Tokyo International Foto awards, Photogravphy Grant etc.
The challenge, the spontaneity, the joy of capturing that perfect moment when light, texture and all the elements coming together in that one frame.
WORKSHOP MENTORS
Vineet Vohra, APF Co-founder,Leica Brand Ambassador and Mentor
Rohit Vohra, APF Co-founder, Leica Brand Ambassador and Mentor
Join us as we head for a 3 day workshop in Varanasi.
The Varanasi Master Class will be limited to an intimate class of max 8 passionate individuals who want to polish their skills and break out of their comfort zones. We’ll talk about street and travel photography. This workshop is designed to help improve your photography, enhance your style and find your vision by providing expert advice and knowledge specifically aimed at helping you achieve success in your work.
During this Intense shooting 3-day workshop, we will focus on the following topics:
Travel Photography and art of story telling
How to work towards a theme and focus on projects…
How to edit your images to enhance the final result…
Photography assignments to put theories to work while walking with the mentors in the lanes and ghats of Varanasi
The mentors will work with students both in critique sessions and in the field, sharing their working knowledge and techniques.
During the course of this workshop, the mentors will discuss technique, composition, vision and intent and how to use the camera and lens in a creative way. They will discuss careers, talk about how to get published and how to work on a story.
On the final day we make a presentation and have an in depth review session with the mentors and each participant presents their work. Also an opportunity to exhibit your work on the ghats of Varanasi.
The top essay also gets a chance to be featured in the Magazine.
Charges are for workshop only, The participants are responsible for travel costs, visa, air tickets, train etc, accommodation and local transport. Staying in Varanasi is fairly reasonable and starts from under Rs 1000 ($20) a night. If you want any assistance regarding your stay, you can mail Mehar at contact@artphotofeature.com
Workshop Charges including local travel (includes airport transfer), stay for 2 nights (checkin on 23rd and check out on 25th) on room sharing, all 3 meals. The participants are responsible for travel costs to and from Varanasi, visa, air tickets, train etc. : $949/ Rs 62,000
There are no pre-requisites for attending this workshop. The workshop will be best suited for photographers who have some understanding of how to operate their camera, have had some experience in photography and want to take their skills to the next level. If you are unsure as to whether or not the workshop may be a good fit for, please contact us at contact@artphotofeature.com for a consultation.
You will need to bring the following to the workshop: A digital camera (DSLR, Leica, Micro 4/3rds, Point & Shoot, etc). You can use a film camera, but you must get your film processed overnight and scanned to present on the last day of the workshop. You should bring your laptop with editing software to edit images. Also, please bring a notebook to take down notes during the workshop. If you have any questions or inquiries, please email us at contact@artphotofeature.com and we will do whatever we can to help!
REGISTER NOW!
If you would like to register, send an email to contact@artphotofeature.com. After you register, we will send you an email regarding the deposit and payment options. To secure a spot in the workshop, you must send a deposit. Register soon, we anticipate spots will run out quickly for this workshop.
Born in Delhi/India, Vineet did masters in fine arts from the prestigious college of arts. He is a self-taught photographer and street photography is a passion that he follows like a discipline.
Vineet started shooting as a wild life photographer for two years and then switched on to street in 2001, it instantly became his passion.Vineet considers street photography a journey that he travels everyday. He believes in learning and unlearning and thrives to improve with each shot. Life in general which is so unexpected, he tries to be as honest through his lens as he can. His main focus is on how to make ordinary moments look extraordinary.
Currently Vineet presents workshops globally and has judged MSPF ( Miami street photography festival ), currently judging San Fransisco street photography festival and conducting a seminar and a workshop in SF. His works and stories have been published on various prestigious magazines all over the world including National Geographic. He is part of the famous collective www.streetcollective.com which comprises of only 8 members from the world and a part of APF collective which has 20 members.
Rohit Vohra is a street/ travel photographer, educator and Co-founder/ Editor in Chief of APF Magazine. In a search for methods to read the city, his photographs are often about contact with humans and basic living elements. He received his BFA from College of Arts, Delhi in the year 1997 and has been photographing for over 12 years.
He is one of Asia’s most prominent street photographers, He is a member of APF Collective. His works have appeared in numerous Newspapers/ Magazines all over the world.
Among other commercial work, which includes product and fashion, he personally likes street photography because of the uncertainty, the challenge, the joy of capturing that perfect moment, perfect in terms of light, texture, and elements all perfectly in place.
For him street photography is one of the purest forms of photography. He says, “It is also one of the most difficult forms of photography. It’s difficult because we usually don’t have much control over the environment, well at least as much as we might like.”
He is on the judging panel of some of the top Photography awards in the world. Including IPA, PX3, SIPA, MIFA, Tokyo International Foto awards, Photogravphy Grant etc.
APF Inspiration Award X (Keep in Step) goes to Mary Dimitropoulou
Theme was open to interpretation to let members come up with their own definitions and views. 3,052 photographs were submitted for the theme and after going through all of these, our Judge for this award, David Gibson from inPublic Collective and author of the book, 100 great street photographs, selected the top 4 photographs.
