Introduction

I'm about to open up and be vulnerable. It's not something that I do often, especially to people that I do not know personally, even though I respect and appreciate every one of my readers, followers, fellow photographers and artists.

But I think it's necessary. I think it's time.

Who am I?

Some might say that I was born disadvantaged.

Yet I had a headstart and I jumped into the realm of Earth, early.

First level to complete - the incubator. My parents thought it was going to be Game Over, but I swerved, jumped and fought my way out of that tiny little box.

I even had a couple of Add Ons given to me by the first boss, when I was grinding through that earlier level that takes everybody 9 months to get through.

These additional upgrades would be defining for the zillions of harder levels that I would complete throughout my Life. Rather than picking the Easy Mode, I decided to crank it up to eight notches to Extreme.

Here are my life long Add Ons -The creators thought it would be interesting if they took away the ability to use my arms. But like most gamers who singlemindedly work their way through the hardest of levels using the tools that they have collected whilst carving their own routes, I had no choice but to do the same.

This is a mouthful. I only worked out how to pronounce it when I hit my thirties. Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. (My father still can't get it right).

This disability affects different people in different ways. I believe that most children who are born with this affliction contract it in all limbs.

I guess you could say I was fortunate in that respect as I only have it in my upper limbs. My arms.

So here I was, this tiny baby with both arms twisted around, dead straight, unable to bend. The Doctor said there was little hope of me having a normal life.

My Mother thought otherwise.

With lots of painful, hard work, physically for me and emotionally, for my Mother, she worked on my disability over the early years, by gradually turning my arms around to a roundabout normal position.

When I was approximately 4 years old I went for the first of two operations, the first one to fuse the dominant left arm bent, so that I could bend it high enough to reach my mouth (and hold a camera, but more on that later). The second operation, when I was about 11 years old, lowered that bent arm slightly, so that it didn't look too eye-catching.

Even after all this I still had to spend many miserable, tedious hours having physiotherapy to keep both arms loose enough to use.

Now the purpose of this photography blog post is to be a blog post and I'm not trying to write an autobiography so let's fast forward to the start of my photography adventure.

As you can probably tell I come from the school of hard knocks, but even today my disablement often gets me down. I can emphatically say that I have never truly accepted my disability and been comfortable with it.

How I started photography

Ever since I was a young lad, I have always been interested in technology and I've always been a computer whiz, up to a certain degree. On the flip side, I've always had an eye for aesthetics, beauty and artistic details. I have marvelled at the detail and camera work of the films of Stanley Kubrick and the dark, disquieting elements of the work of David Lynch.

So when I was looking for a new pursuit, a new hobby, a new way of life, I found photography.

At first, I wondered whether I would be able to use a camera at all.

I knew I would have trouble pressing the shutter button with my right arm and hand, which does not bend or flex; especially knowing that all cameras are built right-handed. However, it was whilst doing my research that I noted that modern cameras can be used with a wired shutter release cable or even a wireless shutter release control and this allayed my fears that I could even get into photography as a newbie. One thing I knew from the offset - I wouldn't be able to hold a camera up to my eyes at all. I knew I would have to use a tripod or a monopod if I wanted to make this work.

Being an obsessive-compulsive, I fervently researched cameras; watching multitudes of YouTube videos in my spare time, trying to find the right camera for my purposes. To my surprise, I found out that not only could I use a shutter release cable, but many cameras also came with touchscreens. To my mind, this meant that I could definitely use a camera!

At first, I didn't think I would have been able to shoot outside. Not only did I think it would be physically difficult for me, but the idea of taking photos when there are people around to see me made me nervous...

Therefore, after I bought the Panasonic GH2 and a couple of lenses, I realised, at the time, that Still Life was the only life for me.

The Still Life Years

During those early years, I spent endless hours watching YouTube videos on Exposure, lighting, and composition whilst I was learning how to create unique and interesting Still Life images.

Having a table to work on was mostly easy for me as I did not have to reach my arms up too much in order to style a prop or a detail.

One of my first successes was a fruit bowl that I shot in my living room using natural light and bounce cards.

And if you have seen my past portfolios you'll know that I enjoyed shooting moulded toys, including animals, cars, clowns, pierrots, dolls, and lampshades, etc, etc, etc. It was all great fun (apart from regularly tripping over light stands in the living room that I converted into a photography studio).

Photographing in a confined area 24/7 was pretty intense, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

A New Dawn

A local friend who is a horror novelist, Mr Mark Cassell, reached out to me one day, as he needed new photographic artwork for a book cover, for an up and coming novel. The book was called ‘Sussex Horrors’ and not only did he need me to photograph rubber spiders in my studio for the horror part of the book cover, but it would also require me to visit Mermaid Street in Rye, Hastings and Brighton seafronts for the Sussex part.

