Jochem Schmidt

I live on Long Island, New York
I prefer film photography and am glad to see it making a comeback.
My choice of film is Tri-X400 using a Leica M-2 with a 35mm lens. I develop the film myself and make silver gelatin prints on fiber base paper of my best photos.
In this digital age craftsmanship and skill are superfluous. The only thing that counts is individuality and genuineness.
Basically it takes a long time and commitment to become a good photographer; it doesn’t happen overnight.
I walk the streets of New York. Central Park, Midtown, Lower East Side, Harlem, Brooklyn, Coney Island, anywhere one finds all kinds of people going about their daily life. I just like to look at people. There is nothing more fascinating than human beings and how they behave with all their various manifestations, like posture, facial expression, gesture, movement and voice. They all express something that betrays their inner little world if you know how to see. Many people these days are forgetting how to see life being expressed by their fellow men. They are constantly fiddling with their electronic devices and miss the beauty of life right in front of them.

All the best work of any artist must have some mystery. Life is everywhere, but rarely does it come to complete expression.