Yanidel Street Photography

Have you ever dreamed to leave everything behind and head on an extended trip across the Ocean ? Well, this is the adventure that street photographer Stéphane Lorcy and his family are currently experiencing on a sail ship around the Atlantic Ocean. In this interview, discover how the project was planned, daily life on board, and many considerations related to shooting street photography while traveling at sea. Finally, Stéphane who currently shoots with a Fuji X100, shares his first impressions on the new Leica M Monochrom that will accompany him for the remainder of the trip.

The pictures that illustrate this interview are part of a "Live together" series put together by Stéphane.  (click on pictures for high res)

   Stéphane and the family crew (Chris, Solal, Ulysse) aboard the Penn Gwen.

1) Tell us bit more about your 24 months around the Atlantic project.

In July of 2011, a sailing vessel named Penn Gwen, left France with 4 people on board : my wife Chris, my sons Ulysse and Solal, and myself. Our objective was to sail around the Atlantic Ocean for the next 2 years. I would also take the opportunity at each of our stops to grab my camera and go shoot street photography. In the beginning, my goal was to illustrate my travel website with the pictures along the way, especially since I have been a long time B&W white shooter. Nevertheless, my feelings started to change and I gradually became more ambitious about my body of work. Eventually, this led to the creation of The "Streets around the Ocean" project.

    USA – Eat together

2) When I planned my own 80 weeks around the world trip, many people mentioned that they would also love to go on such an adventure. Yet, their job, kids, house, …, prevented them to do so. Since you are traveling with your whole family on a boat, can you tell us how you dealt with some of these concerns ?

We had lived in the Pacific Ocean, more specifically New Caledonia, for 3 years (2003-2006). But when we returned to France, we soon felt in need of a new adventure for our family. We therefore prepared this project over the next 5 years, which gave us the time to save money and let our children grow up a litlle more. Finally, I quit my job while my wife, who works in a public school, was able to apply for a leave of absence. My children are currently enrolled at CNED, a French distance school, and my wife acts as their every day teacher on the boat. All in all, if one believes that such a project is impossible, then it will probably end up so. Yet if one is convinced that it can be done, then the barriers to its achievement can be overcome. I guess it is often more reassuring to think about obstacles that prevent goals achievement, rather than to take the risks to go over them.

    Cap Verde Islands – Generations together

3) Tell us about a typical day on your boat.

There are two very different routines when traveling on a boat. There is life at sea, and life during our stopovers (which represent most of our time). At sea, waves and wind take control our lives. We must maneuver the boat and stay on watch during the night. If the weather is good, then the kids study with their mother, otherwise they play, read or watch videos. During our stopovers, our life is not that different from the one we would have in a house. Every morning is dedicated to school, except for Sundays. During the afternoon, we pay visits to the areas or cities around the spot where our boat is anchored. Daily logistics can take a lot of time because we do not have a car and moorings can be far from cities. We regularly fill our water, diesel or gasoline tanks, as well as gas bottles. Laundry also takes significant time since we do not have a washing machine onboard. In the end, days go by quite quickly and the sun always sets too soon. Consequently, I can't really elect the time to go out and take pictures. I do it mainly during our walks, which is not always that easy as my family often ends up waiting for me. I have to thank them for their patience.

    Senegal – Work together

4) Let's now talk about your street photography. How long have you been shooting and what are you goals for this trip ?

I started shooting around 20 years ago. I've always been a B&W shooter despite working on a contemporary art color project in New Caledonia. I would have preferred to shoot film during this trip yet the ordering and processing on a boat resulted too much of a task. Not to mention that the storage of film in a fridge would have been an extra challenge in terms of space and battery consumption. I therefore elected to shoot digital, and this with a 35mm fixed lens Fuji X100 as lone camera. Regarding my goals, which I am still trying to define them exactly, I would like to build a very simple and accessible panorama of the people that live around the Atlantic Ocean. I do not look for spectacular characters or situations, neither am I trying to tell anecdotes. I just want my photography to be factual, neutral but also simple and clear at the same time.

    Madeira Island – Be together

5) Does traveling on a boat generate any particular challenges in terms of photography ?

