030 Laura Leijnen – On exploring Paris through Street Photography

Posted on by Frederic Paulussen

Today, I’m joined by Laura Leijnen, a street photographer from Paris. Her work speaks to me because of her great eye for little moments and combinations.

Follow Laura Leijnen:

Listen to the episodes on:

You can follow me on several social media for updates about the episodes:

Timestamps of this episode with Laura Leijnen

00:00 Introduction to Street Photography and Laura Lerde

01:55 Discovering Street Photography in Paris

03:19 The Influence of Henri Cartier-Bresson

10:26 Evolving Style: From Clean Compositions to Color

14:56 Shooting Techniques: Hip Shots vs. Viewfinder

19:29 Capturing Candid Moments: Family and Friends

24:52 The Art of Anticipation in Photography

28:50 The Role of Luck in Photography

30:38 Anticipation and Instinct in Street Photography

32:22 Chaos and Control in Urban Scenes

33:48 Layering and Storytelling in Photography

36:27 Stepping Away from Formulas

39:05 Community and Collaboration in Photography

43:22 Learning from Others: Techniques and Inspiration

47:16 The Journey into Street Photography

51:22 Choosing the Right Camera and Lens

Photographers, resources, and gear mentioned in this episode:

Thank you for listening to this conversation with Laura. Don’t forget to subscribe to be updated about upcoming episodes. Feel free to reach out via social media if you have any questions or ideas you’d like to share.

Don’t miss any episode by subscribing to the podcast on Spotify!

Podcast Transcript

Frederic Paulussen (00:01)

So welcome to the Slice of Time Street Photography Podcast. A podcast in which I explore the work of different street photographers across the world, genres and visions. This exposes you to different ideas and ways of looking, helping you form your own vision of street photography. Today I’m joined by Laura Leijnen

street photographer from well based in Paris but originally from Flanders I ⁓ heard and her work speaks to me because of her great eye for these little moments and great combinations of subjects and colors so hey Laura could you perhaps introduce yourself

Laura LEIJNEN (00:36)

Hey, Frederic I’m really, well, thank you, first of all, for having me. I’m really pleased to be here. So it’s a great honor. Thank you for the introduction. So yeah, I’m originally from Belgium, but I’ve been living in France since 15, 16 years now.

So I live in the suburbs of Paris and so Paris is where I shoot most of the time, so I do street photography. ⁓ I’ve been shooting since I think like four years, four or five years. And yeah, mainly street photography, but basically anything. mean, anything candid, anything like life photography, I guess.

Frederic Paulussen (01:28)

Yeah, it’s a term I’ve been hearing more and more in life photography because as you said, you often do street photography but at same time, for example, for me as well, I sometimes, you know, if there’s a little party of my niece or something with the family, then of course you also capture those moments, so I can imagine, or on holiday or whatever, so I can imagine that. And so, four or five years, you said, what brought you into street photography then?

Laura LEIJNEN (01:55)

I think Paris, really. So I moved to Paris in 2019. I didn’t know Paris at all. Like for me, Paris was just the Eiffel Tower and that’s it. And so I started exploring Paris. I had these little books, you know, the touristic guidebooks that I was just like walking around and being like, I don’t know that monument. I don’t know that street. I don’t know. Just learning more about Paris. And I was really keen about just learning information. then

Gradually, I noticed that I didn’t really care that much about what type of building this was or what year that was built in, et cetera. And I just wanted to just walk around and just get the Parisian vibes, so to say, and just sitting down for having a coffee and these little moments rather than having facts. And I had, like everyone, little camera but know, it’s like,

two buttons, the shutter button and just the on and off and that was basically it. And so I was taking some pictures on my walks, ⁓ but these were just souvenirs, you know, like touristic pictures. And then gradually I just dropped the guidebook, the tourist guidebook, and I just started losing myself in the Parisian streets, starting to take more and more pictures of just things that caught my eye.

Frederic Paulussen (02:56)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (03:19)

And then I think the main trigger was ⁓ when I ⁓ went to a photo exhibition. ⁓ Pure coincidence, like it wasn’t something I was really attracted to, but because in Paris there are so many opportunities to go to an exhibition and to like all these cultural activities are very big. And I went to see the Henri Cartier-Bresson ⁓ exhibition, well, one of his exhibitions.

I didn’t know at all who he was. Honestly, was an unknown ⁓ name for me. And I think I spent two or three hours in the exhibition and being like, wow, this is something you can do. These were pictures I hadn’t seen before, never. ⁓ And yeah, so I discovered what photography was. And I discovered you could just

Frederic Paulussen (03:59)

wow.

