Beach Street Photography

I used a hip-shooting approach with my Sony RX100 Mark II to get candid shots of beachgoers. I held my camera freely and low while I strolled the shoreline at regular intervals, channelling Parr’s early medium format work. With this strategy, I was able to fit in and capture the peculiar, occasionally ridiculous facets of beach culture for which Parr is renowned.
My project attempts to highlight the various personalities and surprising juxtapositions that can be seen on the beach, such as tourists snapping pictures against industrial backdrops or sunbathers surrounded by trash. I want to try using flash and tighter settings in my next sessions, taking cues from Parr’s development as a beach photographer. I’m investigating the relationship between fashion, documentary, and social commentary in this piece to see what makes Parr’s beach photos so captivating.

I was working on my own project by just documenting the life of a beach in one day on the island of Fuerteventura and because of lockdown was unable to further this, however, I am hopefully going back in a weeks time. I will be continuing with my project and with some new kit.

I will be leaving my trusty little Sony Cybershot camera behind and using my Fuji XT-3 with a flash attachment. I also plan to walk the beach in the national park of Corralejo every day at the same time with the added dimension of stopping and asking for permission to take pictures directly. I will be posting some results in the coming weeks.

In the meantime here was my original post from March 2020 which explains more about how I managed to get these shots last time.

Beach Photography, Would this be classed as the same or similar to Street Photography? or is there less skill needed to accomplish this.? Ok, so one difference is everyone’s wobbly bits on show. The challenge “See if you can shoot people in a real way without them knowing” challenge was accepted

A challenge by my peers, colleagues or friends is sometimes exciting and although this particular challenge was not too daunting, it still left me thinking firstly can I really be that bothered about it and secondly is it worthwhile and interesting enough. My thoughts were getting the better of me and in a way. After all, I was on a well earned holiday in Fuerteventura with my family and so much needed downtime.

If I actually do any work on vacation I tend to give it a few days in the sun and settle down into the swing of relaxation firstly before even attempting remotely related to work! I had taken a look and I had my trusty Sony RX100 mark2 which was small enough and powerful enough to get the images.

My intended technique was to shoot pictures in fully auto mode (Also know as the pro mode for the beginner) and place the camera near to my hip. With my index finger on the shutter release walked up and down the beach for the first attempt to see if it was possible.

In a street, there are many ways to disguise yourself and work covertly, I did not have a long lens and so had to use the range lens provided within the Sony. I walked the beach for a few afternoons at the same time, mainly after lunch when all of the energy was less whilst lunch was digested. Soon realised that there were many strange activities on the beach and the further away from the hotel along the beach the more strange they became. I walked the beach a few hours a day noting activities and working out the ebb and flow of people and how they got through their day n the beach”

The more I walked up and down the beach, I felt people who were lying down almost became familiar with me and therefore less threatened. I held the camera loosely and low, this allowed the camera to appear as though it was not in use and therefore no threat which seemed to work! This process could be viewed as slightly voyeuristic more, so than street photography possibly as everyone is scantily dressed.

The shots were taken over a few days at a similar time after lunch and  pretty much like the results. I processed my images in Lightroom and added a few grades and presets to get the feel I like which is slightly hyper realistic with saturation down. Hope you like them. These images have been hidden as I was a little nervous about showing work unrelated to my normal fashion and advertising work for clients.

The extended story will be released in a few weeks if everything goes well, so check back, signup for updates and we will see you later.