I already mentioned that my main concern is to choose the time (and therefore light conditions) that I can be out there shooting in the streets.  The presence of my family is the key element of this trip and I cannot put them at risk. My other challenges are above all about storage and back-ups. Indeed, the electronics become very fragile at sea due to the constant presence of salty air. This almost makes me become paranoid with my files and therefore I always try to take a hard drive on our walks. I even have a USB stick loaded with my B&W JPG's hanging around my neck at all time. As for cloud storage, this is pretty much a useless solution when you travel because of slow internet speeds (if any). For that reason, I shoot in JPG and the Fuji X100 resulted a great tool to produce excellent out of camera JPGs.

    Antigua – School together

6) When viewing your pictures, I am particularly admiring of your talent for composition ? Can you tell us a bit more about it and define what you intend to convey with your pictures.

Thank you for this compliment which means a lot to me. I like simplicity and don't look for spectacular or funny situations. So, since the content is simple, form becomes very important. The scenes I depict must be organized in a way that let the eyes move easily around the image. Also, since my goal is to build an extensive panorama of places visited during this travel, I feel a strong urge to contextualize my pictures. To do so, I like introducing symbols like flags, monuments, cars, roads, houses, …, which ultimately allow to identify the time and place of the picture. My characters must somehow find a place in this context, this, without adding to much complexity to it. This being said, I also try to vary my pictures with an array of framings such as wide scenes, graphical images or portraits.

    USA – Laugh together

7) You are a long time film shooter but had to switch to a digital camera for the convenience of the trip ? How does it impact the final rendering of your pictures?

Post processing is of little interest to me. I have tried to stick to a rendering that approximates the TRI X I used before. I like grain and always add it to my pictures because I am not particularly fond of the glossy rendering of digital pictures. Finally, I add a lens fall-off effect to my pictures, which basically recreates the way I was working in my darkroom.

    Senegal – Out of work together

8) You will soon be the owner of a Leica Monochrom and already spent some limited time with it, any first impressions to share ?

As I already owned a Leica M6, getting started with the Monochrom was immediate and without any problems. I used it like a film camera, without ever going in the menu system or look at its screen (I often wait for several days before downloading my pictures). Compared to my M6, my main concern has been to deal with the digital noise. So far, the results seem to be incredible. The pictures out of the box are a bit flat but I think it's a good news since you can easily work with such files. Still, I'll probably have to adjust my post processing compared to the Fuji X100. Finally, exposure must be rigorous but this is no issue for a long time film shooter.

    USA – Get old together

9) Cuba is your next destination, I am sure you are looking forward to reach that wonderful spot for street photography?

(laughs) No, actually you are wrong, and this since I looked at your pictures from Cuba. I think it was a mistake and I must now forget about your great colorful pictures. I want to enter Cuba with an immaculate mind so I try not to anticipate too much this destination.  And since I'll take the Leica M Monochrom along, I will have no excuses. Still, I have a lot of hopes for this destination. This country is so close to the United States that it will inevitably change ones the current regime goes. I want to be able to shoot it before it happens.

Thank you Stéphane for sharing your time, pictures and adventures with us. The crew of the Penn Gwen is about to sail from Washington, heading to Cuba and the Carribean Sea. To follow, or know more about Stéphane and his street photography, please visit the following links:

We met Michael Bialecki while spending two weeks in Bangkok (introduced by our friend Kristian Dowling). And we owe him so much. Michael has been great to us as he took us all around town, to restaurants, to camera stores and even to the city’s red light district. He is also a big part of the reason we went to Myanmar. His pictures and stories made the craving so big that we re-routed our trip.
Michael is also a tremendously talented photographer. Seeing him work in the street was a pleasure; jumping around, interacting with people and with a “go get the shot” attitude. He shoots film (Leica M6 with 35mm Nokton 1.2), a lot of film but you won’t see thousands of his pictures on the web, he just prefers to be out there shooting. I am sure nevertheless that his work soon will make it to a book and exhibits.
Finally, Michael is a street photographer with a reporter’s mind. He’ll go to the most remote areas to find original shots and will not back off in front of danger. The interview below focuses on this topic as well as his use of film cameras. So do not miss this interesting read and his wonderful Myanmar pictures (click on pictures for high res)

Michael and his Leica M6 while showing us around his Bangkok neighbourhood.

I feel you are a mix of reporter, travel and street photographer. Would you agree with that and how would you describe your approach to photography?”



