Never Too Old To Play

New York City, NY | Hester St. Playground | February 2019

New York City's China Town area is a treasure trove for street photographers and cultural experiences.

I noticed two gentlemen near the Hester Street playground playing the Chinese game of Xiangqi.

I didn't know if they played for toothpicks, hard dollars, or fun, but they were having a good time, and the bitter cold temperature didn't bother them.

Several onlookers were sitting and standing around their table, undoubtedly providing their advice for the next move.

Unfortunately, I had to move on and never got to know who won.

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Teamwork

Greenville, SC | N Main St | Jan 2022

Walking on Greenville's, SC, Main Street, I saw these two workers repairing a wall.

Working with their backs to the sidewalk, they seemed unaware of the people walking by. Focused on the task at hand, they quietly went about it, working together and getting the job done.

The public also did not notice them, indicated by the woman whose reflection is visible in the window in the background—going on with their daily chores, busy being busy. Not deliberately ignoring the workers, but not interested.

And is that not what generally is the case?

We all go about our busy lives without paying attention to the people around us.

It seems we are more interested in the actions and lives of movie stars, social media authorities, and other so-called 'influencers' than in the real people around us.

This thought inspired me to start working on a new project about real people: manual workers, parents, emergency services personnel, shoppers, office workers, etcetera.

In the upcoming weeks, I will need to flesh out the details: where to focus on possibly, what type of images, medium (film, digital, or both).

More to come.

Forever Young

Washington, DC | 11th Street NW | July 2014

Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Alphaville, and probably many others sang about it. Movies have been made about it.

Staying forever young: a wish that many people need to have.

If we must believe the music and film industries. 

And cosmetics and clothing firms are playing well too.

Helping people to stay forever young.

Or at least: helping people feel they can stay forever young.

Or at least: making people feel they need to stay forever young.

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Not The Decisive Moment

Image courtesy and copyright Amei Manten

Street Photography Is Social Documentary Photography

Writing last week's blog posts about the book Lost London: 1870-1945 made me realize that there is an easily overlooked aspect of street photography.

Every street photographer wants to capture a specific moment and create that 'one' image that will enthuse the world. With Olympians like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Vivian Mayer, Elliot Erwitt, and so many others as examples, we street photographers try to emulate their vision, their images, and their success.

But street photography is so much more, and street images can mean much more to our audience.

Street photography is not and does not always have to be about the decisive moment.

The images in Lost London: 1970-1945 made me realize that there is so much more to these pictures than the decisive moment. These images capture a particular place during a specific time that has a special meaning for contemporary viewers.

Allow me to explain this with an example of an image not related to the book.

Image courtesy and copyright Amei Manten

Recently I posted an image from the small village my wife and I grew up in on Facebook. My then-girlfriend, now wife, created the picture in the mid-1980s as part of a photography assignment while studying at the University of Leiden (the Netherlands).

It is quite an ordinary image: a village street with a woman.

However, posting this image on Facebook had a surprising result. Numerous people commented on the street and the buildings, with many trying to figure out who the woman in the picture was.

This result and the images from the book Lost London: 1870-1945 made me realize that street photography always is a form of social documentary photography. With or without a decisive moment captured, street images provide contemporary viewers and later generations insights into our environment's current state; it captures the Zeitgeist.

Image courtesy and copyright Amei Manten

The look of the streets, the buildings that may change or totally disappear in the future, the people, the clothes they wear, their occupation, and other details of daily life we at this moment take for granted but will be of interest later.

This realization gave me a feeling of calmness.

I no longer have that unsatisfied urge to hunt or fish for the decisive moment when creating street images. Instead, I am more aware of my surroundings and what my image might mean to future viewers. Maybe they lived in this specific area I am capturing; perhaps I captured one of their family members in my frame.

Street photography, for me, now is more about capturing the current state, and it's not only about the decisive moment.

I still will look out for it, and if and when I capture such a moment: outstanding, excellent! But, if not, I move on with the knowledge that at least I captured something from which future viewers can learn how the world looked today.

Hello Mrs. Cartier-Bresson

Greenville, SC | S Main St - W McBee Ave | January 2022

When I saw this lady walking towards me, I almost froze.

Where have I seen those sunglasses before?

Could it be?

Is it her?

If only HCB was here, he would be able to tell

61 years... impossible, it can't be her...

Maybe her daughter?

In Focus: Watering Hole

Street Photography As An Urban Safari

Going out with the intent to create street candids sometimes reminds me of being on a safari.

An essential part of the fun when my family and I went on a safari in South Africa was the excitement of searching for wildlife before actually seeing any animals. The increased awareness of your surroundings and watching for any movement that could indicate a lion, elephant, giraffe, or one of the many antelopes.

Walking the streets of a city in search of candid street photos provides me the same excitement. Continually looking at people and their behavior, in the hope that something worthwhile photographing occurs.

A couple of months ago (this image is pre-Covid; hence the high number of people close together), I roamed the streets of downtown Greenville, SC, and noticed this group of people playing with the water of a fountain on Main Street.

The scene immediately reminded me of animals gathered around a watering hole as I have seen on safaris in South Africa. Even the person to the right fits nicely in the scene, appearing to stand on guard for the group.

I like how this image worked out and how it reminds me that going out for street photography is like being on an urban safari.