Street Photography. Behind the Photo No6. Shades

Shades: Oxford Street, London

Part 6 of Behind the Photo. Pulling apart my very own street photography and seeing how it comes out after a thorough grilling by MYSELF. Exceptional, good, mediocre or absolutely awful and most importantly WHY? 

 This photo was taken after a Street Photography hiatus of a few months. It is a kicking the ball around the park experimental sort of photo trying new things beyond silhouettes and light and shadows and blur and that high contrast look. 

Too many people doing this now, so time to look at other styles that can be woven into my current aesthetic. You have to keep evolving in your work. Be the pioneer…......not the follower! An exercise in randomness? 

 So what have we got here in this photo?. Original out of camera. A complete mish mash of three women with shades and a vehicle charging through the frame looking like it's going to run everybody over. Is that her or her sister following or friend? That's it. 

Not exactly high contrast, not really pin sharp, slightly vintage filmic look but modern day vibe. One of about 40 photos taken within minutes in a vortex of people, cars, buses, cyclists and the rest. A constantly changing scene, never the same from one second to the next. Taken Central London in the W1 postcode. 

I personally don't know what to make of this photo but I keep coming back to it for some reason. Maybe a new direction I am heading in……..maybe not? Lets put it under the griller! 

 Basics Date Taken: 9 August 2024 

 How was it taken? Camera pointing half at reflection half not. 

 Camera Used: Olympus EM5 Focal Length: Vintage MF 55mm lens (radioactive) which on M4/3 is 110mm FF equiv 

 Weather Conditions: Incredibly bright and sunny 

 Positives: 

 Composition: Unconventional and random composition. I don't see anything going on here as in rule of thirds or symmetry or anything else BUT it is balanced which is important in a photo. The eye for me is drawn in reverse, woman looking on right, woman behind vehicle then up. Good or bad? 

 Rule of odds? Yes. Single Vehicle. 3 women with sunglasses. 

 Layering: Some layering vertical and into the frame but limited. 

 Connections: Yes sunglasses or shades is the connecting factor between these three women but apart from that not much else hence the title. 

 Story: We have something going on here some interaction of sorts but it's all very random and head scratching in nature. 

 Street or Fine Art Street?: Yes this is definitely a street photograph with just a dash of abstract not really in the realm of Fine art Street Photography but possibly at a stretch. 

 Context: Has a bit of a London vibe but then again it could be New York or Paris? 

 Technically: Vintage lens ever so slightly soft look….. verging on filmic. No sharp and shiny here! 

 Lighting and Tonality: Despite the dramatic lighting this is a low to mid contrast photo. Moderate tonality. Not an attention grabber for an Instagram feed? 

 Mood: Lack of trademark moody drama in terms of lighting, but the photo has drama going on in a different way none the less........ with what is going on within the frame. 

 Subject? For sure it's the woman looking at the camera but she is at the end of the frame not the beginning. Does it make the photo or hamper it? You normally read a photo like a book from left to right but this one your eye is drawn to her then you go from right to left???

 Negatives: 

 Undisturbed scene?: Not staged BUT Subject is totally aware of me taking the photo with that "I see you" look BUT has it ruined the scene or does it actually make it? Is it a fail in PURE Street Photography terms? Many of the Masters would say it is.....some would otherwise shrug their shoulders? 

 What is the photographer trying to say here????? Not quite sure???? It's abundantly clear he likes women but beyond that what is is the photo saying? Question mark over the vehicle in the frame? Would the photo be better without it….. or does it add to the randomness and add extra tension? 

 Subject (woman looking at camera) drifting out of the frame? She is slightly cut off. Sometimes adds to a photo in regards to edginess ………… a lot of the time it doesn't and is frowned upon by photo purists? 

 Summary 

 On first viewing this photo on the back of the camera the initial response was this is an absolute "banger". After what I call enduring the "photo marination process" a couple of weeks on the hard drive and looking again........ "banger" or "awesome" are not the words that spring to mind but it does have something going on.

One of those head scratching experimental photos that you keep coming back to thinking this may or may not mark a change in direction. OR maybe an additional style or technique to be added to my now normal shadow and silhouette, high contrast moody drama BnW repertoire? 

 There are elements of Saul Leiter at play here, but this is not a photo he would take. Possibly Ernst Haas? It's not even a photo I normally take which is all the more interesting? It's certainly not your somebody walking down the road sort of street pop shot. It's quite complex not in an Alex Webb way but in a random sort of way, but that does not necessarily make it a good photo? 

 MY RATING: If a master photo is a 9 or 10….. I really have no idea how to rate this one. I would say somewhere between 6/10 and 8/10. A random photo with a random rating but that has something going on…… that I still can't put my finger on and I keep shaking my head at........but for some reason I really do like it and I keep returning to it. 

 High Contrast Fine Art Street Photography which is proving popular will carry on regardless but this photo certainly has me thinking how it can be adopted as an additional style. Leave your comments below. Utter garbage, just another mediocre also ran street photo like 90% of them out there…….. or wow this is really something else and you should take more of these?????