Disclamer: All those featured in this article have given their content.
X-E5: Street Photography x Dawn Eagleton
UK-based street photographer Dawn Eagleton hits the streets of London with the FUJIFILM X-E5
“I’ve always been interested in portraiture, but what I’m really fascinated by is photographing people as they are, in their natural state,” begins Dawn Eagleton, a street photographer based in the UK. “I find there’s real beauty in our innate expressions and demeanour.”
Finding the right subject is a key starting point for any street photographer – and they’re all searching for different things. “What I generally look for is character,” Dawn explains. “By that, I don’t mean larger-than-life individuals; I’m looking for the smaller details that make us who we are.
“Character can often be confused with eccentricity. It’s easy to spot someone who’s in a loud outfit or a big hat. I’m trying to look beyond that and see the finer details in everyday people going about their day – the peeling corner you can pull away to reveal something that may not have immediately presented itself to you.
“It can be anything from the way somebody is holding an expression to the way they’re standing – all the little nuances that may give something away about who they are. Over the course of several years of creating these types of candid portraits, I came to realise that my aim is to unveil the beauty of everyday people having unguarded moments.”
The window to the soul
Equipped with the FUJIFILM X-E5, Dawn spent some time exploring London in search of characterful subjects. This discreet rangefinder served as a perfect companion for her style of image making.
“It’s such a lovely, small, lightweight camera,” Dawn enthuses. “I was excited to see how it felt from that perspective. When you’re a street photographer and you’re walking around for hours on end, it’s so important to have something that doesn’t weigh you down.”
The 445g X-E5 features top imaging specifications – including a 40.2-megapixel X-Trans CMOS 5 HR sensor and X-Processor 5 – enabling professional functionality in spite of its small profile.
“It performed brilliantly,” Dawn confirms. “I found it a joy to use. Whenever there was an opportunity where I had to act quickly, it didn’t let me down.”
What’s striking about a lot of Dawn’s work is that her subjects often appear to stare straight at the camera. “When I started making photographs of people, I wanted to ensure they were as candid as possible,” she recalls. “But what I realised as I went along is that I love eye contact. It offers the viewer an opportunity to connect with the subject.”
The complication, she points out, is that she needs to release the shutter before her subject has put their guard up. “As soon as someone sees a camera, their demeanour will change,” she explains.
“People often ask me: ‘Is the photo candid if the subject is looking into the lens?’ But most of the time – when I’ve made a photo of someone looking directly at me – it’s the first moment they’ve looked up to see what I’m doing stood in front of them. It’s a very short window between them consciously being aware that I’m there, but before they’re aware I’m holding a camera.”
The X-E5 is the perfect tool for photographing such opportunities, combining lightning-fast, AI-powered subject detection autofocus – courtesy of X-Processor 5 – with an in-body image stabilisation (IBIS) system offering up to 7.0 stops of benefit.
“Sometimes in street photography, you need to be quick at responding to something,” Dawn notes. “Having IBIS is a godsend because it means you’re less likely to miss the moment. When you’re trying to be quick and you’ve got a small camera, sometimes you just need to use it with one hand – and the stabilisation can give you that extra security to get the photo.”
Interchangeable-lens rangefinder
With its rangefinder aesthetics, professional performance and carefully considered ergonomics, the X-E5 treads similar ground to the iconic FUJIFILM X100VI – but with one difference that’s crucial to Dawn: the ability to change lenses.
“This is ideal for street photography. It’s a great size and weight – perfect even. But then there’s the fact you can put different lenses on, so you can use whatever your favourite focal length is. You’ve got the digital teleconverter if you want it, but if you need to, you can carry two or three lenses and give yourself options.”
Just like the X100VI, the X-E5 leverages its massive resolution to offer digital teleconverter options – cropping in on the sensor for 1.4x and 2x digital zoom.
“I’m a steadfast prime lens user – all the way,” Dawn notes. “I have a focal length I tend to stick to; it’s just how I view the world. For me, making images at 35mm feels natural. However, sometimes you’re in a position where you need to get closer – especially with portraits – and the teleconverter enables you to do that without having to switch to another lens.”
Brand new to the X-E5 is the Simple View Mode setting, which unclutters the EVF display for a back-to-basics photography experience. “When you’re looking through the EVF, it looks exactly like what you would see in an old film camera with the exposure information in neon-red,” Dawn explains. “It adds an extra element of style. That’s something Fujifilm are great at doing – developing the experience for the user.
“It’s probably my favourite little addition,” she continues. “I’ve recently started using old analogue cameras again just for the joy of it, so seeing this feature on a new digital Fujifilm camera was lovely. It makes it feel fun. I would definitely have that setting on all the time.”
Updated Film Simulation dial
“Fujifilm have always been great at designing cameras that are really beautiful,” Dawn suggests. “What they’ve done with the X-E5 is added an aluminium top-plate. It makes it feel solid – like a real quality piece of kit.”
Embedded within this top-plate is a newly designed Film Simulation dial, which displays the currently selected profile through a window in the top. There are also more settings for storing custom Film Simulation recipes.
“The fact the Film Simulations are easy to access meant I was much more inclined to switch between them,” Dawn notes. “I’ve used Fujifilm cameras before where I haven’t done a lot with the in-camera simulations, so it was good to have such easy access and discover how each one looked across the different scenes I was photographing.”
“I’m not someone that overly post-processes,” Dawn shares. “I like to tinker with the colour and a few elements of the light, but other than that it’s important to get it right in-camera. I don’t like to spend more than a few minutes editing each photo – and having the right Film Simulation in place can reduce that editing time even further.
“If you have to go into a menu to access these things, you’re less likely to give it a go – whereas when it’s on the top, it’s easy to use while the scene is unfolding in front of you.”
Endless opportunities
In combination with her favourite lens, the X-E5 proved to be the ideal tool for Dawn’s unique brand of street photography – the perfect balance of performance and petiteness.
“The size of this camera is spot on,” she exclaims. “I’ve used some of these smaller, pocketable cameras, and they don’t quite make you feel like you’re getting so much of the classic photographer user experience. This is a nice bridge between those and something larger. It felt amazing in my hands – very solid. I genuinely enjoyed using it.”
It evidently works perfectly well for street photography, but Dawn suggests that this camera will find appeal among a wide range of image makers. “It’s so compact, but then you can just put whatever lens you want on it,” she points out.
With its high-resolution sensor, 7.0 stops of IBIS and the full complement of X Series lenses to choose from, it’s a viable option for any genre of photography.
“Having a camera like this would suit a lot of different photographers’ needs. If I wanted a compact camera to take with me travelling, it’s definitely something I’d consider,” Dawn concludes. “It’s a high-performing, beautiful little camera and definitely fun to use. It’s one of those cameras that just does what it says on the tin – with some surprising little extras.”
Disclamer: All those featured in this article have given their content.
