Bored Panda reached out to Chini Bolsón, a street photographer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, whose work we featured in our list. We wanted to ask him some questions about street photography, which often captures candid, unscripted moments in everyday life.
Asked what attracts him to this genre, Chini said: “I consider myself a curious person and I have been curious since I was a child in different aspects of my life. From books to sports, music, and at some point when I was 8 years old: photography. At that time I was more into family photography and also watching my parents doing something similar to what I understand today as street photography. And added to the fact that when I was 18 years old, my parents gave me and my siblings a book with photos and phrases that we said during our 18 years of life.
So, between curiosity and photography so close, at some point, it decanted into ‘Wow, how crazy is this book, I want to do it!’. But I was little and didn't know when or if I was going to have kids... so I decided to do it with strangers in the city. A different approach. I started documenting people on the street: I would approach someone, talk to them, photograph them, and write about the stories they told me about their lives. Then that mutated over the years to do it from another perspective; with street photography, I suggest a story with the actors and actresses that appear. And I say actors, because although they are very real people, doing real things, it is still my vision at that moment of what I see, or what I think I see, and ultimately what I decide to share through the frame, and by sharing it with other viewers.”
Bolsón summed it up by saying that what attracts him to photography is curiosity: "It’s about the people around me. What they think, what they do, what they feel. Which sometimes leads me to talk to strangers, to encounter the unknown, and in turn to understand more... or at least try to understand more. I do it with curiosity and respect, but I understand that the latter is a very blurred line.”
We were wondering what techniques or strategies the photographer uses to blend into the surroundings and maintain the authenticity of his subjects. The photographer shared with us: “My way of seeing it, understanding it, living it (I'm not saying it's the right one, but the one that happens to me) is that I'm part of the scene, so sometimes I can be more part of it, sometimes less, I can be seen taking the picture, or not even notice it... but I'm there."
"Therefore, I prefer to be honest with myself, and as honest as I can with the person in front of me, and the scene: if they see me taking a picture and ask me, I say what I'm doing, I don't try to hide it. I deal more with signs, faces, and gestures, I think it's because I was a clown and mime when I was a kid... I do talk from time to time but I try to do it after having captured the scene. Sometimes I fantasize about the idea of invisibility and take pictures of situations that, because of my presence and more particularly because of the presence of the camera in my hands, tend to disappear in front of me. Sometimes I fantasize about that idea, but I can't imagine it being as much fun as being there: with my presence.”
Street photography has some challenges related to privacy and ethics. We wanted to find out how he navigates these considerations while documenting the lives of strangers in public spaces. Chini told us: “It is a difficult, delicate, and complex subject to answer in a simple way. I can say how I live it: I am aware of what I do, and from where I do it, but that does not mean that it cannot bother someone. I know I have no bad intentions, I know I do it out of curiosity, and with the desire to document, but that may be worth little or nothing to the person being photographed, or perhaps to someone who sees what I do. If at any time I cause any discomfort to someone I apologize, I will delete the photo if necessary. My intention is not to cause any harm.”
We also asked what about the streets and urban environments inspire Bolsón’s work as a photographer. We found out that: “City life fascinates me because it is a chaotic scenario, where the public and the private meet in unique and disruptive scenes but understood in the daily routine as a natural part of the day, and that seen in a frame - in other words, stopped in time - recover a power similar to that of an aged memory.”
The street photographer mentioned a specific location where he enjoys working the most: “Downtown Buenos Aires Capital has a place in me. It is a place that I have visited since I was a child with my family. And it has that of always being very different, and very familiar at the same time."
Lastly, Chini added: “I would love to do some street photography in different cities... but my north is Buenos Aires. If I have to name 3 cities that I would like to visit soon: New York, Tokyo, and Mexico.”
