The Other Story in Street Photography
It is good to be back after taking a four week sabbatical from writing the blog. In the 72 weeks of continuous Thursday publications, I have covered many topics. It is getting harder and harder to find new topics. I pondered on that problem during the fours weeks that I took off. I have decided that I will not resume weekly publication, but rather bi-weekly publication on every other Thursday. The first week in the month will be about the story of taking a picture. The third week of the month will be a traditional topic. At least, that is the plan right now.
I often look at a street photo and wonder about how the photographer came to take that particular picture. If it is a close up, I can’t help but think about whether there was a verbal transaction exchanged, either before or after the picture was taken. If it is an unusual point of view, I try to imagine what the photographer did or where the photographer was to get that point of view. I am interested in the “other story” of a photo. That is not the technical merits of the image or the what story the image itself suggests but rather the story of the photographer’s experiences and mindset that particular day.
My hope is that that some photographers will be willing to share their stories about a photograph. I do not really have a model for this kind of blog. I imagine it will get clearer as stories are posted. Here are some things that could be potentially included:
What were the circumstances that you were out shooting that day? Some possibilities for me are:
This is my regular weekly photography outing to some place in Nashville.
I am traveling and there are special circumstances around the shoot.
A festival or some other kind of event has me out.
I am walking the street of NYC.
I am out because of a workshop.
Did you go with the mindset of taking a particular photo?
In Nashville I might be trying to add to my project on Nashville Playing, which is how people enjoy the Nashville music scene.
In NYC I might be trying to incorporate street art or graffiti.
Make some observations on the technique you used to get the photo or the challenges of getting the photo.
What pleased you about the photo, with an eye to giving a tip on taking a street photo?
Here is my first story:
This photo was taken in late December of 2019. I had recently returned to Nashville from the Miami Street Photography Festival anxious to try out things I learned in Vineet Vohra’s workshop. I have promised myself that when I am in Nashville, most weeks I will go downtown to shoot street street photography on Broadway, Nashville’s short, but famous, Honky Tonk street. I was anxious to continue my newly learned practice of shooting with a 24 mm focal length and a fixed manual focus. I knew I would have to shoot reasonably close to my subjects. The question was whether I would try to be a stealth photographer or man up, in my case, woman up, and put that camera to my eye and get the photo.
The street where this picture was taken is a connector street from the place where I park and Broadway. I use it as a warm up before shooting on Broadway. It is not so crowded, so it can be a little easier to see a potential photo. The downside is that it is fairly obvious when you take a picture. There is not much chance to hide.
At first, I practiced the fine art of turning and shooting by shooting into unoccupied store windows. This is a necessary skill to get many of the shots on Broadway because there are a lot of interesting things going on in doors and windows of the bars. I was also taking pictures of people coming towards me. I found that if I was only photographing one person I could be brave and put my camera to my eye. If there was more than one, I clutched and used the touch screen. The touch screen pictures are never as good, because it takes longer to take them. Often the moment is gone.
I was quite pleased with my bravado in taking this picture. I was walking down the sidewalk when I saw the woman coming out of Dick’s. I turned, put my camera to my eye, took the picture and marched on. There are some things that draw me to the picture. There is some similarity in the body position of the woman and the statue. They seem a bit connected. There is some layering.
I did not take any brilliant pictures that day, but I convinced myself that I can do what Vineet encouraged me to do. Sadly, I have not gotten back to Broadway since then. Christmas, a trip to Central America, a wedding and a photography talk in N.C. followed by the great pandemic has kept me from my weekly trip to Broadway. But I am ready. Oh boy, am I ready.
Exercise
Do you have a story you would be willing to tell about one of your street photographs?