Laura LEIJNEN (04:17)

freeze time and have these little, like obviously I fell in love with the decisive moment, you know, it was like eye opening. And then yeah, I walked out of the exhibition. was like, okay, I need to get a proper camera, you know? And so I bought my first camera. I think that was end of 2021. A ⁓ very like basic, basic ⁓ universal camera, I think was a Nikon D3500.

to be like technical terms, DSLR. ⁓ So I had that for one year and was like experimenting and just being excited basically about everything because I was like, I was just discovering everything. ⁓ everything from just like trying all the buttons and just, I don’t know, doing blurry stuff and see where that leads, doing, yeah, just discovering everything. And then one year after that,

Frederic Paulussen (04:49)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (05:16)

trying things out and seeing what I like, I definitely was converging into this thing that you call street photography. And I was like, okay, now I need maybe a camera that is more adapted to it because I felt like the DSLR was too big, too heavy, made noise, which isn’t the best thing for street photography. And so then I got my Fuji, so Fuji X100V

Frederic Paulussen (05:38)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (05:45)

I absolutely love it and I’ve been shooting with that ever since. ⁓

Frederic Paulussen (05:51)

That’s cool. So before the exhibition, you’d never done anything like photography wise, like you had your camera, of course, with you, but you didn’t have like, weren’t reading books about anything photography related or something. It was really like the exhibition was the entrance into. That’s cool. Wow. And then immediately Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Laura LEIJNEN (05:58)

No.

Yeah, yeah, no, nothing at all.

Yeah, no, actually, but it’s easy. It’s even the opposite because my I wasn’t interested in photography at all. It was something I didn’t like at all. was it was just taking some pictures when I was on holidays. Like everyone, I guess. But my mom always takes pictures. And so I never took pictures because she was always taking pictures, you know, family events. And and she has these huge photo books.

she made and all that. so sometimes it was even too much, know, it’s like, oh, so like so many pictures, like just stop taking pictures and enjoy the moment, you know. And but then, yeah, that gradually changed and yeah, I can, yeah, definitely the exhibition was eye opening, as you say.

Frederic Paulussen (07:01)

That’s cool, wow, okay. And because, yeah, you mentioned, of course, being there for several hours studying his work.

But to me your work doesn’t feel like Henri Cartier-Bresson inspired. It’s more, it’s totally different. First of all, of course, because of the obvious reason between his work is ⁓ purely black and white and yours is mostly color. So did you then start like a search into different street photographers or did you just find the definition of street photography and totally made it your own thing on your own?

Laura LEIJNEN (07:39)

No, yeah, no, I definitely ⁓ I went into like looking up street for different Street photographers and at the beginning Henri Cartier Bresson definitely was a big influence ⁓ I Love this neat compositions. I love the decisive moment I love like how just how clean it was how well prepared it seemed and And and to me when I first looked at his pictures, I was like, he must have like such a great

sense of observation because for me, he just walked into the scene, saw this thing unfolding and just, you know, snapped a picture at the exact time. But then also later on, had some, I loved looking at the contact sheets. And you know, when you see like all these moments and it’s not really the decisive moment, it’s just he took different pictures and he tried different angles as well. And he tried different moments and it’s just that one picture that he took.

I really loved that because it made him more like human, more realistic. you know, was reassuring to know that he as well, like such a great photographer, was just trying things. so yeah, so yeah, big influence. Another, well, ⁓ I think others at the beginning, like other photographers that had very clean compositions, I fell into, Saul Leiter as well, who I discovered.

Frederic Paulussen (08:46)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (09:10)

⁓ Ernst Haas for his color, William ⁓ Klein later on. But then at the beginning, I didn’t really like William Klein because of how chaotic it was sometimes and how his frames were packed. But then more and more I was going towards something like that, where it wasn’t no more like the clean compositions and everything in focus. And so I think it’s like

My photography now is very far away from the Henri Cartier-Bresson geometry and all that. And now I’m evolving, I think, towards something that is more about what it feels than what it looks like. That is more about, I think, hope intuition and more about the moment itself and less about, okay, thinking about…

I try to think the least possible and trying to shoot as much instinct-based as possible. I do some black and white, because you mentioned I do some black and white, but it’s mainly color for me.

Frederic Paulussen (10:18)

Yeah.

Yeah, I saw it on your website because there’s one page about black and white photography and all the rest is… well, it doesn’t really mention color photography but it’s all in color anyway. And so that’s why I was curious, like do you prefer… because of course you do very strong color work so it makes sense that you like to photograph in color. So is that something that just attracts you or is that something you’re more… ⁓

Laura LEIJNEN (10:29)

Yeah.

Yeah

Frederic Paulussen (10:56)

Yeah, it attracts you more colors.

Laura LEIJNEN (10:59)

Yeah, it does. I think it gives more information and just some colors are just too beautiful not to photograph, you know. one of, well, it’s a good question because there are so many photographers whose work I admire and who are black and white photographers. So I think about

I don’t know, looking at my shelf, I’m thinking about Robert Frank, I’m thinking about Bruce Davidson, ⁓ I’m thinking about William Klein, who I mentioned. But I think there’s a lot to learn by looking at black and white photography, because there’s a lot of focus on contrast, there’s a lot of focus on forms, a lot of just the moment itself. And I think like even if

If you do color photography, you can take away a lot of that. ⁓ And yeah, but as I mentioned, Ernst Haas is great with his colors and that really attracted me. And nowadays it’s mainly color. But then if I have to, if the photo really isn’t working in color, I will switch to black and white. And sometimes when I take the picture, I often already know that it will be a black and white picture just because it will work better because it will have

I don’t know, maybe something mysterious about it or something. There’s a little series I’ve been working on which is only black and white, so I know it will fit into that. But then also, another photographer I really like. I feel like I’m name dropping a lot maybe, but it’s Jeff Mermelstein. I don’t know if you’ve heard about him.

Frederic Paulussen (12:45)

No worries.

heard

the work by heart.

