154. Finding Compositions
Street photography is about anticipating the unexpected.
Rarely does a composition present itself fully formed as soon as you show up at a spot with your camera. Street photography isn’t about going to a destination that you know will provide a scene or event worth photographing. It’s about wandering until something catches your eye, or finding a spot with potential and waiting for the stars to align.
In street photography, you have to be in a constant state of anticipation without knowing what you’re expecting or hoping will happen. From the visual chaos of the urban environment, an interesting composition can come together for a split second at any moment, and you have to be ready to see and capture it.
Normally, we keep an eye on the movement of people and vehicles in order to spot potential dangers and avoid trouble. With a camera in hand, we search for and try to anticipate compelling visual collisions — we look for happy accidents.
What do you think?
I invite you to leave a comment below.
Thanks. As I continue my journey in Street Photography, I find that a single photograph is often insufficient to build a story, which is the component I value the most. That is not to say it cannot be done. I think the "greats" in this genre succeeded in doing just that. The visual impact created by the composition, colour and geometry are important but take second place to message. That often requires a connected series. Your first four photos are connected. For me, the fifth - less so.
Nice to see local input (albeit North and South Island). Walking the streets of Whangarei one tends to stand out with a camera.