First contact
The creative type, aka all of humanity, craves two things: survival and self-actualization. So when I was stuck at home during 2020, I was in the perfect moment to find a new HOBBY. Golden letters, mystical halo, the perfect object of my obsession. And that’s what Street Photography became for me, a rabbit hole of YouTube videos that connected two innermost parts of my brain with each other and gave me a new and shiny interest to pick up semi regularly, with varying degrees of intensity over the years.
That’s how I found Roman Fox’s videos, and started to follow his Instagram account, screenshot his images on stories as part of my collection of prized digital records, and eventually subscribe to his newsletter and, upon its release, purchase his “Little Photography Book” as a way to both support his work, but also gain some perspective for my photography quests, as I like to see them.
Who is Roman Fox?
Roman Fox is a Photographer from the UK that became known online for his Street Photography series, but he has expanded his interests into Travel and Landscape Photography. But what makes Roman special, other than his images, is his no nonsense attitude and open disposition. His videos have this realness that I find, quite frankly, inspiring.
Instapretty vs Street Photography
In a decade, we’ve gone from the minimalistic beautiful and heavily edited landscape that contains one single perfectly placed isolated figure in the distance to being bombarded with all sorts of angles not only in photos but now also in video, yet somehow many of the pictures we see online lack authenticity.
And Street Photography has just that. You’re actively in the moment trying to find the beautiful – not necessarily aesthetically pleasing – in whatever stands before you.
Therapy for Creatives
Everyone has the capacity to be creative, period. But engaging with creativity can be in many ways a challenge and a privilege, because being creative in the very moment requires your undivided attention.
And undivided attention, being present in the moment is something that is incredibly powerful, an unlimited resource that eludes us and that we might do absolutely anything to try and avoid.
So to remedy this gap between these moments of you trying to entertain yourself scrolling endlessly online, I’m not going to try to sell you DISCIPLINE that negates your humanity. I simply give you this idea: spare two minutes to be curious.
Curious about what’s on your desk, if you’re reading this on your sofa, is there a particular way that the light hits your surroundings that you find beautiful? Is there a particular store on the way home that you find yourself reflected in and wish that you could capture that moment? Just take a moment to really look at things for a little longer.
Street Photography at this particular point in time became for me a sort of permission to be here. To pause for a little. Stay here on this sentence for a little while.
What I learned from “My Little Photography Book” (so far)
I will be frank with you: I have NOT read this whole book at the moment. I did, however, read the first part which focuses on creativity, and I’d like to share some of the main creative takeaways that I think we could all benefit from (I do intend to read the rest of the book since it goes more in-depth into the technical and important composition aspects of Photography.)
1- Become acquainted with the Creative phases
«Experiment – work – rest – reflect – repeat»
This can take weeks or up to years.
2- It’s OK to call yourself a photographer
«… If being a photographer is part of your identity, your camera will always be with you, you will not need any excuse to go and shoot. Photography will physically be a part of who you are, and you will have no friction or need to drag yourself to shoot…
Embracing photography as part of your identity, will remove a lot of the friction you might have.»
3- How to get out of a Creative rut
«… if you add the frustration of being in a creative rut on top of the other things that you’re dealing with, then you will only make the problem worse. So maybe putting your creative hobby down for a minute to focus on other aspects of your life is what is really needed.
This is not quitting or giving up, this is taking a small step back so that you can take 2 giant steps forward when you’re ready.«
4- Taking “bad photos” once a month can be great
«Sometimes we can let this drive for improvement get the better of us and in turn end up getting annoyed, stressed or worse still hating the very thing we started doing for fun. I think the answer to this issue is to go out and take rubbish photos on purpose.
…allow me to expand on my definition of rubbish photos. You’re just taking photos of anything and everything. Forget composition, settings, lighting and everything you know. The subject or the story don’t matter and the last thing you should be concerned about is trying to get something you’re happy with.
The less you think or care about the photos, the better… The camera is simply a tool that enhances that experience in every single way.«
5- Get comfortable ‘wasting time’
«Unfortunately, you will waste time with photography. You will wake up for sunrise, skip on social plans, head into town hoping for a foggy sunrise and get nothing. You will spend hours trying a new technique only to learn you were doing it wrong. You will go out without a memory card… The fact is that all of this is normal and part of the process.
It might seem like you’re wasting time, but in fact you’re not. You’re gaining experience and learning.«
6- The value of Street Photography
«When someone asks me why I like street photography, my answer is always the same. Street photography teaches me to look, to observe and to pay attention to the world around.
The more you look around, the better you will get at predicting what might happen. You will learn behaviour patterns and become in tune with your environment.
That way, you can make a better educated guess whether that person will walk through your current frame or whether you will need to move. As you develop this skill, the amount of missed opportunities will start to reduce.»
7- Embracing the public aspect of Street Photography
«There is nothing wrong with taking photos of people in public places. One can also argue that having people in your photos can make them relatable, give context, demonstrate scale and above all simply document that moment in time for future generations to see.»
Taking my own advice
So I recently had the opportunity to put my money where my mouth is and go to a Street Photography Workshop taught by Concha De La Rosa, in Madrid, Spain.
We were a group of around 15 people of all ages gathered in the unrelenting early August heat of Sol at 6 pm, because this workshop was focused on Night Photography, and we walked around several spots talking and learning and taking pictures, until around 11 pm.
Here are some shots from that day. I was using a Fujifilm XS10 with a custom JPEG recipe, that means that these images are not edited, they’re digital images with a particular filter recipe that enhances certain colors, adds grain, etc.
My main takeaways from that day are:
- Shooting at night is challenging but fun.
- Study your city, or the place you’re visiting, understanding how the light behaves at different times is very useful.
- If you didn’t get the shot, it’s ok to walk away, you’ll get it right next time.
- Stay curious. Everyday life has many photo opportunities.
Although learning more is always helpful, a big part of the beauty of Street Photography is that you can just pack your camera, and go out and shoot.
Watching YouTube videos, reading books, going down a Wikipedia spiral of research of remarkable street photographers is great, BUT the best thing you can do today for your creativity is take a walk, bring your camera or just your mobile, take a good look and shoot.
Did you find this inspiring? Feel free to comment and share any valuable insights on what has helped your creative journey.
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