This showcase series features the Copenhagen street photography of Thomas Toft, a talented young photographer from Denmark.
Thomas spoke to us about his photographic beginnings:
I’m pretty new in the world of photography. I started shooting about a year ago. I have always thought that it was fascinating what you could do with a camera, but never took the time to find out how to do it.
Once I started shooting, I just could not stop. Whenever I get an hour or two of spare time, I either turn on the computer and check out Flickr or take my camera gear and go shooting.
It’s like mental therapy for me. I love how every season can contribute to the photography like rain, snow, light/shadow, flare, clouds, etc. I love to rediscover my own city through the lenses.
What inspires you as a photographer?
I use both Instagram and Flickr and find a lot of inspiration from there. The most important thing for me is to use my imagination, try different things and use what the city has to offer, such as people, architecture, posters, puddles, reflection in glass etc. Just trying to find different perspectives.
Could you tell us about this Copenhagen street photography series?
Copenhagen is a really cool city to live in and for street photography because it has so much to offer. Sometimes when I go shooting, I have an idea I want to try out or a specific place I want to go to or I just take my bike and see what I find.
The most frustrating thing about street photography in Copenhagen is that people are too polite. Whenever they see a camera they stop because they are afraid, that they are going to ruin the picture by blocking some of it of by being in it, completely unaware that they are the main motif I am interested in.
What equipment do you use for your street photography?
I have two cameras. A Canon 7D and a Fujifilm X10. The 7D was the first one I bought. I love that camera and its endless possibilities. But it also has its downsides.
It’s relatively big and heavy and you can hear when the shutter goes down, so its hard to be discreet with it. So after a while a bought my X10. It’s small, silent, good for ”under cover” shooting and easy to bring everywhere. Since I’m so new to the world of photography, I’m not that good at Photoshop. I’m still learning bit every time I use it.
I mainly use Snapseed, which is a far simpler program with far fewer possibilities. But what you see is what you get and I kind of like that. It really is the shooting aspect of photography I’m interested in – not the editing afterwards.
You can see more of Thomas’ work on Flickr or connect with him via Instagram.
Photophique has express permission to publish these images and Thomas Toft retains full copyright to all photographs featured in this showcase series.
I found Thomas when searching Flickr for street photography taken with the x10 and loved his photo stream. Cool to read this interview, makes me want to grab my camera and just go out shooting 🙂
Some very imaginative and creative images … great black and white work!
Thanks a lot to Photophique and Tom for this showcase and thanks Alibion for the kind words!! Really appreciate it!!
You’re welcome Thomas, excellent street series.
What a lovely set of shots and a really healthy attitude display here by Thomas. Great shot mate and your attitude to shooting and the street is one I relate to strongly. Great stuff.