Laura LEIJNEN (12:52)

So he ⁓

was, he is a New York based street photographer. And it’s just everything like when you think about New York and all the moments you can get in New York, that’s what he was taking. And that was in color. So yeah, it makes more sense to me to shoot in color, definitely.

Frederic Paulussen (13:16)

Yeah, it makes sense. To me as well, I prefer color, but I know like there are a lot of people who, for example, Henri Cartier-Bresson was a notorious color hater. ⁓ But it’s always a personal decision and I find it interesting to know why. And as you mentioned, I do… ⁓

leading to black and white photography as well because as you said like you can learn lot from it compositionally for contrast for subjects for I find it easier to see light in black and white because you’re not distracted by colors as much it’s really just light or no light ⁓ so it is easier but yeah at some point I prefer the color added into it and as well because of your work there’s a

Laura LEIJNEN (13:48)

Mm-hmm.

Frederic Paulussen (14:07)

Yeah, you really spot the monochromous scenes or the more contrasting color scenes. So there’s like very strong elements of colors in your photos and I like that a lot, which isn’t easy to spot as well. I appreciated it a lot because I know how difficult it is to get those colors right.

Laura LEIJNEN (14:26)

Thanks.

Frederic Paulussen (14:36)

And of course, it’s getting those color right, it’s observing the right moments. So yeah. And then I was wondering, are you someone who shoots from the hip or are you more of a… ⁓ Do you always look through the viewfinder or what’s your ⁓ photographic style in that sense?

Laura LEIJNEN (14:56)

That really depends but it’s mostly just walking around and shooting. ⁓ I rarely look through the viewfinder. It’s also because I wear glasses so it’s not really practical to look through the viewfinder. So I look a lot on the screen. ⁓ Usually when I shoot I look at the screen. ⁓ But there many times as well where I don’t look at all. I will just…

Frederic Paulussen (15:10)

Yeah. No.

Laura LEIJNEN (15:23)

snap a picture very quickly or I just I know where the because I’ve been shooting now since like for like for four years with the same focal length, which is a 35 millimeter. So I know kind of know roughly where the frame is. So I don’t always have to look through the screen. So that’s that’s a good thing. Yeah, I walk a lot. I don’t like standing still and waiting for something to come into the frame. If

Sometimes I will do it, but it’s very rare. And if I do, it’s maybe 15 minutes maximum that I will wait for something to come around. ⁓ I will stand still as well if there is a scene. Like, you know, there’s one spot, but there are several things happening. Then I like to take some time trying new angles, trying, like observing the scene and…

working the scene to quote a friend of mine who we were like talking about it, ⁓ trying to see what you can do with all this, trying to see where the light is coming from, trying to see what the people are doing, trying to anticipate what they will do. ⁓ And so yeah, I think I shoot the way I have to shoot in order to get the picture, if that makes sense.

Frederic Paulussen (16:30)

Hmm.

Laura LEIJNEN (16:44)

Um, so there are times, so there are times as well where I might interact with people. Like I will, um, I might say something to them afterwards, or I might some say something when I’m taking the picture or it depends. There are times as well where I feel like I need to be more discreet because maybe there will be some interaction that won’t be like positive, I guess. Um, so yeah, it, it, it really depends. It really depends.

Frederic Paulussen (16:45)

Yeah!

Laura LEIJNEN (17:14)

but walking a lot for sure.

Frederic Paulussen (17:18)

Okay, yeah, because you get very, very up close to your subjects often as well. So I was wondering as well about the interaction, because of course here and there you have someone looking into the camera, that’s that’s can just naturally happen, of course. But do you, as you said, like sometimes you already talked during the interaction, never before, before taking the photo, or ⁓

Laura LEIJNEN (17:26)

Bye.

That’s very rare.

So yeah, that’s might be like when they see me. So with the pictures that you’ve that you see that where people are looking directly towards me, that is just because they saw me and either because I wanted them to see me. So I was obviously there. Sometimes I will position myself in front of them. So they see me that might sometimes be at the last.

Frederic Paulussen (18:05)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (18:08)

like second, kind of, like if there’s someone walking towards me, I might be anticipating the shot and then at the last moment being in front of them and then taking the picture. And then obviously they will see me and there might be just, you know, like a smile, like a recognition. Yeah, or just like, hello. And then I just, that’s all. I rarely like really like take time to like actually.

Frederic Paulussen (18:25)

There might be a reaction yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (18:35)

like explain myself or talk etc. If they ask I will but usually just a smile or hello or that’s enough and then I go my way and that’s it. ⁓ I do sometimes take some portraits or if I have like if I want to take a small detail I don’t know of something I might ask them but that happens very rarely that might happen maybe.

Frederic Paulussen (19:01)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (19:01)

Once, like if I go out to shoot that might happen maybe once during my three hour walk. don’t know. So.

Frederic Paulussen (19:10)

Okay, that’s cool. And then you, yeah, do you go out often because you have a big catalog of photos on your website I already see. And of course those moments, they don’t happen all the time. So is it like a very big routine or?

Laura LEIJNEN (19:29)

Yeah,

thanks. I wish they would happen all the time, but that’s not the case. So yeah, living in the suburbs of Paris, I can’t go out every day to shoot, sadly enough. But also maybe luckily enough, because that way whenever I go to Paris, I still feel ⁓ like a tourist. I feel half tourist, half knowing. I feel like a local tourist, kind of.

