Monomad: Shooting the streets

I don't usually photograph people, but I have found that the more I get out, the more I am fascinated by individual stories and capturing the little moments that do feature people. These are often photographs that I feel hold a bit more of a cinematic perspective still, not really portrait photography, but that style of street photography that has you running around and in search of something. I love noticing minor details in the city, certain poses and angles of standing. The actions and gesture that can be found. I think some of this interest came about with the pursuit of art, learning to draw and understanding those fundamentals a bit more, something that has translated a bit into my photography as a result. I try not to photograph too many people at once though, unless I can find a way to incorporate those larger crowds into something that provides depth to the image.

I find a lot of interest in capturing depth. Using objects and an environment to give some disconnect between the location and the person. Using the ways in which bokeh and depth of field can influence an image. I think a lot of this also came from watching a ton of films over the years.

Still some of those fundamentals make their way into images, the ways in which lines or objects can direct attention through an image. The use of strange objects and jobs that show a different story of life to the audience. So often do we walk through a city and not see the moments of others. We fail to recognise the stories and events that lead to societal and environmental change. Construction workers, city planners, and the law enforcement. Even the boring looking business types that walk through the city void of emotion. I find it all interesting, sort of like a Synecdoche, New York sort of connection. That interest in life and the moments that pass by us. That theatrical approach to it all that we all tend to miss as we get caught up too much in our own little stories and moments of drama. I don't think I was always this way, perhaps a lot of it all shaping over time as I grow up and mature, as well as discover cultural and artistic influences that seem to attract my emotions and attention.

That's how it is for us all, I guess. Starting off a bit naive and dumb, slowly shaped by discovery and the things that give us something to live for with each new day that comes.

These were taken throughout the day, a lot of exploration and discovery of new places. The finding of book stores, cafes, having picnics outside in little parks. Even now as I type this, I sit and overlook a city event that celebrates an artist. Jazz music and short films play in the distance, surrounded by the crowds of others. The noise that comes with endless discussion and life going by. The sun slowly disappearing behind the buildings, bites starting to appear on my hands as I become an insects dinner. I think times in which we sit still and look around are important to us, observing and feeling a bit isolated and disconnected from it all. To see things from another perspective, while also finding similarities in those that pass by. It's funny, because today I felt a little uninspired with the camera, feeling less like I would take any images, not really noticing much that stood out to me at first. But at some point that changed, like I woke up a bit and felt that inspiration return. Now preparing to get back up and continue.

It ended up being great fun, and I thought of new ways to take the photographs once I get the adapter for my Helios lens. Utilising the unique swirly bokeh it offers. I have loved the 85mm lens as of late, this focal length really changing how I interact with my surroundings given I don't have to get so close to subjects. I love wider focal lengths, but I feel the limitations sometimes when it feels like you miss out a bit on the finer details, feeling a bit more distant to the subject. I love creating things in different ways though, to find use in all focal lengths and see how they can be used with different styles. Photography is that one thing (providing you have the money) that you just can't get bored of, with it being something that you can always do, always find something to capture sooner or later. Even if you have that aforementioned slight block that I did today. Focal lengths are a fun way to mix things up, lenses being tools that change the way the world looks before you, challenging you to shoot something and capture it in the most creative way you can.

I'm running out of SD card space, actually. Taking hundreds of pictures almost every day and rarely having the patience to clean them up and delete the ones I don't use, because I tend to use most of them, not wanting to delete anything. My laptop harddrive also running out. For me these are moments of life I want to keep, to maybe do something with. Going beyond just travel pictures and more capturing a moment in time. We are take pictures, we all capture time, and it's interesting to think of how many of these images will still be lost.