Eventually he selected Mary Dimitropoulou’s outstanding photograph as the winner. She wins a copy of the book, 100 great street photographs. Here is the Winning image. Congrats Mary Dimitropoulou.
APF is organising a 3 day intensive masterclass which is tailor made to cater to the needs of anyone who wishes to train their eyes to find order in chaos on the streets of Bangkok. Street photography is very rewarding but at the same time, one of the hardest genres to master. Our workshop would help ease the anxiety next time you hit the streets, would help solve the puzzle of composing compelling images in split seconds and most importantly it would help you to see.
During this masterclass, mentors will take the students out on the streets and pass on their tips and knowledge on capturing compelling images on the street. This masterclass includes classroom and shooting sessions. Detail lectures, critiques and selection process will be part of everyday session. We will also look into various composition aspects and the common mistakes while composing, understanding layering in photography, developing ones own style, understanding peripheral vision, ways to see and treat light, will present a video documentary of how their images are made as they shoot and how they fine tune their vision.
Vineet, Rohit and would also guide you through their signature – Gestalt Vision, widely applied in their images, which basically involves an attempt to organize visual elements into groups or unified whole by applying principles of composition.
The mentors will accompany participants while shooting, observe them at work and give instant feedback and suggestions when required. Students will also have a chance to observe the mentors at work, learn their tricks and techniques.
This masterclass is limited to a maximum of 12 participants,
During this intensive 3-day masterclass, mentors will focus on the following topics:
– Street photography
– The light and how to handle it
– Composition – from simple to multi-layered
– Telling a story with your photographs
– Working on projects
– Developing personal style
There are no pre-requisites for attending this workshop. The workshop will be best suited for photographers who have some understanding of how to operate their camera, edit their photos, have some experience in photography and want to take their skills to the next level. However, inexperienced photographers are also welcome.
Students need to bring the following to the workshop:
– A digital camera with a fixed wide angle lens preferably (a 35mm focal length lens would be best). You are most welcome to get your Long telephoto lenses and zooms for your personal work.
– A laptop with software to edit/tone your images
– A notebook to take down notes during the workshop
WORKSHOP FEE
Tuition for the workshop THB 17,500/ $500
Charges are for the workshop only. The participants are responsible for travel, visa, accommodation and local transport costs. Staying in Bangkok is fairly reasonable and starts from under $25 a night. If you want any assistance regarding your accommodation in Bangkok, you can email Mehar at contact@artphotofeature.com.
After registering we will send you an email regarding the deposit and payment options. To secure a spot in the workshop you must send the full deposit.
Born in Delhi/India, Vineet did masters in fine arts from the prestigious college of arts. He is a self-taught photographer and street photography is a passion that he follows like a discipline.
Vineet started shooting as a wild life photographer for two years and then switched on to street in 2001, it instantly became his passion.Vineet considers street photography a journey that he travels everyday. He believes in learning and unlearning and thrives to improve with each shot. Life in general which is so unexpected, he tries to be as honest through his lens as he can. His main focus is on how to make ordinary moments look extraordinary.
Currently Vineet presents workshops globally and has judged MSPF ( Miami street photography festival ), currently judging San Fransisco street photography festival and conducting a seminar and a workshop in SF. His works and stories have been published on various prestigious magazines all over the world including National Geographic. He is part of the famous collective www.streetcollective.com which comprises of only 8 members from the world and a part of APF collective which has 20 members.
In 2015 he was placed 5th in the top 20 most influential street photographers.
Rohit Vohra is a street/ travel photographer, educator and Co-founder/ Editor in Chief of APF Magazine. In a search for methods to read the city, his photographs are often about contact with humans and basic living elements. He received his BFA from College of Arts, Delhi in the year 1997 and has been photographing for over 12 years.
He is one of Asia’s most prominent street photographers, He is a member of APF Collective. His works have appeared in numerous Newspapers/ Magazines all over the world.
Among other commercial work, which includes product and fashion, he personally likes street photography because of the uncertainty, the challenge, the joy of capturing that perfect moment, perfect in terms of light, texture, and elements all perfectly in place.
For him street photography is one of the purest forms of photography. He says, “It is also one of the most difficult forms of photography. It’s difficult because we usually don’t have much control over the environment, well at least as much as we might like.”
He is on the judging panel of some of the top Photography awards in the world. Including IPA, PX3, SIPA, MIFA, Tokyo International Foto awards, Photogravphy Grant etc.
Theme was open to interpretation to let members come up with their own definitions and views. 2,912 photographs were submitted for the theme and after going through all of these, curators have selected the following 12 top photographs.
In the end it came down to 2 photographs and eventually Kaustuv Sarkar’s outstanding photograph was selected as the winner. He wins a signed copy of the book, Platform 10 by Rammy Narula. Here is the Winning image. Congrats Kaustuv Sarkar.