Frederic Paulussen (19:34)

Yeah.

Hmm.

Laura LEIJNEN (19:58)

I think that’s a good thing because I still have this enthusiasm towards Paris and this, ⁓ this is nice, this is nice. ⁓ So usually I go out ⁓ maybe once or twice a week, ⁓ usually on afternoon when I don’t work. ⁓ But then when I’m on holidays, I will go out a bit more.

Frederic Paulussen (19:59)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (20:23)

I’m a teacher, so I have a lot of holidays. So that’s good. So I have like a lot of free time during my holidays when I can to go out shooting. But yeah, otherwise it’s one afternoon, sometimes during the weekend. And I really love those moments. And I usually come back with at least a picture that I like. It doesn’t mean it’s a good picture, but I usually come back with something that I like.

Frederic Paulussen (20:28)

Okay.

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (20:52)

And yeah, and then there all the events, you know, like in Paris, will be the carnival. Recently, there was the fashion week, there will be Chinese New Year, there all these things. And it’s a nice way as well to get together with all the other street photographers from Paris, which is very nice as well. Yeah, but then also I don’t have to be in Paris to shoot. I’ve been shooting a lot ⁓ as well at home, more and more taking pictures just at home of my cats.

my girlfriend just walking around everywhere. And I think this has become an important something as well, because before it was only when I went to Paris that I took pictures, but now there is no limits anymore. So even if I see friends or family, I will always have the camera with me. And I really like the fact that I can take a picture anywhere. It doesn’t mean I will because I mean…

But it’s nice to know that I can, that the opportunity is there.

Frederic Paulussen (21:52)

Yeah.

And so that makes me curious, if you photograph, like for example, your friends or family, is it within the same style as your street photography, which is of course very, like the colors and the moments, or do you handle that differently then?

Laura LEIJNEN (22:12)

No, it’s kind of the same. Because I really like the candid aspect of street photography. So most of my pictures are candid. I don’t ask people to pose and do this and do that. And I do the same with my friends and my family. Because first of all, I like the fact that you can snap these little moments without them knowing. And that makes it sometimes more genuine.

it’s really nice to have that expression or that something that is so true to that person. When you get the picture and you’re like, yeah, but he does this all the time and he has this expression all the time. so getting that ⁓ spontaneously is for me stronger than getting it when you ask for a portrait and that might be different. ⁓ And also because I don’t want to

Interrupt all the time like can you just like hang on? Can you can can you just like do that again? Okay? You just so I I don’t like that at all So it’s just okay. I’m here with my camera. You did something I took a picture you did something I didn’t take a picture But I don’t want to interrupt the flow or anything and and yeah, but it also means that I’m sometimes well, I’ve always been some an Observer and sometimes an outsider like observing

Frederic Paulussen (23:16)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (23:42)

the group dynamic and observing the conversations and just enjoying it but differently. And I feel like now that I’ve started photography, it makes more sense as well. I accept this position of outsider and observer and I let myself sometimes just…

take a step back and just take pictures of my family and my friends. And because I have the camera, can do that. It’s less weird than not partaking at all. And it’s also just a pleasure to be able to give some pictures back and see that they react happily to it. And yeah, I didn’t think I would be taking pictures of my family and friends, but I’ve been doing it more and more.

Frederic Paulussen (24:12)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (24:33)

these projects are so, so different from, well, I feel that they’re very different from what I felt that at same time, very different from what I do in the streets. But they also like in that kind of style as well. It’s like the same but not the same.

Frederic Paulussen (24:52)

Yeah, I can imagine how that would work. ⁓ To me it’s just that you look for similar things, but of course family, the moments you want to capture are different than the people on the street because it’s like a nice memory to have while on the street of course it’s like a nice moment that’s just interesting. So I can imagine, yeah it’s…

the same but different. ⁓ For example, because I was wondering there’s this one photo on your website, it’s on the selected works. For example there’s this woman with a pink lollipop with like the blue sky behind it. ⁓ Is that like shot from the hip then or did you ⁓ talk with them or how did this…

Laura LEIJNEN (25:31)

Yeah.

Frederic Paulussen (25:42)

because it’s very up close, very well composed image as well, dramatic angle.

Laura LEIJNEN (25:51)

I’m really glad you brought up that picture because it’s one I took recently and it’s one I really like. So, well, to get the entire context of the picture, it was a blue sky in Paris, which is amazing because it’s not often the case. ⁓ And I’ve been working on some pictures ⁓ with trees and…

with skies and with clouds, a bit of that. So I’ve been looking out a bit more for trees. And so this tree was very beautiful with the blue sky behind it. And then I saw this girl standing just in front of it. And at the moment when I was about to take a picture, she had the lollipop in her mouth. So I didn’t know it was pink. She just had like a little stick, well, in her mouth. And I always love these kind of…

Frederic Paulussen (26:43)

Okay, yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (26:47)

funny moments, know, when you go like, there’s this. And so I just, I just took what I think I took only one picture, maybe two. And so I just, I saw her and I got, I got my camera ready and I got close. I knelt, I took the picture and as chance might have it, when I took the picture, she took out the lollipop and she looked at me and that was it. And then I, that was a picture and that was

no interaction at all, think. I might have smiled, I don’t know. And then that was it.