To be honest , I have never really thought about what kind of photographer I am, but now that you mentioned it, yeah, I agree with you. I always carry a camera with me and I shoot things that I see that are interesting to me. My approach varies a lot, sometimes I will do photographic stories that I find interesting, some examples would be “The Ice Water Sellers of Yangon”which is something that I continue to work on every time I am in Yangon. Another example would be the rickshaw wallas in Calcutta or the kids who live in the train station in New Delhi. These stories take a lot of time and effort and lots of time spent with the people. 

As far as travel photography goes, I usually shoot a lot of portraits of people that I interact with when I visit different countries. Street photography is something that just comes natural to me, due to the fact that I always have a camera with me, so when I see something interesting, I take photos of it.

You have been to Pakistan, remote areas of Myanmar and other quite dangerous places to shoot street photography. I also enjoy a lot of your fearless attitude in the streets of Bangkok. So, a bit reckless or is it just what is needed to get great pictures?”


That’s a good question my friend, and to be honest, sometimes I like to challenge myself by going to dangerous places and seeing how I can photograph and interact with the locals. About 10 years ago I did a photo story in East Oakland, California and after that experience I learned a lot how to behave and photograph in dangerous situations. I went to Pakistan because I wanted to check out the situation there and talk to the people and see what was really happening there. The terrorist bomb attack that I photographed in New Delhi was something that I just happened to find myself in the middle of. It’s a miracle that I did not get hit by shrapnel and die or get wounded in that explosion, because people that were very close to me lost their lives. That was a very difficult thing to photograph, I’ll never forget looking down on the ground and seeing body parts and wounded and dead people all around me. At that moment, I wished I was a doctor, but I am not, I am a photographer and I tried my best to photograph the horrific effects of terrorism. As far as Myanmar goes, I find it personally exciting to get off the tourist trail and go to the “no-go” areas and see what I can photograph.

“You interact a lot with your subjects while shooting, just being polite, or is it needed to get the shots you are after?”

I do interact a lot with my subjects when the situation allows me to. I believe that there should be some kind of interaction with my subjects if possible, but the reality is, there is not always a chance to interact with them due to many circumstances. I am a strong believer in humanity and I feel that if I approach people in a respectable manner and interact with them, the people feel more at ease and it allows me to get the photographs that I want. Respect for my subjects is very important to me and I try to be as respectable as I can be.

“You are still a 100% film shooter (Leica M6), do you ever get tempted to switch to digital? What are the advantages of film?”

To be honest, no, I am not tempted to switch to digital. I like the simplicity of film and I feel it just works better for me.

“Your color pictures have a look that I find fantastic. Can you tell us about the lenses and film you use?”



I only shoot two types of film, Kodak Tri-x and Kodak Pro Image 100 (color). I have my own darkroom and studio here in Bangkok and that’s where I develop and print the Kodak Tri-x, the Kodak Pro 100 I send to my local lab to get developed and scanned. I do not do any post processing to my photos at all and I like the results that I get from using that film and my local lab. 
I have 6 lenses which is too many in my opinion, I use a 15mm Voigtlander, a Leica 28mm Elmarit, a Voigtlander 35mm 1.2 (Version 1), a Leica 50mm rigid and a Leica 50mm Summilux (Version 1) and an old Leica 90mm Summicron. I also have an M2 and an M3 that I basically use as back up cameras in case my M6 breaks, but I usually only work with one camera at a time.

“Any plans for a book or website to show your wonderful work?”

Yes, a website is something that I am working on now, but it takes time and I am still getting advice and opinions from friends ( including you) on how to go about it. As far as a book goes, I definitely want to put a book out, but the website has to come out first.

Well, thank you Michael for answering these questions. Thanks also for all the time you spend with us and your friendship.

I met Shan on a nice Hong Kong Sunday afternoon and we headed to the Sham Sui Po market for a little shooting. We also had some great discussion about the movie industry, since Shan is a producer in his daily life. The day ended by a visit to a used camera shopping center where we saw endless quantities of wonderful gear.

So here is an interview of Shan to discover a bit more about his photography.

Shan with his Leica M9 and 28mm Elmarit.

- You work as a movie producer in your every day life. How does it influence the composition and mood of your street photographs ?

- People in the streets seem completely absorbed in their own world. Can you explain us a bit the Hong Kong culture and how it impacts street photography ?

In HK when people see a camera pointed at them, they would quickly turn away or give you an upset look. I don’t like this relationship between my camera and my subjects. My solution is to shoot from the hip – I would zone focus my lens and snap from waist level. People’s faces become more natural when they’re not self-conscious.

