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Approaching the streets with a colour-guided mind-set is a gift a lot of us photographers appear to lack from, and watching Eren’s work is quite a particular aesthetic experience in fact. His stories from the streets emerge from single frames and work as traveling windows that aim to democratize the urban experiences from the world. Sometimes close and some other distantly afar, Eren’s images are an absolute blast of social life.
F. As a documentary traveller photographer, do you still find it easy to be surprised when walking with your camera within your local hometown?
E. It’s interesting, one way or another shooting in the same location can become repetitive however, here in London it’s pretty easy to mix things up by visiting different parts of the city. I also enjoy experimenting with different types of photography, be it architecture, portraits and cityscapes and I feel myself hitting a creative block.
F. What’s your opinion on the abundance of images constructing our everyday lives? Do you think we, people, love registering everything or is it that maybe we find all things to be memorable?
E. I think people love stories, it’s what we’ve always loved, telling and hearing stories. I feel photography is just an extension of this. My aim when I go out is simple, tell the story of the day – or if I’m on a trip it’s to tell the story of the journey through the medium of photography.
F. What’s your criterion for choosing a keeper during your editing process? [Editing understood as selecting your images]
E. I always like to review my images a couple days after taking them, I feel I’m able to make better judgement calls once the dust has settled. As for the images I select, it’s usually ones which evoke some sort of reaction or help tell the story I have in my mind.
F. Undoubtedly, cinematography has given you a particular way of seeing the world, what would you recommend for newcomers about this other discipline that tends to be closely related to photography?
E. Cinematography and Photography are different but they do share a lot in common. An aspect of cinematography I’m always interested in is how color is used in cinema to convey a message or emotion to the viewer, It’s something I try to include in my own photography. For newcomers I’d say learn about cinematography as much as you can as most of the techniques can be translated into photography.
F. Empowering people to travel via your photographs is a noble enterprise, what drew you into pursuing that particular path?
E. When I first went to Japan, none of my family had been so I saw it as an opportunity to take them on the journey through the photos I took.
F. Judging by the soothing available light and weather in your shots, one could easily think that you have a particular time of day for shooting. How could you describe the overall aesthetic of these somehow consistent ingredients of your photographs?
E. I actually try not to place constraints on what time of the day I shoot. With Across Japan the lighting conditions were mainly down to the time of the year I went. That said, I do aim to shoot during sunrise and love shooting in the evening when the sun hits at an angle.
F. Street photography is a broad topic, but what would be your own and personal definition of it?
E. As with all art, I believe it’s down to the artist to define what is and isn’t street photography. For me, I like to think of street photography as a means of telling the story of people living in cities, towns and villages.
F. Today you have released your debut book titled Across Japan. Could you please share some details about your book with us?
E. Across Japan documents my travels from the streets of Tokyo, to the enchanted forests of Yakushima, to the mountains of Nagano and back again. One of my main focuses for this book was to turn the spotlight and share photos from the lesser seen parts of Japan.
F. Thank you so much for your time. Can you please tell us where we can purchase Across Japan and see more of your work?
E. Across Japan can be purchased from Trope’s website as well as major bookstores and Amazon too. You can see more of my photos from Japan and my travels on my Instagram: @Erenjam | Twitter: @Erenjamm. I also run a photography Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/erensarigul
Eren’s solid style grabbed our attention right away, but within what appears to be a carefully crafted portfolio, we also find photographic treasures that make us certain that there’s a lot still left to be shot by us photographers around the world. Thanks a lot for your time Eren, and we wish you the best with your frames.