it made me think about this because we always say like action reaction, you know, like something happens and you react to it. But now I’ve been thinking about like taking it other like like the other way around, you know, it’s like maybe maybe it is reaction action, you know, like when maybe there are things that you that might take place, but it’s because you you press the shutter that it took place. I don’t know if that makes sense. so it’s

Frederic Paulussen (27:50)

Okay, yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (27:52)

It’s something that you might not even anticipate, but you go, you take the picture. But then when you’re taking the picture, they do something that you didn’t even anticipate. So maybe you react before that they act. And ⁓ it’s something I’ve been thinking about recently. I don’t know how it will develop. But I think I start to trust people to do things like weird things that I wouldn’t anticipate. Not even weird, but just things where.

Because I’m kind of convinced that people might surprise me more than I can imagine them to react. And shooting digitally, doesn’t cost anything just to try. obviously with this, I take a lot of pictures. So 99 % of the time.

some there might be someone coming and I might think maybe they will do something because they look interesting maybe there will be something and I might click and nothing happens and then that’s okay then I’ll throw the picture away and that’s okay but maybe one chance out of a hundred like with this girl they might actually do something which I hadn’t even anticipated like I wasn’t anticipating that the lollipop would be pink but I love this pink because it goes with the blue sky and

And it, yeah. Yeah, so it’s luck. I mean, it’s luck, ⁓ it’s created luck. It’s because you’re doing it all the time that your probability goes up.

Frederic Paulussen (29:19)

Yeah and the light hits it nicely so…

Yeah.

Exactly, yeah, it’s luck, but you’re lucky because you’re out there and you’re lucky because you know what might happen and you can anticipate those moments. yeah, is kind of street photography, there is kind of luck, but it’s also, as you said, created luck. If you’re not going out, you won’t be seeing as many interesting scenes. And so yeah, the…

it resonated with me that you mentioned the anticipation or that you think something might happen because I have some photos as well that I just shot instinctively and afterwards you see like that’s the patterns match up or the colors match up or the person did something that made it even better so it’s yeah sometimes ⁓ it’s

I’m not gonna say hoping for the best, it’s kind of similar to getting hoping for the

Laura LEIJNEN (30:33)

you

always have to hope for the best because otherwise you won’t get anything.

Frederic Paulussen (30:38)

No, true. And I also learned, and I think it’s the same with you, that you need to shoot a lot. So I followed a workshop last year, and I always, I think I’ve mentioned him in every episode so far, but they told me to, like, everything is interesting. So just photograph everything, and of course, yeah, at the end of the day, you have a card full of like…

it’s 900 photos of which five are good or useful but it’s the trying things out that makes those five happen as well. ⁓

Laura LEIJNEN (31:10)

Mm-hmm.

Frederic Paulussen (31:14)

And so, yeah, you mentioned being a teacher. I was, to me, like street photography is ⁓ a quiet, peaceful moment. And I can imagine being a teacher with all the kids is chaos. ⁓ So in one way, does it, and of course your photos, maybe I’m not gonna say they’re chaotic, but they’re in chaotic places and moments, I think. ⁓

Laura LEIJNEN (31:25)

He

Frederic Paulussen (31:41)

And so does that like, there a, do you find yourself gravitating towards, for example, I see some kids, but not always kids, to subjects because of your school, or is it something you shy away from because of school or?

Laura LEIJNEN (31:54)

no, not at all. ⁓ I mean, there’s no link at all, I think, between ⁓ me being a teacher and taking pictures of kids. There are some pictures of kids, but not that many. I try not to take ⁓ kids for the obvious reasons. But if there was a good picture, I will take it. That’s for sure. I’m not banning myself from.

from taking pictures of anything. So there no limits, ⁓ kind of. ⁓ The chaos in my class is okay. The pupils are good. So that’s okay. But I’m definitely, definitely attracted to chaos in the streets. I love it. The more people that are outside, the more I love it. for me, the best times in Paris is when there are events. ⁓

like the carnival or the new year or the fashion week or anything. ⁓ Just because that’s I love the crowd and I love the movement of the crowd and I love how we talked about probability before. Like obviously if you put the more people you put in one space, the higher your chances of getting a good picture. And I also love the fact that you can control anything. The more people that are moving, the more elements that are moving, the less you can control

the scene. And the less I control the scene, I think the more I like it. Because once again, I hope that people will do stuff which of which I didn’t think. Like, obviously, I tried to this seems like I don’t do anything at all. But I try to anticipate I tried to have some ideas in my mind and just, as you said, hope for the best. But I really, yeah, put all my faith in in in the people I take photos of to do.

something unexpected, something that doesn’t feel forced and something that feels genuine and authentic because they did it. And I’ve been playing, well, we spoke about this, think, before the interview about layering and chaos. And it’s something I have done a lot, ⁓ trying to get as many elements into the frame.

which is called layering because you add a layer on top of a layer on top of another layer. And it’s an absolutely thrilling ⁓ exercise experience because when everything lines up, it’s just incredible. If you got like, ⁓ this person is doing this. And at the same time, you’ve got this person entering the frame and then we got this person doing something. And it’s just magic. It’s all this adrenaline that you get when you press that shutter button and everything.

