'Street Photography Now'- Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren

'Street Photography Now' is a book written by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren. 

'Brings what many thought a tired genre bang up to date. Truly international, it will become the new defining guide to street photography.' Martin Parr.

This book presents 46 contemporary photographers noted for their candid depictions of everyday life in our streets, subways, shopping malls, beaches and parks. These include artists such as Martin Parr and Alex Webb. Compelling and often controversial issues are explored in 'a world where ordinary public spaces offer up endless surprises.' 

This book is not just a collection of photographs but it's a journey. It's full of documentations of different kinds of street photography and becomes a plethora of stories.  

The first page titled 'Stare, Pry, Listen, Eavesdrop' talks about how 'photographers are living in a digital society'. It's talked of positively however, as opposed to the '24/7' exhibition, saying that it makes the act of sharing much easier. Therefore art becomes a lot more accessible. But does that therefore make it less special? This is an interesting concept and could maybe be a theme for my street portraits?

Walker Evans is mentioned on the first page:

'Stare, prey, listen. Die knowing something.You are not here long'.

I love the clear narrative behind this photo. It's the sort of image you'd imagine to feel busy and cluttered but doesn't, purely because you're so focused on the man playing the accordion. He is in his own world, separated from his fellow commuters, and we can't help to fall into that other world with him. The way the train lights get more intense the further down the train you go, gives the photo an ethereal feel. It makes an otherwise mundane journey interesting. Also, the light bouncing onto the lens to create blotches is rather effective as again, it makes the image feel quite magical- like you're seeing something most be people don't get to see.

Idea Generation:

Location- Aldershot

To get comfortable with the prospect of going out and taking photographs of complete strangers, i did a small test shoot just around Aldershot. I didn't intend for these to be portraits at this point, i just wanted to build confidence for when i did my actual shoot.

Siegfried Hansen

'To see the complexity of life on the street is for me a kind of meditation'

I came across this quote on page 75 of 'Street Photography Now'. I feel like it's relevant to the shoot i carried out (above) because that was my experience of it also. Stumbling across a moment you didn't expect and then managing to capture it is such a fulfilling feeling. You become aware of the little quirks and absurdities of life through watching these people and it's comforting to see how normal it is. It's just people getting on with their everyday lives but the way you capture that and compose it makes it so much more interesting. For my actual shoot however, i need to focus more on the composition of the image and not just take it without really any thought/motivation behind it.