“Hi, my name is Thomas Leuthard and I’m a street photographer from Switzerland. I share my work freely and there are also two presentations available on my website for free on how to start shooting in the streets.”
Tell us how you started in photography?
“I really got into it when I was at the Olympics in Beijing (China) in summer 2008. There I was so impressed by everything which was happening and I wanted to share this information with my friends and co-workers. So I created a blog & photo page to inform everybody at home what was going on. In Beijing I also got fascinated by street photography, although I didn’t know that this was called like at that time.”
What is photography for you today? Where you do want to be in 10 years?
“It’s my biggest passion and what keeps me alive and motivated every day. There are so many aspects, possibilities and opportunities in photography, especially in street photography. In 10 years I may got a bit more famous and more people around the globe follow my work. I hope that I could still travel several times a year to different cities to shoot and meet other photographers.”
Who are your inspirations among the classic photographers? What about contemporaries and your friends?
“I don’t know a lot of classic photographers and I’m not really inspired by them. I like the story of Vivian Maier and I’m also impressed by her work. Normally I like a photo or I don’t like it, no matter who took it. People often get affected by big names or by big cameras. It’s the photo that counts and nothing else…”
How do you shoot on the street? What is your typical day out?
“I walk with my camera up and down the streets where there are a lot of people looking for characters. I focus with my eye on the objects I’m looking for. Depending on the topic or idea I have that day, this differs. But I always walk up and down certain busy streets.”
What do you look for when you’re shooting?
“When I’m out with my DSLR, I’m looking for portraits of interesting people. Faces you will re-member and which tell a story. My portraits are always candid as I like the look people have, when you just shoot them straight into their face.
When I’m out with my Micro 4/3, I’m looking more for full scenes, people matching back-grounds, repeating colors and so on. It depends very much on the idea you have on your mind.”
What is your favorite city for street photography and why?
“Since I live close to Zurich, this is the city I spend most time to shoot. But if I would live close to any other city, it would be different. Every city I was traveling to, has its advantages. The big-ger a city is, the more I like it, as there will be a lot of different characters. I will be in New York next week, which is probably the most versatile city for street photography…”
What are your favorite tools you use for your photography?
“The best tool is your eye. Without a trained eye you cannot do anything in street photography, no matter which camera you have in your bag. I’m left eyed although this doesn’t make a difference.
Cameras are normally overrated in street photography. The best camera is the one you are carrying with you. The better you understand your camera and its limitations the better. The faster you can use it the easier you can capture scenes in the streets. It’s more about seeing than capturing in street photography.”
What post processing do you generally do on your images?
“I don’t like to post process as it is too time consuming. I do straighten & crop (only if really needed) an image, add some contrast, adjust brightness and so on. Not a lot and only about 1-2 minutes maximum. I strongly believe that you would not need post processing and that a good photo is being created in the camera and not on your computer. You can maybe make the look of a photo a bit better, but you cannot add soul or life to a photo on the computer.”
We found you through 500px site. How did you find it and how has your experience been so far?
“I like the layout of the site and also the quality of photos. It’s an easy way to publish your work and the portfolio feature is wonderful.
It’s also good to find street photographers as there is a section “Street” where you can search for popular photos. And if course it’s a good platform to share my street shots to people interested in this genre.”
If one wanted to try street photography as a genre, what advice would you give them?
“Maybe you should first read my two presentations about street photography. One is a basic document called “Washing Instructions” while the other one is a bit more enhanced and talks about “What is really important?”. They can be found on my website.
Apart from that, people should first focus on their seeing than bother about their camera. You really have to learn to see first. Anything else comes later. Go out to the streets with a topic (a color, an accessory, etc.) on your mind and try to see as many of them. Try to imagine how you would put this object into a photo. Next time you take your camera and start capturing these things.”
It struck me as an incredible human theatre of both everyday and extraordinary interactions, and without Paris there’s no way my photography would be as varied and emotional as it is today. I owe everything to this city.