It’s right, it’s like, wow. But then, so I’ve been doing that a lot. but now recently, I feel like I have to step away from that because it was becoming… ⁓

I feel like layering can quickly become just an exercise, just something where it is, okay, look how many things I’ve been able to put into a frame and then, okay, so you’ve got many things going on into a frame, but what does it actually say? If, if it, is it just visually appealing? Is it just, okay, look what I, what I’ve been able to do, or does it go further than that? I mean, if, you have a series of something that you

Frederic Paulussen (35:15)

Mm.

Laura LEIJNEN (35:30)

And that is something that you need to convey a message. I think that is great. But if it’s just to show what you can do. So I’ve been trying to step away from that and asking myself, what do I want to shoot? And now I think my pictures have less layers in them. They still do, because it’s still something that will add something sometimes to the storytelling. ⁓

Frederic Paulussen (35:41)

Mm.

Laura LEIJNEN (35:59)

but not always. ⁓ So I still shoot a lot of chaos, but the chaos might not always be visible in the frame. Like I might be somewhere where it’s chaotic, but I might just benefit from this chaos, benefit from this ⁓ burst from this crowd just to get other pictures or just to heighten my chances of getting a picture.

Frederic Paulussen (36:27)

Yeah, that makes sense. Is it because it felt kind of like ⁓ a trick at some point, like just like a formula you could apply and then it worked and it didn’t feel like genuine or personal or yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (36:42)

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, exactly. Because you yeah, it became kind of a formula, kind of a ⁓ even kind of a game where you have this formula and you go, okay, I got four things into a frame. What if I can get five? What if I can get six? And, also because of I because of so many people who are doing it, I mean, no, obviously, no, like no offense and no, no, try not to judge, but the

Frederic Paulussen (36:44)

Okay.

Laura LEIJNEN (37:10)

whenever I see something that there’s so many people are doing, I don’t want to, I don’t want to do it anymore. feel like I cannot add something like it’s, I’ve been seeing it so much that I just cannot do it anymore. So I’ve been trying to, step away from that, but that doesn’t mean like probably pictures I’m taking now, also pictures that other people might be like, I’ve seen that before. So

Frederic Paulussen (37:19)

No, yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (37:39)

Sometimes you think you’re doing something new, it’s just new to you. It might not be new to other people. ⁓ But yeah, anyhow, when I see something too much, I will try to do something else. when that also happens, it makes me think of when, like I talked about the events when, there a lot of street photographers. And it’s funny because we’ve been talking about this with other street photographers and how we are always.

I’m surprised because we think that we will all end up with the same pictures because we were all in the same place. But eventually, because everyone is trying, is taking pictures of the same scene, you have to be more original. Like you have to think more and be like, OK, that person is trying, is taking, I don’t know, with the flash, that picture. And so maybe I will go for slow shutter speeds. I mean, now I’m speaking about technical things, but I know that this has forced me.

Frederic Paulussen (38:25)

Hmm.

Laura LEIJNEN (38:38)

to do sometimes something else, to take a picture differently, just because I’m seeing people shooting the same picture. And I’m like, OK, if I just stand beside them and I take the picture, will be exactly the same. So what can I do to make a different picture? And I think that’s a healthy competition as well. So yeah, I don’t know if that answered your question, but I can’t remember the question.

Frederic Paulussen (38:42)

Yeah.

No, no, I

kind of forgot the question by now to be honest, but it’s a good explanation anyway. So it made me think because I was at this event in Antwerp as well recently. But to me it was the reverse. Like I thought like, ah, this is such, I went into the event with an idea and I thought it was such a good idea. And then afterwards I did get a better shot, but I also saw all the other photographers at the event, like on their Instagram, I saw.

Laura LEIJNEN (39:09)

Yeah.

Frederic Paulussen (39:30)

that they ⁓ executed my idea that I had before. So it wasn’t an original idea, it was just the obvious one and I was too focused on it. it’s funny that it can work both ways ⁓ anyway. ⁓ And I was wondering, because you mentioned meeting up with street photographers a few times now, is that the community part a big thing for you or is it more something that just sometimes happens or?

Laura LEIJNEN (39:43)

Mm-hmm.

No, it is a big part. Well, it is and it isn’t. mean, more often than not, when I go out shooting, I shoot by myself. And that’s important because it’s my time as well. It’s my day off or afternoon off. And it’s really important for me to have that time off. And also, just to shoot. If you’re shooting on your own, it’s different than shooting. If you’re 10, that’s just not possible. ⁓

So when I shoot with people, might be, well, the best would be just be two or three other people. So with some friends, that is great. If the group is too big, sometimes that happens, but it’s, you know, that you will just end up just talking. You might not get any picture and that’s okay. And obviously, yeah, living in Paris or near Paris, there is a big street community and that is just amazing. I don’t think I would be.

Frederic Paulussen (40:47)

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (40:57)

here now if it wasn’t for that community. So there are some very, very inspiring people for sure. ⁓ There was a brand new ⁓ street, well, female street community as well. Now we’re just women in streets, France. So that is brand new. So very excited about that as well. ⁓ Shout out to all of them if they might listen.

