The Framelines boys were discussing a complex layered photo and it got me thinking. Is that real? Is this real life? Are we looking at an unstaged organic street photo, or are we looking at a composition?
The one in a million framing, a man looking at the camera, perfectly balanced, makes me doubt it is organic. Same doubt about the old classics. Alex Webb. Were the subjects positioned?
My stance: street photography should be capturing real life in real time. I want to go out and shoot natural, honest, organic street photos.
So I ran an experiment. Two hours hunting layered scenes, some on the Ricoh GR III at 28mm. Then I critiqued my own photos as my own worst critic. None of them are staged. I promise.
The cafe scene: layered but unbalanced. Not that great. The reflection scene: too heavy on the right, and a woman caught me shooting. The bench sitter framed between passersby: six out of ten. The GR III wide shot of a man serenading a woman: weighted wrong, I wished for 40 or 50mm. The mannequins and disco ball storefront: my favorite, almost directly out of camera, I lifted her shadows slightly. A soft 1/160 shot of a pregnant woman and a baby cart. A backlit bearded man I chased down, but the old man and son lack separation. A backpacker versus a Mac truck: not going in any collections. A restaurant with an umbrella pole obliterating the people. A red themed restaurant with multiple layers: not terrible. A cowboy at coffee. A marble reflection. A tie dye guy with too much distance. A woman and son entering the frame. An old man and son where the wheelchair light is too hot. My top three legitimate street scene: a woman on the phone, two with coffee, lift the face shadows. An orange shirt passerby. A typical foreground guy.
The one in a million shots are just that. They are just luck. Getting out will help you find that luck. So: luck, not lies.
What do you think?
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