I was on my way to work yesterday and I saw a man sitting on the side of the street. He frequents the area and from his clothes it looks like he might be destitute. He looks away and I take a photo of him.
This isn’t how I pictured street photography. When I started photography I wouldn’t have taken the photo above. Pointing a camera, even my phone camera, at someone was a no-no. I erected barriers in my mind and all the questions where focused on negative outcomes.
What if they saw me? What if they started arguing or shouting?
Then I started adjusting my approach. If you look at some of my earlier photos I used to do the “back of head” shots. For a while I enjoyed this type of photos. It was “safe”. None of the stuff I mentioned above. Felt a bit weird sometimes but I took good photos.
I’m not a big people person but people interest me. What they do, what they think. I’ve mentioned this before on my Substack: I can sit and watch people for hours. I just sit there and see things happening around me.
Many of my better photos are taken around coffee shops where people sit down and become unaware of their surroundings. They read, they browse their phones or they just don’t pay attention.
I’ve done a few shoots with people, two or three with models, a few inside a gym and although these photos turned out great they aren’t really about people.
They (to me) are about people pretending to be something. A model. A personal trainer. Someone who wants to show the world something they aren’t. And there’s nothing wrong with this idea. You portray in the photo what you want to. I’m just a messenger in this instance. I take what I see and I put it on sensor through a lens. My photograph tells you the story.
But photographing people who aren’t aware or who aren’t paying attention street is different. The people I see are real versions of themselves. It’s the person going to work or coming home after a tough day. The homeless guy walking the streets. Standing in front of a tuck shop looking after cars hoping someone gives him some money or food. This is one of many stories I’ve seen. One of many moments I’ve captured.
Is it like the street photography I see online? The mist / smoke filled streets of NY? Or the neon light filled streets of Tokyo?
Not at all.
For years I thought “I am so disappointed in my work because it doesn’t resemble what I see online“. Until I started looking at what I take photos of. I connected this with what I find interesting. That’s what photography is about to me.
I’m not a big people person. But I find people interesting and I’m glad I find interesting people in front of my camera at times.
Thanks for reading : )