Roy
Caratozzolo's Websites:
Small
Business Search Engine Optimization
Street
Photographer
Stipple Portraits by Noli
Novak
Web
Zine
Street
Photography
Which street
photographers do
you enjoy, and who influences your work?
I enjoy street
photographers who
shoot on the street or
in undefined places. Two street
photographers who
stick out most are Winogrand and Weegee.
Both street photographers,
they consistently captured the scenes we all miss. Their ability
to compose a shot out of the mundane is fuel for my eye. To see
things in areas and places that we all look at, but do not SEE,
is what these street
photographers have
captured and brought fourth to us.
Where did you
learn street photography,
and what drew you to it?
I
learned how to photograph while
in high school in New Jersey and New York City. I got a manual SLR camera,
a Ricoh
XR-1 and learned how to expose and shoot manually.
I immediately enjoyed the scenes I could capture and
I found it provided a satisfaction inside of me that
nothing else that interested me at the time could. I
then would shoot for anyone who needed a photographer from
New York City—the
yearbook, the school newspaper, friends, family, anyone.
College was on the horizon, so I decided to major in
it at the University of Connecticut art school where
I got my BFA in 1994.
Your photos seem
to focus somewhat on overlooked or unnoticed aspects of life. What
inspires you to take a photograph?
I realized
long ago that people like to “read” photographs.
We all do it. Look around and see “what’s that there for” or “why
is he holding that” or “how did THAT get there.” I look
for things like that. People throw a huge variable in the mix. People
make lots of faces and gestures, so I like to include them as much
as I can, but not in an obvious way. People are simply “earth
bound objects” in my images. It is the scene that matters; why
all those earthly things are in my lens at this time is my story. Try
and figure it out when you look at one—that is the game
I am making for the viewer.
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Roy
Caratozzolo's Websites:
Small
Business Search Engine Optimization
Street
Photographer
Stipple Portraits by Noli
Novak
Web
Zine
Freelance Photographer
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One
of your images captures a dog with a bag of chips in his mouth
urinating on a sidewalk in New York City. Where did you take that photo and
how did you get the shot?
I'm
glad you asked about this image for it is a classic example
of the kind of street
photography I
always wanted to do. While in New York City I carry my current
camera with me, a Nikon
n90s, and I look for scenes as I walk. This
was one I saw while walking up 33rd street on
the east side of Manhattan, New York City. This dog was weaving
in and out of people, so I slowed my pace and set up for some
shooting. Just him with the chips was funny enough. His owner
was following him, but was like a half block away. It is like
the two were playing a game… Then, thinking he had some
time to spare, the dog propped up his leg and let loose.
Classic! I love how the humans around the dog do not
even care that there is a huge puddle of nice bright
yellow urine below.
Where does digital
editing come into play in your work?
I
shoot with film, but the computer does play a role. I
scan every image I like and correct it for color, and
remove all dust and scratches. It is from these digitally
edited images that I make all my prints from. I rarely
use the negative to make a photo any longer. When I do
it will be for a black and white image. There is something
about film that digital images cannot compete with—color
and fidelity. I can anticipate the look of my images
depending on the film I use. I can also use film for
certain needs—Fuji for good skin tones and vivid
foliage, Kodak for great blues and wonderful snow scenes.
Every photographer is different, for each of our eyes
see slightly differently, so some may disagree. Film
also has a higher fidelity than digital shots. Even
with your new 11MP
cameras that are out today, they cannot recreate the
feel of an image taken from film. There is more depth
and the richness of the color depth is just too much
for me to abandon film just yet.
You have a background
in technology as well as street
photography.
Do you think the future of street
photography is
now permanently attached to the computer or will traditional techniques
always thrive?
Try
getting a job with any publication now with the
camera I use. Digital is the way to go when you need
to save money. Digital cameras are used by all newspapers,
magazines, paparazzi, etc. Film is “dead” in
the mass professional world. However,
there are 100’s or even 1000’s of photographers who
still use it like digital never came about. I am
just speaking of 35mm film here. There are many
film formats, but I can only speak for 35mm. I
knew that street
photography would
thrive off of the computer, for the computer has
replaced the darkroom, even for a traditional street
photographer like
myself. Once my film is developed, the computer
is used. This is a technique I accepted without
even realizing that I had abandoned the darkroom. Photography is
filled with chemicals, especially in the darkroom,
so to do the same thing without them is a natural
progression. I do believe though, that traditional
techniques will never go away fully, and that soon
we will see a resurgence in traditional techniques
as we are beginning to get saturated with photography and
cameras again. Just the other day I saw a commercial
by HP "welcome to the new age of photography,
you are the photographer and
the photo lab". It will be interesting to
watch film die. An over 100
year old tool transplanted by electronics.
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