Ask the Street Photographer: Santos Álvarez León
Santos, from Algeciras in southern Spain, came on a workshop with me in London 3-4 years ago and since then I’ve watched her develop and grow as a photographer. I thought she would be the perfect candidate for the next in the series ‘Ask the Street Photographer’. Here are her answers to my usual 10 questions:
How did you get started as a street photographer - and why?
Photography has always been in me but I never went too deep exploring it when I was younger; I do remember when I used to live in London in the 90s or went on any holiday trips that I took the camera in the streets and I took pictures in a very organic way without knowing anything about street photography. In the Christmas of 2015 I started thinking about photography again. I discovered searching online and reading articles about ‘street photography’. I started to investigate and study about it. I don’t like categorizing different types of photography. I consider photography as a way to express myself and the streets fit really well with that. It’s like a game; it's a theatre where the people are the actors.
What part does street photography play in your life today?
Basically for the last six years I’ve carried the camera everywhere every single day taking pictures almost every day. However, since the lockdown in 2020 I started to feel the necessity to experiment with a more personal approach to photography - with a project that you can see a part of it on my website called ‘The Visitor’ in which using collage I have tried to show how autism is between my son and me. This project is now finished and I want to publish a photobook. Last month I was very pleased to receive an Honorable Mention in the amateur category in IPA photo awards in collage for this work.
I also have done another project called ‘Isabel & Miguel’. They’re an old couple - he’s blind and she’s at the beginning of dementia; I’m in the process of closing this project. Adding to all this I’ve started a project in collaboration with a collage artist where street photography is a big part of the idea. So all I can say is that the street is still very present but in a different way.
How would you describe your photographic style?
Tricky question. I don’t really know; some people say that my photos transmit energy and that they make you feel that you are there. My style is just being present and taking pictures when my heart tickles.
What’s the worst experience you’ve had on the streets?
I haven’t had bad experiences. When I see a person looking at me in a strange way I smile or I look at the camera like I don’t know how it works; I make myself really silly to avoid any conflict but one day in Gibraltar I was taking pictures of some children jumping into the water I remember it was for the StreetSnappers Collective monthly challenge in the summer 2019. I saw two girls coming out of the water and the boy in the background jumping so I was there taking the photos when a woman started to tell me that I should ask the girls’ parents for permission. I was a bit cheeky and I told her that I wasn’t taking pictures of the girls I just turned around and left. In the final image you can’t see the girls’ faces.
What single thing would improve your street photography?
I think seeing a lot of photographs of the greats like Joel Meyerowitz, Garry Winogrand, Vivian Maier, Robert Frank, William Klein, Martin Parr, Helen Lewitt, Diane Arbus....
And reading their thoughts about their work.
What are your views on analogue / film photography? Do you shoot film - or do you plan to? If not, why not?
My beginnings in photography were in analogue. I used to develop my own black & white films and in my local photo club I even made copies. I also took colour slides, which I loved. Although I enjoy the process right now I just shoot digital. I find it easier and more practical and of course much less expensive. I still have my dearest Yashica and I would like at some point to shoot a few films or make some kind of project. I also have a Holga, which I find really fun.
If you could spend the day shooting with one photographer, dead or alive, who would it be?
With no doubts Joel Meyerowitz.
Black & white or colour?
It goes in phases. For the last two years I've seen everything in colour.
What gear do you use - and why?
I have a Fujifilm X100F 23mm f2 which I use for 90% of my work because of its size and weight. It is almost in my everyday bag and I also have a Fujifilm XT3 with a 35mm lens f2 which I want to use more.
What does the next 12 months hold for you?
For the last couple of years I have been working on different projects that at this moment are seeing the light. The zine ‘Half a Melon’, which I participated in last September in Fiebre Photobook Market in Madrid, was a great experience.
As I mentioned earlier I’d like to make a photobook with the project ‘The Visitor’ and finish the work ‘Isabel & Miguel.
I’ve just finished making a calendar for 2023 in collaboration with a local artist where we’ve put his paintings in unusual places and I photograph them. Every month is a different picture.
And right now I’m doing a project called ‘Majesty’ in collaboration with a collage artist which is taking all my energy and thoughts, because Queen Elizabeth is the protagonist.
From Santos’ latest zine, ‘Half a Melon’
