I wonder if any of you street shooters remember that turning point, that moment, if you even had one, when you realise the magic of street photography.
Today I recalled that possible moment in my own journey. The image which surprised me at the time and gave me the green light for pursuing what I STILL find an incredible way to look at the world.
The world full of wonderful spontaneous moments which most people don’t see. When you can tell a story, bend reality, capture everyday beauty that we easily oversee.
The photo below was taken in March, 2011. It was the time when I just found a second hand Canon 450D, started to read Digital Photography Magazine and knew nothing yet about (street) photography.
The short story behind the image is that it was taken on the movie set. So don’t worry, the guy on the floor is very much alive… I was just observing the scene and was about to shoot when a flock of ducks entered the scene and made it even more interesting. I suddenly imagined that they were interacting as if they were on a run from the crime scene (possible witnesses or more…:)
I was pretty happy with the image as I realised that I could tell a story while bending reality and adding a bit of dark humour into it. Of course, luck is a huge part of it but that image gave me an enormous self confidence and motivation to continue searching similar situations.
Do you guys have similar experiences, i’m curious to hear your stories.
Thank you for being here again.
Yuri
yuri rasin photography 
Though I owned cameras from about 1978 on I could never consider myself a serioun amateur – just a holyday snapper. Until I bought a Fuji X100 in 2012 to replace my unused Canon 450D (hehe, same as yours!).
The Fuji did get some use but it’s ultimate goal was to get me back to film and film cameras. From there on I made some photographs I consider quite OK and I was hooked on working the streets.
Thank you Frank. Interesting how it took you a digital camera to go back to shooting film.
Guess Fuji missed their goal with me, haha.
i dont think they have. I think they served a great purpose because ultimately if not for fuji, you probably would not come back to film, right? 🙂
You are right! Sorry Fuji, and thank you very much!
Love this post. As a journalist and poet, I love storytelling. But I am also very visual. For me, the street is a place of stories. I think the main moment for me happened as I was walking through a park in my home city of Portland, Oregon USA. Sunlight was illuminating a homeless man asleep on a bench and it was both a sad moment and a beautiful moment. He looked so alone as people walked by not noticing and I couldn’t stop thinking, “He is somebody’s son.” As it’s been said, “The world is not made of molecules, but of stories.”
Thank you for sharing your moment and for visiting again 🙂
I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I think I had a few mini moments. Moments like being challenged to take a “vivian maier” style selfie, and just wanting to practice taking photos near my house when I first got my camera and not find anything “worth taking photos of” so I just took photos of people. But the real kicker for me (I think) was at a football match with a friend when I took a photo of a commentator. I shared it on a critique group and they said “wouldn’t it be more interesting if you could see his face”…then I was hooked! The challenge and the idea of the stories that a persons face could tell just roped me in. But as I say, I was already heading that way.
Fascinating, thanks for sharing your story Chris