PHOTO STORY

Street Photography Brings Us Closer to Humanity

The February photo story prompt on Picture This

Street musicians add depth and artistry to otherwise dreary streets but just look at all the people walking by who look like they could care less. Poor Roman! Trafalgar Square, London— All photos in the story were taken by me, JoAnn Ryan

It’s no secret that people seem to be increasingly becoming detached from one another. Forming connections can be difficult when we all seem to have a million hangups and judgements. We Americans tend to be the worst at this, too. Stuffy, repressive, wary — in our defense we do hail from a country with an odd number of psychos and sociopaths who enjoy their freedoms to inflict pain upon the masses. It’s just reality.

Perhaps this is just one of many reasons photography in general, and street photography specifically, can be so alluring as it often has the ability to stir up a lot of emotions that we both yearn for but are in constant short supply of — intimacy, connection and a sense of belonging when we often don’t feel like we belong to anything at all.

This is the power of street photography… to bring the world a little closer and close the human gap a bit.

Love seeing people enjoying sidewalk cafes. Not everyone is so detached from one another now, are they? Charing Cross, London

But do you really know what street photography is and all of what it encompasses? The answer may be surprising, especially as it doesn’t necessarily have to involve a street or people exactly.

I appreciated the explanation provided by Judit Ruiz Ricart in What Is Street Photography and 7 Key Tips to Get You Started:

“Street photography is a visual documentation of everyday life and society. It’s commonly referred to as a candid representation of humanity, however, a person doesn’t need to be in an image for it to be considered street photography. This type of photography takes place exclusively in public areas, albeit not necessarily on the street.”

Beyond this there can be much debate over the specifics. Some say simply pointing your camera at something in a public place and taking a photo isn’t what street photography is all about. However, I say this is a great place to start!

Like with this photo taken at the historic St. Pancras Train Station in London. I love just happening upon random musicians filling up the air…