Shoot Timetable

Monday 12th

Friday 16th

Monday 19th

Wednesday 21st

Friday 23rd

Photographer Research 5

Ronya Galka

Ronya Galka is a German street photographer based in London.

"For me street photography is all about capturing the everyday, yet ephemeral, moments that happen around us all the time. I love to capture and collect these random yet defining moments of humanity and everyday life. There’s something extremely honest and straightforward about street photography, and it is this special way of defining culture and making sense of the world around me that I have been so passionate about ever since I moved to London from my native Germany."

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As a renowned street photographer, she was named as one of the ‘Top 10 British Street Photographers in 2015’ by the Interactive Design Institute and in 2016 she was shortlisted for 'Most Influential Street Photographers of 2016' . Her fine art street photography has been exhibited at Liberty’s of London and the Pall Mall Gallery in London. It can be found in private collections around the world and has resulted in numerous publications and exhibitions over the past ten years.

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This image shows a woman quietly reading a book in what seems to be a cafe or a restaurant. She is sitting alone and looks content, in a relaxed and concentrated manner. She may be waiting to meet someone or potentially even studying. She is dressed quite smart and seems to take care in her appearance, this would suggest she is a confident kind of person. However her quiet, bookish nature can contradict this and suggest that she is a more shy, reserved individual. Her chin is resting on her hand as she faces downwards to read the book, as if she doesn't want to be approached by anybody, almost trying to be invisible.

The woman is positioned just to the right of the centre of the shot, and is framed by the window frame. The forefront of the image is slightly out of focus as is the background inside of the cafe / restaurant.This leaves the woman completely in focus and not distracted by other elements or activities in the image. This also gives the shot a quieter tone. Additionally, because the image has been converted to black and white this somehow emphasises the quiet tone, as if the woman is the only one around.

This image depicts a middle aged man standing at the bus stop and reading the newspaper. In the background it is also clear that there is a woman sitting with another person by the window in the the building behind. This man has obviously arrived at the bus stop with some time to spare and taken a newspaper from the newspaper stand which is to his left. He appears to be a business man as he is wearing a suit and has a bag placed in between his feet. This image could have been taken around midday as it is fairly quiet, and it is clear that he has already been to work as he appears quite scruffy. Although it is clearly sunny in the image, the man has an umbrella with him which would suggest that the weather was previously not so nice in the morning. He seems content and concentrated on the newspaper he is reading, not paying much attention to the world around him but confident that he wont miss the bus as this is probably a daily routine for this man.

This image seems to have been shot from the other side of the road and i'm assuming that Galka zoomed in to cut out parts in which she didn't want included in the shot such as the road. If this is the case, she will have had to wait patiently for the right moment to shoot this image so that there was no traffic in the way ultimately ruining her image. She has used the rule of thirds and positioned her main subject (the man) in the third right section of the image, and the newspaper stand in the third left section. The man is framed by the doorway about a meter behind him, as he is filling the empty space in between the open doors. The fact that is is darker inside the doorway emphasises this as the sunlight is shining on the man making him a clear, light subject, framed by a darker background. This therefore makes him seem somewhat important. The woman in the background is also visible in the image, even though she is not completely in focus. She is just an extra to the image, her presence does not affect the man being the main subject of the shot. Linking this still to my main idea, she is also framed by the corner of the window frame.

This image illustrates a man who works in a burger van, quietly reading a book while he isn't serving any customers. He appears comfortable, slouched over facing downwards as if captivated by the book. Although still seems ready to serve a customer as soon as they approach the van. I would guess that this was shot more around winter time rather than summer as the worker is wearing a long sleeved jumper and the van appear to be serving soup. The worker does seem slightly lonely and bored, which is probably why he chooses to occupy himself with books whilst he has not much else to do. 

This image has also been converted to black and white, probably to ensure that the worker is still the main subject of the image regardless of all the coloured clutter around him. It quietens the image making it more intimate. I think that Galka has stood fairly close to the van to shoot this image and probably wan't interrupted with passers by as they wouldn't walk in front of her if they could see she was taking a photo. However she may have had to wait for the worker to finish serving customers to shoot the image that she desired. Galka has stood head on from the man, ensuring he is positioned in the centre of the shot giving him that 'star of the show' kind of tone. She could have stood further back to capture the whole scene but has consciously chosen to cut out the left section of the burger van. I am guessing that this was for composition reasons, to keep the man in the centre of her image.

This shot captures a what I assume is a business woman who appears to be in a rush as she is taking large strides and walking at a fast pace. She is walking past a sign which states "Bad Girls". This image could have a deeper meaning, as she appears to be smoking whilst dressed quite smart, as if she has a good, stable career and respect for herself as a woman but seems to be making bad decisions for her health and lifestyle. Although she is walking very quickly she appears fairly confident by facing forwards with her head up. She seems to know where she's going and may even do this walk everyday but is perhaps running late on this particular day.

It's possible this image was shot on a tripod as it is completely straight. Galka has used 'the decisive moment' to shoot this, by waiting in a certain setting with her frame ready, just waiting for a passerby. Galka has purposely shot this when the woman was in the centre of the frame and her body was also framed by the gate in the wall. Galka may have shot this image multiple times until she was happy with the type of individual that walks past as their seems to be a strong link between the woman and the sign behind her. There is a slight bit of negative space on the right side of the image but it doesn't look bad or ruin the shot because it almost shows progression in her journey and is a reminder that even though this captures a moment in time, her life continues. Converting this image to black and white probably enhances the sign behind the woman, making the deeper meaning seem more prominent.