⁓ And they have a big influence on me and they have a big… Well, it’s more than influence, it’s just they are friends and I know that there are some experiences that are even more important than photography if you catch up and you talk about, well, not only photography, but I think life. It’s just like, hey, do you want to hang out and drink coffee and just walk for three hours and…

we might be taking some pictures now, it’s so, it’s really nice and it’s very, I’m very lucky to have these people around me who can, yeah, who are there.

Frederic Paulussen (42:08)

That’s great, Yeah, it’s nice to have these community moments, I find, as well. And also because you can learn a lot from it and at the same time you can just… And it’s funny that you do these photo walks sometimes together. For example, with events, I do like being there together with a few people, as you said, but then you just go in yourself and you bump into each other sometimes, yeah. Because otherwise, of course, you’re more talking than photographing and it’s…

Laura LEIJNEN (42:28)

Yeah.

Frederic Paulussen (42:36)

Well, not a waste of time, but it’s ⁓ probably not why you’re at the event. ⁓ So you mentioned the women in street France. So I did add a question about it because it’s just like how important it is to you or is it useful to have these collectives because of course you can learn a lot from it. Did you find yourself…

experimenting with your photography because of because you mentioned doing longer shutter speeds for example if you see someone using a flash is that something that that pushes you to to to go further than joining those i’m not sure to call it a collective or group or whatever you want to call it yeah

Laura LEIJNEN (43:22)

⁓ I’m not sure I get the question, but ⁓ what I’m thinking about is, for example, flash photography. I didn’t use to shoot flash, but then seeing other people use it when I’m walking with them definitely made me get out of my comfort zone and trying it.

Frederic Paulussen (43:37)

Mm-hmm.

Laura LEIJNEN (43:50)

So when you’re walking with someone who uses flash and you see that people react OK to it, you go like, OK, let’s give this a try. And so that’s how I started out flash photography. Well, I don’t use a lot of flash, but now I know that if I want to, I can use it. And I will use it on the street if I need to, if something is in the shadow or if something needs to pop out. ⁓ And yeah, that really helped me.

I think that’s a big inspiration for me as well to see people take pictures. It might sound very obvious, just see how they do it and how they do it. It’s really like, OK, I can do this as well. And that goes for flash photography, any other techniques probably. didn’t.

Frederic Paulussen (44:26)

Yeah.

Basic, yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (44:47)

I didn’t know how to, I didn’t use zone focusing, for example, and that was a major difference as well when I switched to that because of a photographer who used it. And yeah, so I learned to use it and now I zone focus. I mainly zone focus or manual focus. And that helped a lot, yeah.

Frederic Paulussen (45:11)

Yeah, can imagine. I can imagine that’s been a very important technique for your style. ⁓ It’s funny, I tried flash photography one time, like two months ago, and as you said, people don’t really react to being flashed. To me, it was a surprise because I thought it was getting dark, it was snowing, so that’s why I used the flash, and I thought it was very obvious, but only one person noticed, it was because she was in entirely like high vis.

her coat. So when I flashed she like entirely pops like white. So that’s why she noticed. Yeah ⁓ it was a nice photo but that’s why she noticed and she just smiled to me and walked on. ⁓ So that’s yeah. To me it was surprise because I didn’t know her coat was made of the material. ⁓

Laura LEIJNEN (45:46)

That must be great!

Mm-hmm.

Frederic Paulussen (46:07)

But it’s yeah, it’s because you see people do these things exactly as you say, like on photo walks and workshops or just one to one ⁓ that can be very insightful. And that’s why I also do this podcast because sometimes just hearing someone speak about, know, like for example, you with the zone focusing and not being ⁓ too shy with people and not being too patient as well, which is something that I have, like you just walk.

can be like comforting like, okay, that’s I’m doing the right thing or maybe that’s that can be interesting to try as well. that’s definitely like interact with other photographers because street photography, always do this or usually we do this alone. ⁓ So it’s fun to interact. And so did you at first?

when you found out about street photographers, like let’s circle back to the start again. So you’re doing all this research on street photographers. Did you like dive in on YouTube? Did you Google for local communities or how did you then end up with the communities you’re in now?

Laura LEIJNEN (47:16)

I think at first there was a lot of videos. ⁓ I love the point of view videos where you see people shoot and walk at the same time. I was a big fan, I’m still a big fan of the channels of ⁓ Mike Chudley. ⁓ He’s probably the reason I got an X100MV because he was shooting at it at the time. ⁓ Now he’s with Leica so that’s another level, that’s something else. ⁓

Frederic Paulussen (47:25)

Yeah.

The next step for your investment.

Laura LEIJNEN (47:45)

Now I’m

OK. I’m disappointed. He’s now a Leica guy, another Fuji guy, but it’s OK. I still like his channel. ⁓ And yeah, the walkie talkies of Polly B. I’m big, fan of that as well. And then gradually, photo books as well. I absolutely love photo books. So I’ve got a lot of them. ⁓

Frederic Paulussen (47:56)

Okay.

Laura LEIJNEN (48:12)

There was a library in Paris where you can just sit down and flip through photo books. It’s amazing. They’ve got this, all these rare photo books, which costs so much if you want to buy them second-handed. yeah, photo books, definitely going on, well, listening to podcasts. love hearing ⁓ photographers talk about their creative process and then going on their website and discovering their work.

