Being Almost There. Phenomenology Meets Street Photography Knut Skjærven

8/10/2019 Being Almost There. Phenomenology Meets Street Photography Knut Skjrven

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Being Almost There

Phenomenology meets street photography

Knut Skjrven

[email protected]

Just a few words.The termvirtualityhas different meanings. For me it means something that is

almost thereand it has nothing to do with what can happen on the Internet or

with a computer. Street photography isbeing almostthere compared to real

life.

It has turned into something very real. In doing phenomenology, I do

photography. More precisely: I do street photography.

Street photography is the random, visual description of living moments with

as little technical interference as possible. Nothing staged. Nothing posed.

Reality in the flesh.

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) would have called itsmall coin photography.. Ashe urged his students to do small coin investigations. Street photography

plunges directly to the core of phenomenological thinking.

What you see is what you get. But not in a primitive way. You sense volumes

of absence in the presence that each photograph offers. Cropped in squares or

rectangles any photographic moment leaves stories untold. It is in these stories

untold that the secrets hide.

Street photography is all about capturing moments. Evendecisive moments,as

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) would have suggested. He is to street

photography what Husserl is to phenomenology.

In moving from a natural attitude of photography to a more investigative

mode, you need to break a barrier. I call it doing Itching Images. Creating

images that linger on. You need to spur a visual arrest that stops the world and

takes you beyond practical doings. The way I do this is often with a touch of

humour. Other times with form. Even with both. For meenjoymentis the key

driver. Photographs are no longer random snapshots. They are deliberate

moments and the result of careful planning for luck.

Metodo. International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Vol. 2, n. 2 (2014)ISSN 2281-9177
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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190 Knut Skjrven

No words are needed to explain them because thousands have already been

spoken. More words are beside the point, anyway. Words narrow down, whilevisuals open up.

Here are a few terms that suggest the affinities between phenomenology and

street photography:momentsin phenomenology/decisive momentsin street

photography;perspectivein phenomenology,point of viewin photography;

bracketin phenomenology,capturein photography. There are plenty.

By the way: Husserls distinction from more than 100 years back are still the

walking ground for street photographers. Even if most dont know it. It is in

this universe, so well suggested by Husserl, that street photography unfolds. At

the distance of a camera.

Being almost there.

Good luck with viewing the photographs shown here.Youfigure them out.

There are lots of stories untold. Just as in phenomenology. Like being almost

there.

Metodo. International Studies in Phenomenology and PhilosophyVol. 2, n. 2 (2014)


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Being Almost There 191

Red Tango( 2014 Knut Skjrven)



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192 Knut Skjrven

Dirty Dancing( 2014 Knut Skjrven)



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Dancing in the Rain( 2014 Knut Skjrven)



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194 Knut Skjrven

Borsalino Sisol( 2014 Knut Skjrven)



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K-damn Couple( 2014 Knut Skjrven)



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196 Knut Skjrven

Bike and Beetle( 2014 Knut Skjrven)



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Long Tall Sally( 2014 Knut Skjrven)



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198 Knut Skjrven

The Kiss( 2014 Knut Skjrven)



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Biker's Bride( 2014 Knut Skjrven)



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200 Knut Skjrven

Knut Skjrven

Knut Skjrven is a Norwegian photographer, writer, and researcher. He lives inCopenhagen, Denmark. Since 2010 he has been doing street photography.

He runs numerous sites on street photography rounded of a basic occupation

with phenomenology. In 2013 his pictures were selected for a large project

underCouncil of Europe:Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters.

Redefining street photography he calls his project:New Street Agenda.

He is presently working on a ebook bringing street photography,

phenomenology, and other areas together. In words and in pictures. SeeOn

The Go: Workbook for New Street Agenda.

His first exhibition of this type of photography opened in Copenhagen, July

12, 2014.For further information, please send email [email protected]. Or see his

siteon street photography and other life changing events.

http://hub.coe.int/http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/autobiography/default_en.asphttp://www.coe.int/t/dg4/autobiography/default_en.asphttp://issuu.com/knutskjarven/docs/the_workbook_on_street_photography_http://issuu.com/knutskjarven/docs/the_workbook_on_street_photography_mailto:[email protected]://knutskjaerven.wordpress.com/http://hub.coe.int/http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/autobiography/default_en.asphttp://issuu.com/knutskjarven/docs/the_workbook_on_street_photography_http://issuu.com/knutskjarven/docs/the_workbook_on_street_photography_mailto:[email protected]://knutskjaerven.wordpress.com/

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Being Almost There. Phenomenology Meets Street Photography Knut Skjærven