Looking for opinions on photo project

[Brand000n]

I'm American but have been living abroad in Brazil for the last few years. I got here right before the world cup started and wanted to do some type of project on that but I didn't have much direction with it.

Now the Olympics are here and I have the opportunity to do something with an Olympic theme. I'm not talking about shooting the actual sports but doing a street photography project that shows what an event like this looks like on the ground, in the streets. Rio de Janeiro is a city of extremes. The gap between the rich and poor here is striking and that's something that I'd like to show.

The thing is, other than going out in front of the stadiums and taking pictures of the people entering the events, I'm not sure exactly what else I could shoot.

What I'm curious to know is, hearing this idea, does it sound like a project worth pursuing or not? If you think it's dumb, it's cool, you can say so lol. Also if anyone has any ideas of what else to shoot, I'd be happy to hear them.

 

[tirediron]

It sounds very worthwhile. Not having been to Rio, I can't offer a lot of guidance in the 'how' department, but it occurs to me that a side-by-side methodology would be appropriate. Let's say you shoot the soccer matches with the perfect pitch and neat uniforms, and then beside it, slum children playing soccer in the mud, torn, dirty clothes, no shoes, etc. Patrons enjoying the entertainment around the stadium, and a street musician, a restaurant with Olympic spectators/players and a street cafe....

 

[Overread]

Sometimes the ideas won't happen till you get out there and shoot and talk to people. Do both things - you might even approach people with the view to making a series of small interviews as part of the photography work. Your photos can show the people and your writing and interview their history and feelings.
Such might be a great way not to just the visual feel but hte actual feelings which you can then work into your photography.

 

[Brand000n]

It sounds very worthwhile. Not having been to Rio, I can't offer a lot of guidance in the 'how' department, but it occurs to me that a side-by-side methodology would be appropriate. Let's say you shoot the soccer matches with the perfect pitch and neat uniforms, and then beside it, slum children playing soccer in the mud, torn, dirty clothes, no shoes, etc. Patrons enjoying the entertainment around the stadium, and a street musician, a restaurant with Olympic spectators/players and a street cafe....

I think this is a good approach and very much what I had in mind - it's just putting it into practice and actually finding those scenes that this type of contrast. I guess part of it is really just getting out there and exploring.

Sometimes the ideas won't happen till you get out there and shoot and talk to people. Do both things - you might even approach people with the view to making a series of small interviews as part of the photography work. Your photos can show the people and your writing and interview their history and feelings.
Such might be a great way not to just the visual feel but hte actual feelings which you can then work into your photography.

Definitely some stuff for me to consider here! My style is more on the completely candid side, i.e. not doing very much interacting with subjects partly because I suck at making small talk but I do think it has its place and can be very powerful.

I went to Maracana stadium the night of the opening ceremony to take some pictures but the security there was extremely tight - they had it sectioned off to where you couldn't even get close to the stadium without tickets. The rest of this past weekend I got busy with other stuff but will be back on the picture hunt this week. I'll post some keepers here if anyone is interested.

 

[Chiara]

As I can see, this project is very interesting. Since I've started to take an interest in photography I've liked a lot the kind of photo that shows contradictions all over the world. So I think that those Olympic Games in Rio could give a chance to explore this theme. I've never been in Rio but my little advice is to take pictures that shows everyday life of poor people contrasting with the life of Olympic spectators. I'm not an expert so I don't know if my advice will be insignificant for you or not.

 

[Brand000n]

I meant to update this thread after the Olympics ended but it just slipped my mind until now.

If anyone would like to take a look at the results of this little project I'm posting them here.

I don't think they're amazing or anything but I did get a couple shots I like. I included 20 but I think that could be whittled down to 12 or less.

 

[Brand000n]

Last 4

 

[Brand000n]

Thoughts?

Are there any photos here that you don't think should make the cut?

Help me "kill my babies"!

 

[astroNikon]

Thoughts?

Are there any photos here that you don't think should make the cut?

Help me "kill my babies"!

Truthfully, I don't exactly know what your "project" is.
But I wouldn't use any of those photos. They may fit your "project" though, so only you can decide on that.

 

[Brand000n]

Thoughts?

Are there any photos here that you don't think should make the cut?

Help me "kill my babies"!

Truthfully, I don't exactly know what your "project" is.
But I wouldn't use any of those photos. They may fit your "project" though, so only you can decide on that.

The "project" was explained in the first post.

If you read it and still don't understand, I suggest you Google "street photography" and look at some of the works of the masters, as I don't have time to explain such a complex and nuanced topic here.

If all your 10,000+ posts here are as "insightful" as this one then I better start reading up.