People at work 2
Memorial “Good bye Ariana”























Kat, an eccentric woman well known in the street community of Victoria for collecting trash, took me on a trash hunt in order to make a little memorial for her friend Ariana. Ariana was a 20 year old girl who was recently killed when she was pushed in front of a moving bus. The details of the “accident” are still obscure.























My journey with Kat was memorable. She is a very well spoken woman who has a lot to say in the name of her community (I recorded really good soundtracks as well). Even though afflicted by the death of a friend, Kat wanted to show me her amusing vision of the street, a vision of humour, tomfooleries and creativity. I went along with what Kat wanted to share with the camera and didn’t force her to work harder on the creation of the memorial, even though it was the purpose of the exercise. She was inspired by the presence of the camera, making up funny scenarios, suggesting new compositions, commenting on the results. After the shoot, I printed the best photos of her and made a little album that she ended up showing around the community. Ever since, I have been asked countless times by street people to take portraits of them, which I usually do gladly.

















Fire spinning













This time, I shot the hoola-hoop dancer during the night with a hoop equipped with torches. The shooting went pretty well except for the fact that I didn’t take a tripod with me, and so had to work from whatever support was available (garbage bin, fence, chair). I took a multitude of pictures but only a couple were up to snuff, relatively speaking. Most of the pictures ended up to be very abstract; all we can see are the paths drawn by the fire in motion, creating random figures. I also played with the zoom during some long exposures or moved in the space myself. My background in Fine Art prompts me to experiment, and sometimes forget about the essence of journalism. In fact, what is the essence of photojournalism? Documenting the world objectively? I like Garry Winogrand’s quote, saying that when you put four edges around some
facts, you change those facts. Thus, no objectivity is possible.
















Harmonica player
I finally finished the series of people at work with another street musician, a harmonica player that I find to be a beautiful and photogenic character.