A Critical Look at Street Photography

Image by: Humza Deas

Knowing the back roads, the old towns, and the highly populated areas like the back of your hand all contribute to potentially obtaining the maximum artistic quality in your images. Of course, it takes time to develop such awareness, something that can only come from an insane amount of walk time. In light of your hard work, you may become somewhat of a human encyclopedia, filled with all the answers to any questions one may have about the street you practice your craft in. The streets, no matter how captivating, have always been somewhat of the middle child when it comes to street photography. They are loved and everyone knows they are there, but their voices are seldom heard above all of those around them. I ask you to take time to go and give your streets center stage and become acquainted with every element within them. I am almost certain your photography will improve, alongside your patience and ability to analyze a scene. Ask any street photographer and they will tell you they have had times where they become completely stagnant. Tired of the same old scenes with the same old people, they may withdraw and in result not practice their art for extended periods of time. For me, spending time with the streets themselves rejuvenated my passion to work within them. Slowing down and looking deeper allowed me to notice things that I had never noticed before. I wanted to try looking at things from a different angle, I wanted to look deeper into the aesthetics of what makes up the streets. Rather than connect with people in the streets, I wanted to connect with the streets built by the people.

Ginn, Dan “Giving a Voice to the Voiceless: A Critical Look at Street Photography” ThePhoblographer.com 27, Aug 2018