This was my first time doing street photography and I absolutely loved it. If you like watching people then you would too. I remember going to the mall as a kid with my parents and hearing that term, people watching, I was never sure why anyone would like to go to a huge mall with 50 plus shops to look around yet the people were the main attraction. As an adult with more refined tastes, I see the lure of it. For me it's the psychology of it all, who are they, what do they do, where are they from, how do they live, what are their beliefs. It's like a mystery that needs to be solved.
Take the photo below. This man stood out like a sore thumb. Not only was he huge with a jacked up body full of tattoos but he was carrying this bright pink blowup Crayola crayon and in the other hand he was carrying a blowup unicorn. I was so fascinated by him and the contrasts of the muscle bound, workout, tattooed, body builder with the soft heartedness of a dad that'll carry these things for his daughters. The picture doesn't show his daughters, which he had two and his body builder because the contrast is better if he is shown alone. The quality of the picture may not be the best but it gets you thinking about him and who he is and what he does. The mind instantly paints a picture of this mans life. Hard core yet soft like a hard bread with a tuff crust yet soft and buttery in the middle. Not sure if he would enjoy me calling him soft and buttery but that is the lure of people watching and better yet street photography. We can craft a story from each person and photo like a new book.
I actually wanted to approach this gentleman and ask if I could take some portraits of him with the blowups. I imagined him against a brick wall, crayon under one arm, unicorn under the other and a serious look on his face but I didn't have enough courage to do so. I regret not doing it because it would have been epic.
Some of my personal favorite subjects to shoot are kids. So full of expressions and energy. They hold nothing back. The picture below needs to be lightened up a bit but I spotted her about 20ft away in a crowd just doing her own thing by her mom. Taking pics of kids is tricky. This day in age everyone thinks you're a pervert or a child molester. Far from it, I think kids are a blank canvas with unlimited possibilities. Unlike the muscle man with his crayon, this child is too young for us to write a story about where she's been, instead we look at her and write an infinite amount of stories about where she is going. She has so much potential and we can see that and it tugs at our heart. Kids are so much fun to take pictures of. In adults you see the drama and harshness of life on their faces but children, hopefully, haven't gotten that jaded outlook yet and it shows. Children are a reminder of how we all could be if we just let things go and be free from it all.
Sometimes, a picture tells a story deeper than just muscles and crayons or a pretty painted face. For this next one I had a purpose for it. I was about 50 or more feet away from them. I was sitting on a bench like they were, looking around and observing when I saw them eating together. This was a BBQ festival in my hometown, in the south and I wanted to show the diversity of people outside how the media paints this horrible picture of race and division. They sat there for a good while and I watched as they laughed, ate and conversed.
In this next one, my wife and I were sitting on the sidewalk under an awning eating some fried potatoes when I saw the two of them standing to my right. I grabbed my camera and this is the result. In this picture, some of the story is missing. I saw some things that doesn't show in the photo. That's what's good about photography versus film. With photos you can get angles that leave off a ton of context, crop out surroundings and create your own story by getting one side of things. With this mom and son shot, we instantly think how sweet, how wholesome and it is. It takes us back to simpler times when families lined streets to see parades and events. You wonder what they are looking at. We could take this photo and use it during any holiday and say they are watching a 4th of July parade. Because this is an up shot, the street is not seen, so imagination or manipulations can be made. We could say these two are in San Francisco at a parade or in New York. They could be anywhere at any event. Angles and crops play an important role in telling a story with photos.
The thing I didn't get in this photo which may cause some to change the narrative of the story is the woman is tattooed on her right arm. It's a lot of work too and because tattoos carry a stigma behind them, not as much as before but they still do, the narrative changes, the story flips a bit. In some person's mind, the tattoos could create a poor reflection on the mom. In my angle though the mom is a hero for being there for her son. They are bonding and creating core memories. With the tattoos, the mom looks a bit rough and harsh. Of course this is by individual perspectives too. Another person may look at her tattoos as her being a self made and tough woman. We could go on and on. That's what's so good about photos. Constant stories erupt from them.
My second favorite people subject is the elderly. For the same reason's I like kids, the elderly rarely care about the issues of life. This woman below had a smile on her face the entire time I saw her. She had a walker and she walked all over with I assume was her son. She was one of those subjects I couldn't pass up.
In my mind, my first attempt at street photography was a success. Whether I got competition quality pictures or not, I had fun doing it. It got me exposed to the genre and I got some experience in an area I know little about.
Awesome news, Nikon, which I use exclusively, put their mirrorless Z7II camera on sale. They marked it down $1,000 so I pounced on the opportunity. My current Z5 has done a great job getting me into professional photography but this new one will advance my photos even more. It has double the megapixels which means a greater quality pic. Plus a ton more upgrades. As I was writing this UPS dropped it off. So excited to see how this new camera enhances my photos. Update and review to come.
As this Blog started off cataloging my path as a Christian and is now delving into photography, I often feel like I should include something in each post about my walk. My faith hasn't waivered at all. I know some would think spending time on the streets taking photos of strangers is waisted time when I could be handing out gospel tracts. However, I find handing out tracts and approaching people about God a waste of time as most people do not take talk as a form of facts. They must see to believe. We must walk in Him so we can show Him to the people. If we walk in Love as He is Love we will attract people to Him. We can't just walk up to someone and say God loves you and start quoting the Bible. We must walk as He walked, we must be kind and love one another and that is lacking in Christians in my opinion because walking it out is a lot harder than preaching it.
My thoughts and they are just thoughts currently, are to approach people in parks and in public spaces and offer to do free photos for them. I have to get a way to get those pictures to them in a timely manner but I think it would not only bring joy to people but it may help me to be that person who walks the walk.
To God Be The Glory Always.
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