I always love photography. And one of its genre that i really became obsessed with is street photography. It started when I first posted an image of mine in social networking site and received plenty of likes and comments instantly. Voila! Since then i just found myself swimming in the sea of street photography.
It's quite amusing that i fell in love with this genre when many say that it is just a waste of time, money and effort to engage in it. Why? Well, i guess it's simply you don't make money out of it, yet you spend so much for for sophisticated gears. Needless to mention, your transportation and food expenses in going from places to places and waiting for hours and hours in street corners awaiting to capture that decisive moment in people's life.
I've never been happy since i discovered this genre. Today, what i'm thinking is all about street photography. Most of my time is spent on shooting, editing, blogging and networking on street photography.
For me, street photography is not merely taking photos. It's a great hobby, art, sport, medicine, storytelling, and most of all, an attitude.
An hobby. One of the most important thing i derive from street photography is fun---fun in shooting, fun in meeting people, fun in in travelling, fun in networking in social media, and fun in viewing at other's photographs. Indeed, i don't notice time passes by when doing street photography.
An art. Creating beautiful images and manipulating it based on what is floating on my mind is always my goal in street photography. Street photographs should always contain form, balance, and harmony, which are the essential ingredients of art, as in street photography. A sport. I consider street photography as a solitary sport where the players are you and your camera, and at the same time you are always in close contact with people. The challenge is limitless here and skill is very important. Your score is how many likes and favourable comments you got. A medicine. Street photography is also therapeutic. When doing it, i feel relaxation and euphoria, thus eliminating those emotional condition pervading in me. Likewise, walking is a good exercise.
A story-telling. I think street photography is less about what looks good and more about telling stories. Unless, an image possesses mystery, tension and meaning, it will have little or no impact on the viewers.
An attitude. More than anything else, street photography is an attitude, a mindset , a way of seeing the world. It is recognizing that beautiful and subtle stories are occurring in front to you in everyday of your life. Peace and love...
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Alexander MERCPhotographer and columnist @ EYE-Photo Magazine, based in Ottawa, Canada Archives
October 2015
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