It is an interesting thing to photograph on the streets of any city. I live in Vancouver BC and there are some places that I love shooting.
The beauty about a city is that it changes. Each day is different. This is certainly true in Vancouver. Street photography can feel strange though. Very often, I feel a little self-conscious. I feel that people are noticing my camera, they are noticing that I am photographing and maybe that I am trying to photograph them. This makes me feel a little uncomfortable. That’s not a bad thing, I think it is unusual to photograph perfect strangers on the street and feel comfortable about it. I generally try and photograph people who are not “camera aware” That means that they don’t see me trying to photograph them. I look for moments in the deluge of people on the street. I want to see their faces as they are lost in thought, I want to watch their walk as they are thinking about the meeting they are going to, I want to see their body language as they hurry across the street against the light. I love to collect moments. It’s not so easy. Sometimes I see a moment and as I lift the camera to shoot, it’s gone. Sometimes I anticipate something happening and it doesn’t, other times I see something happening and someone or something gets in the way. This is all part of street photography. This is what makes it so addictive. If it was easy to get great images every time, we would get bored, there would be no challenge. The truth is, its tough to get even one good shot on any day. Sometimes you might be a split second too quick, or a second too late and you miss it. Sometimes you see it happening and by the time you lift the camera to your eye… it’s gone. The important lesson here is to come back each day and keep shooting. Don’t give up, its never over. Each day, a new cast of actors and characters will spill into the streets and new scenes will be made, different scenes from the previous day. The characters will be in different outfits and the stories you capture will be unique to that day. I try and shoot every day. I try and find different places in the city to shoots each day too. The important thing is to get out there…and if you want, take some photos too.
