Carmen Alt-Chaplin
London Street Photographer
Could you tell us a bit about yourself, where you are from, and where you are based.
I was born in Germany, and I grew up in a village near Hamburg. I moved to England after finishing my final school exams and have been based in London ever since.
Your background with photography. How and when were you introduced to Street?
I first became interested in photography in my early teens. I started out with film photography, shooting 35mm, and my very first camera was a Minolta Hi-Matic, later followed by a Canon AE1 and a Nikon FM2. I resisted digital for a long time, but once I made the leap I found I loved it, and I now shoot only digital.
Street life and urban spaces have always inspired me, and I’ve been drawn to street photography for as long as I can remember. It was a progression for me, but I started to shoot street in earnest about 7 years ago.
Your work has a focus on night times, windows, often minimal figures in the distance or partially obscured backgrounds, can you tell us a bit about that?
I am most interested in the quiet moments, and the stillness of the night has a very special quality. It is my favourite time to shoot. The light is different, the energy feels different, and it is a real challenge to capture that. Looking at people through windows can feel like a window into their lives, and it is often a metaphor for the loneliness, distance and “cut-off-ness” many people experience in big cities, something I’m interested in exploring.
The small figures in the distance against big backgrounds are a similar exploration into the human experience. Even when surrounded by many people we are basically alone, and in the grand scheme of things we humans are not that important. The universe is huge, and we are but a small part of it. I like to look at details but I’m also interested in the big picture.
You have maintained presence on different social platforms, including Tumblr. Now that things have moved over to Instagram, would you have any comment on your experience with any of these social media spaces? For me, moving from Tumblr to Instagram felt like moving from a pond to an ocean. During my time on Tumblr, around 2013 — 2015, the photography community there was relatively small, it was a vibrant and friendly one, and it felt like everyone knew each other or of each other, and was talking. Instagram was a completely different experience at first. There were so many photographers there, hundreds of thousands of them, and it felt overwhelming. It took me a while to get used to it, but now I like it. I think the secret to thriving on any social media platform (for they all have their pros and cons) is to not take it too seriously.
Women in Street
social media collaborative for female street photographers