We at the APF magazine street photography group ran a week long contest on the theme “Transport Drama”. Members were asked to post Street photographs keeping the theme in mind.
Theme was open to interpretation to let members come up with their own definitions and views. 2,912 photographs were submitted for the theme and after going through all of these, curators have selected the following 12 top photographs.
Stay tuned, the winner will be announced tomorrow.
Winner gets a signed copy of the Book, Platform 10 by Rammy Narula.
This Master class is a story making class, where all 10-12 members will work towards writing an individual story, within the 3 days allotted to them. Mentors will discuss and make a presentation on the Art of story making and how to write photo essays. They will guide you at every level from start to finish.
The idea is to get these stories featured in top publications around the world. How to come up with the idea and how to complete a photo essay.
Master class is best suited for an intermediate to advanced photographer, who has photography experience and understands light, camera, editing workflow. Has been shooting for a few years. We will discuss editing process.
This class intends to take you from single winners to photography projects.
Days will include shooting and theoretical session, mentors will talk about decisive moment and selection process.
Mentors will share their stories to help you understand the art of photo essays from conception to completion to publication.
The multimedia workshop is aimed at photographers who aspire to improve their story telling by combining photographs, moving images and sound. Rohit and Vineet will focus on street photography while Abc will focus on guiding and developing photographers’ own storytelling into multimedia presentation that best advances the storytelling.
The cost of the workshop is SGD (Singapore Dollar) 450/ 320 USD
Born in Delhi/India, Vineet did masters in fine arts from the prestigious college of arts. He is a self-taught photographer and street photography is a passion that he follows like a discipline.
Vineet started shooting as a wild life photographer for two years and then switched on to street in 2001, it instantly became his passion.Vineet considers street photography a journey that he travels everyday. He believes in learning and unlearning and thrives to improve with each shot. Life in general which is so unexpected, he tries to be as honest through his lens as he can. His main focus is on how to make ordinary moments look extraordinary.
Currently Vineet presents workshops globally and has judged MSPF ( Miami street photography festival ), currently judging San Fransisco street photography festival and conducting a seminar and a workshop in SF. His works and stories have been published on various prestigious magazines all over the world including National Geographic. He is part of the famous collective www.streetcollective.com which comprises of only 8 members from the world and a part of APF collective which has 20 members.
In 2015 he was placed 5th in the top 20 most influential street photographers.
Rohit Vohra is a street/ travel photographer, educator and Co-founder/ Editor in Chief of APF Magazine. In a search for methods to read the city, his photographs are often about contact with humans and basic living elements. He received his BFA from College of Arts, Delhi in the year 1997 and has been photographing for over 12 years.
He is one of Asia’s most prominent street photographers, He is a member of APF Collective. His works have appeared in numerous Newspapers/ Magazines all over the world.
Among other commercial work, which includes product and fashion, he personally likes street photography because of the uncertainty, the challenge, the joy of capturing that perfect moment, perfect in terms of light, texture, and elements all perfectly in place.
For him street photography is one of the purest forms of photography. He says, “It is also one of the most difficult forms of photography. It’s difficult because we usually don’t have much control over the environment, well at least as much as we might like.”
He is on the judging panel of some of the top Photography awards in the world. Including IPA, SIPA, MIFA, Tokyo International Foto awards, Photogravphy Grant etc.
Also known as ABC, Aik Beng Chia started photographing in 2008.
His vivid and gritty images that focus on the daily lives of people on the streets of Singapore have earned him a strong following on Instagram numbering over 20,000. They have also caught the attention of UK newspaper, The Guardian in 2015, which let him take over the Guardian Travel Instagram account for a three-day special feature on Singapore as seen through his eyes.
Aik Beng has also been invited to be a contributor to Everyday Asia in 2014 on Instagram, and his works have been exhibited and published internationally.
In 2016, he launched 香港 Zine is a magazine of photographs made, lost and found in Hong Kong during his visit.
In 2015, He launched his “SingKarPor” Book which he started the project in 2011, and of the thousands of photos taken since, a carefully curated collection will be shown at the exhibition at K+ Gallery in 2015. This includes a special feature on the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, an event which saw an unprecedented outpouring of emotion from normally reserved Singaporeans. “Singkarpor” continues to be an on-going project for Aik Beng.
In 2013, he launched his first monograph “Tonight The Streets Are Ours” published by the Invisible Photographer Asia, which showed Singapore’s Little India after dusk.
you can follow him online on Twitter or Instagram as @aikbengchia.
Theme was open to interpretation to let members come up with their own definitions and views. 3,872 photographs were submitted for the theme and after going through all of these, curators selected 29 top photographs. You can see them here
In the end it came down to 2 photographs and eventually Forrest Walkers minimalist photograph was selected as the winner. He wins a copy of the book Magnum Stories
Read the full interview in the latest issue of APF Magazine. Download HERE from the iOS store today.
