Eli by Peter - Edition #9

Eli by Peter #9 - ‘45 minutes'

When Eli is photographing on the streets, it is a deliberate action. He only brings his camera when he intends to spend the day photographing. Otherwise, he gets frustrated about missing beautiful moments while quickly trying to get the camera out of his bag. Like many other photographers, he also needs ‘to be in the zone,’ which is a photographer's term for concentrating on his work.

​The framed work was taken on the streets of Birmingham last summer while Eli was living in the United Kingdom. Contrary to what you might think, it is not heavily edited, only converted to black and white. The structure in the portraits is the result of photographing through the worn glass of the bus stop. These moments excite him to roam cities for long hours. A few unforeseen changes (the gesture of a person or a light beam shooting from the sky) create something out of nowhere. It is exactly this serendipity that keeps street photographers like Eli going.

​This Eli by Peter is a unique glimpse into Eli’s way of working. Over the years, he has learned to trust his instincts. Whatever catches his eye, he will photograph. As it drew attention, it must have had something special at that moment. Will it stand the time? That is to be seen later, but the opportunity might be missed altogether if the moment is overthought when photographing.

​Attached you will also find a contact sheet. In the old days, photographers cut their roll of film and produced a contact sheet of 36 images. Contact sheets were then annotated, potential images were selected, or crop marks were placed. This is precisely what we have done with this Eli by Peter, which illustrates exactly 45.02 minutes of a day on the streets.