Boy chewing a toothpick in street market shot from waist level (M9 + VC 21mm Color Skopar).

- You had a 28mm lens mounted on your Leica M today ? The best focal for Hong Kong ?

I find anything wider than 35mm a good focal length. The crammed environment of HK forces you to go wide in order to keep a good distance between your camera and the subject. Also, due to the quick pace of HK streets, wide angle lens gives you more room with zone focus, making shooting fleeting moments easier. And lastly, I think street photography is a combination of people and their environment so wide angle is definitely a way to go. I used to shoot with 21mm and 35mm. I just got the 28mm so I’m still earning to use it.

Girl giving a “V” hand sign (M9 + Elmarit ASPH 28mm)

Thank you Shan and good luck for your next movie !

When Craig kindly invited me to a street photography outing in Sydney, I gladly accepted. And it was a great pleasure to meet him and his friends. A few shots, a few beers and a lot of interesting talks. Surprisingly, I was the only one out there with a digital camera, who said film is dead ?

As usual, the pictures illustrating this interview were taken during our outing.

Craig in the Sydney Harbour with his 1935 Leica IIIA and 50mm Industar lens

Here are a few questions that Craig kindly accepted to answer :

Sydney is an amazing place for street shooting. What is your vision of it and how do you depict it through your street photography ?

Sydney can be an amazing place yes, lots of different kinds of people and for Australia it’s about the busiest place you could find for foot traffic. My vision? I don’t think I really have a vision for Sydney or street photography, I just photograph what I observe in a (hopefully) un-biased way. I don’t like to interrupt things unless they interrupt me, I just like to record what I see and how it presents itself… I think that maybe makes for boring photos at times though, but that’s what I like.

You created a forum dedicated to photography, can you tell us a bit more about it ?

Sweet Photos Bro! Yeah, I set it up as a place for all of the photographer’s I conversed with or followed online from several different forums and online communities to kind of “hang out” together and post our work and links to. Also, with the view to collaborate with these guys (and girls) on projects together, maybe make some ‘zines. Over the last few years some of the forums I used to frequent had kind of dissolved, or lost the feeling they used to have or maybe I’d just grown as a photographer and was interested in talking about different things and connecting with people more local to me. It’s just kind of grown from there a bit, and I/we are looking to do some cool stuff this year and make it more than just a forum… we’ll see.

You mentioned that you have owned 47 cameras over the last couple of years ? Do you enjoy experimenting with equimpent or was it the quest for the perfect look in your photography ?

Yeah I do enjoy using different equipment, I’m obsessed with photography and the tools and gear required to take those photos – digitally and with film – so I just kind of wanted to try out absolutely everything because I could… and I mostly have, and it was fun but I realised that no matter what I used my photos still mostly looked the same or similar (to me) and that ultimately the gear doesn’t REALLY matter as long as you keep om taking photos; but I still kept trying out new things I saw that looked interesting. I’ve slowed down on the trading, buying and selling but don’t imagine i’ll ever stop – ha, I think that worst part is missing gear you used to have, but I just keep shooting and I like what I have now (and have had at any point).

You brought a 76 years old Leica IIIA along today to shoot, is it still in some ways the utlimate street photography camera ?

Ultimate? For me, yes. For other people, most definitely not – ha. It’s a cumbersome, awkward camera with some idiosyncrasies and is pretty fiddly (separate rangefinder and viewfinder windows, tiny viewing ports, odd shutter speeds, slow lenses, I use old reloadable brass film cartridges, you have to cut the leader longer and loading the film is frustrating at times). But I like it’s small size, and i like it because it’s quaint and doesn’t offend anyone… I’m just that weird guy with that little old camera thing. It’s fun, and I like the idea of holding and using something so old… To think about where it’s been and the things it has been used to photograph in its time. I’ve also recently kind of evolved into a standard lens shooter as well, something about the perspective and the way it renders a scene really are starting to appeal to me. I think my absolute ultimate street shooter would be a Leica 1 Model A, preferably a late 20’s model… I like the idea of not having a rangefinder and having to guess distances, ha. I don’t know, maybe I’m a masochist at heart J I also really like the even grey tones and the look that you get with older lenses on B&W film, the nostalgic sense it gives. And, for me, photography is essentially about recording the past (because what you’ve shot is already in the past before you see it) so that kind of fits in with my vision of photography I guess.

Thank you Craig !