On Being Able to See in Street Photography
I am fairly certain that there is whole lot of street life that yields nothing more or less than “reporting” photos; snapshots, if you will. I know this is not what I want to photograph. I want to take photos that will spark your curiosity, create a mood, access a memory, or cause you to wonder about something you see in the image. Is that happening regularly out on the street? I believe that it is. It is just a matter of seeing it.
Which is not to say that I am seeing it. Seeing is truly the last big frontier that I have to conquer. I know what I want to take. I more or less know how to take it. Now the problem is seeing it to take it.
In recent blogs I have hinted that I am trying to figure out what kinds of things I might do to improve seeing in street photography. Some things border on the absurd, like facial pareidolia. Yes, I am out looking for faces in all kinds of things. Today I had a neighborhood spotting of a profile of Elvis Presley from a water pattern on pavement. Good work, water sprinkler system.
I think the setting of challenges really might be helpful. For me, and I would guess for many of us, I see way too much. With so much visual data coming in, I cannot narrow it down to what might actually be interesting. When I went to the Williamson County Fair, I anticipated that this would be a problem. I decided to concentrate on how parents were experiencing their children’s day at the fair, and specifically on rides. I had some success. I am going to try that challenge again at the Wilson County Fair this week.
There are a couple of other ideas to further seeing, that I have come across.
Start each photo walk by taking pictures in your mind before you start taking pictures with your camera. It is a good practice to regularly take mind pictures. I think I can do this.
Take a video that is at least 5 minutes long as you walk around. Review it at home to see what you might have missed. This is not going to happen for me, but for some photographers it might be very helpful.
In a short walk, look for 5 interesting details like a tattoo on someone’s arm, or an interesting reflection on a car window. Make the same walk a second time and find five different interesting details. I apparently need to do this. My first walks were big failures in seeing.
Practice looking 25’ ahead of you, so you can better anticipate something interesting that might happen. This is something else that I can do. The last couple of times I was out, I was looking ahead, but with no particular success. I am going to keep trying.
Change perspective by looking up or down. Or better yet change perspective by getting down or climbing up. At this point in my life, it is not really in the cards for me to either climb up or get down, so I am going to have to be satisfied with looking. One of the components of the rating model for street photography recognizes the interest shadows add to a composition. It is pretty easy for me to look down for shadows.
This borders on being a type of challenge, but look for shape, texture or form. When I went into the Pavilion at Williamson County Fair, I was really struggling until it started raining. As soon as I saw the texture of the rain as I looked out the window, I was able to snap to attention and get at least two kinds of shots.
Follow the footsteps of William Eggleston and take photos that make everyday things interesting. Honing your skill to see what other people do not see, strikes me as a way to increase your creative seeing. I rarely venture outside of street photography, but I think this is a great idea. This I can do!
Right now, I am in a bit of a psychological slump relative to my photography. All I know to do is to keep trying different things to expand my skill set.