And yeah, that’s how I… But yeah, a lot of videos, a lot of photo books, a lot of magazines, a lot of reading, lot of… Just yeah, a lot of obsession.

Frederic Paulussen (48:58)

Yeah, yeah. I think that’s how a lot of us get sucked in. So I had a question, but now I lost it, which I do have sometimes. But was also, you’re not a Leica fan or are you not really just a joke or?

Laura LEIJNEN (49:15)

No,

it’s a joke. I really like the colors of it. I use a Kodak Chrome filter that I have as a preset. I do. I still added the raw version, but I apply the filter that I have. It’s always the same one that I will…

Frederic Paulussen (49:33)

Okay, and so you don’t really edit your photos in?

Okay.

Laura LEIJNEN (49:45)

I will change a bit if I need to, like the light and the shadows and the contrast. But yeah, it’s always the same preset. ⁓ And I tried shooting with a leica during a workshop. ⁓ I like the fact that you have the zone focusing in front of you. You can actually see it on the camera. Whereas on my Fuji, it’s on the screen. So that’s less easy. ⁓

Frederic Paulussen (49:51)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (50:15)

But I think that the Leica is very heavy. ⁓ I like my Fuji because it’s not as heavy to take around everywhere. ⁓ And for me, I like the Fuji colors. If Leica had something that I love more, I would take it. I think the most important is to have a camera with which you like to shoot and the pick-up ability.

How much do you want to pick it up and go out with it and shoot? And if it’s a Fuji, okay. If it’s a Leica, okay. If it’s phone, then okay. I think nowadays there are so many, like all cameras, probably like in technical terms, they’re all kind of the same. Nowadays, if you invest properly, you will have something that will produce good pictures quality-wise. So the main difference is just what do you…

Frederic Paulussen (50:53)

Sure.

Yeah.

Laura LEIJNEN (51:11)

like to have in your hands and what do you I like the buttons on the Fuji and you know it’s more manual I like that but it doesn’t it doesn’t matter it’s whatever you you like.

Frederic Paulussen (51:22)

No, true.

And so you mentioned earlier you used the 35 millimeter mostly. that just like because you have one lens and that’s the lens or did you try different lenses or?

Laura LEIJNEN (51:36)

Yeah, it’s the one lens I have and it’s the one I shoot the most with. I tried a 28 as well because I had a, well, I still have a Ricoh, a Ricoh GR, which is a 28. And I like the fact that it’s wider, so you can get more things into the frame if there are more things happening. And I thought I would like a 28 better, but for the moment, the 35 is perfect because I found myself even with the 28.

cropping a bit the image. So basically going back to a 35. So for the moment, a 35. Yeah. So for the moment, a big fan of a 35, but maybe later on I will go to a 28. Maybe I will go to a 50. Maybe, I don’t know. don’t know where it will take me.

Frederic Paulussen (52:08)

Yeah Made sense to just use a 35, yeah

Yeah, but I like that you’re a prime lens user as well because for me it’s like I have a 28 and a 40 millimeter and I depends on what I photographed like 40 millimeters more day to day and 28 is more for example for zone focusing or shooting from the hip kind of crowded events kind of stuff so it’s nice to hear that you’re as well of just like this is what I use and

Because to me it’s like you have people with zoom lenses and it’s crazy to me because you just get too many choices and I don’t shoot and…

Laura LEIJNEN (53:01)

Yeah, no, I felt that when I bought the Fuji, I needed a prime lens. needed something like only one lens. And because it’s very, to me, it’s very important to anticipate the frame. now I’m, well, I can’t say for sure this will be the frame, but I know approximately, okay, this will be into the frame. And that is just so important because it will, you will be quicker to take the shot. You will be.

Laura LEIJNEN (53:34)

better at taking the shot because you have already the frame in mind and it’s what you say as well. It’s well too much choice. It’s not good. I always say the same thing, which I have to get it in English, but I think it will be something like ⁓ creativity comes from constraints, creativity comes from limits. And so only having the 35 millimeter, it’s a limit. But because you only have that, you have to do something else.

Well, it’s not, no, say if I want to shoot something very far away, maybe I have to think about how I will shoot that or how I will do something with that. And it just, it helps you evolve and it helps, it clears your mind as well because you only have that option. So you’re not like juggling between, ⁓ what do I do? What do I do? It’s just, okay, you have that and you work with it.

And that also means that some shots, maybe you will not, you might not take some shots just because with 35, some shots are impossible, but that’s okay. That might be one shot in one year that you want to get. And that’s okay. I took a 35 millimeter because when I looked at the pictures I took with my, with my zoom, which was an 1855 millimeter, I realized that I was always hitting like somewhere in between.

So I was like, okay, why not just get a 35? And I might sometimes need an 80, but if it’s once in a year, that’s okay. I will just not take the picture and my life will still go on, you know?

Frederic Paulussen (54:59)

Exactly, yeah. So that’s maybe a good lesson to end on. It’s ⁓ constraints ⁓ are good for creativity. So thank you, Laura, for your time and insights. And then if, of course, if anyone wants to follow Laura, you can find her links in the description. Also make sure, of course, to follow the podcast on whatever platform you prefer. And feel free to share this podcast with friends who might be interested in ⁓ hearing about Laura’s work. So thank you.

Laura LEIJNEN (55:21)

Well, thank you very much. Thank you.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.