For the love of it, I was happy to offer a free service, so I lugged my trusty tripod down to Hastings, headed on down to the beach, got my Canon 6D out, and as slow as a handsome disabled guy needs to do… I set everything up. And let me tell you something. I was in heaven.

What immediately struck me was how easily I was able to find interesting compositions that actually worked. When I had my 6D, I was using a wired Shutter Remote which simply allowed me to fire the shutter without ever touching the camera. It may seem like nothing, but I honestly felt liberated.

Undertaking this project opened up a whole new photographic world for me. No longer would I be forced to work in a stuffy room where I was constantly tripping over light stands.

Suddenly I was taking photos in Brighton, Cornwall, Broadstairs, Margate and around the countryside of Rye.

I gained a whole new appreciation for being outdoors.

Landscape Love

So I started hitting the Landscapes and the Seascapes. I loved every minute of it. However, even though I ventured out just before sunsets, I struggled to come to terms with the idea of getting up before dawn. I had enough sleep troubles as it was, without adding to them by getting up ridiculously early. I think I only got up early twice whilst I was doing landscape photography.

However, what I didn't struggle with, was managing to take photos of people within my seascapes and even some of my landscapes.

After doing this many times I realised that I actually preferred people filled landscapes, rather than just traditional landscape photography. Taking candid photos of people was much more interesting and exciting for me. To my mind, it added an emotional element to the photograph that the viewer could relate to.

However, just like many times before, I didn't think my disability would allow me to take photos of people on the streets quickly enough.

How wrong I was.

Street Photography by the Sea - Perranporth, Cornwall

My Love for Street Photography

After swapping out the wonderful Canon 6D for the Sony A7RIII and a 55mm lens I started heading out locally with my tripod with the camera already cemented on top for quick access. (Fortunately, despite regular intense pain, my disablement has no bearing on my strength). With a wireless Shutter Remote, I noted that I was able to take photos just as quick as any other street photographer!

And so it began.

From local Rye, I headed to The South Bank, Brighton and Boulder, Colorado, (my favourite place on Earth), loving every moment of every shutter click. I was even able to swap out the tripod for a monopod, where I was holding the monopod with my right hand and the remote with the other. After a while, I realised that I didn't even need the remote, and like everyone else, I simply clicked the shutter button on the camera.

Of course, all this physical activity caused me considerable pain... but it was a pain worth having.

Nighttime is my time

I started venturing out at night. The neon lights, the street lamps and the late-night revellers all drew me in. I fell in love with street photography all over again, this time by capturing the dark details and the atmosphere. I preferred shooting at night even more than in the day, apart from during the Summer, when it gets dark at 9:30 pm. Nighttime photography takes on a whole new ambience that you just cannot replicate during the day.

So I was really getting into the photography genre that I finally felt at home with and so I planned another trip to Brighton.

And then the world marginally imploded when Covid Struck.

Friday the 13th Part LXV - New Beginnings

I was in the same boat as everybody else on planet Earth. No socialising. No shopping for food. No red meat. Stay at home and join the waitlist for home-delivered groceries. And do nothing.

And as you can probably tell, I mostly (okay, sometimes) take life's ups and downs on the chin, so if I couldn't go out and take photos for a while then that was a tiny consequence, when I think about the heartache and misery that so many other people were going through in 2020.

But as soon as things got a little easier I made a change...

I wondered if there was another way I could take photos. Like without the monopod or tripod.

It seemed that pocket cameras might be the answer.

I thought that if I could attach a mini, handheld tripod or a selfie stick to a small camera then maybe I would no longer have to lug around a big stick so that I could use my camera, on my street photography pursuits. I wouldn't have the irritating task of adjusting the monopod’s height whenever I wanted to shoot from a different angle or perspective. With a selfie stick, I'd be able to quickly take photos from any height at any time. I could quickly move around without excess baggage. I'd finally be free. (Almost.)

And let me tell you something.

It worked.

What the Ricoh GRIII lacks in bokeh abilities, it makes up for it in sheer speed of snapibility, lightweight ease of use, and a 100% fun factor.

I am finally able to hold the camera up to my eye without having something balancing on the ground before me. I can also manoeuvre much quicker than I had ever done before on the streets.

The selfie stick and the camera attached to a wired Shutter release is all slightly crude to look at, but it works, and I feel liberated all over again.

Conclusion

So that's my story. Well, that's my photography story, anyway. I hope through my work and my blog, that I can teach and inspire others to get going with their street photography dreams and aspirations. As I have always dreamed of saying to my followers and friends if you need anything at all, “I'm your Huckleberry.”

Go forth and create.

Street and Urban Photography Blog

Joe Redski - Behind the Camera (or how I stopped worrying and learned to love photography as a person with a disability)