Street Photography Is So Sad
I had a run-in with a woman yesterday; not the woman who's the centre of attention here and apparently crying (she wasn't really crying; I had my Soul Filter on the lens and was able to pick out her inner feelings about the heat and humidity quite well) but the woman behind and to the right with the pushchair. Let's set the scene: lunchtimes usually involve a colleague and me making a mad dash to get out of the office for an hour. I have a camera, he has his lunch. We then – more often than not – meet up with another street photographer and we spend that lunch break chatting about work, people, technology, photography, and anything else that comes to mind while the two of us armed with cameras keep an eye out for interesting bodies or events to unfold. It's the sort of thing that makes working for a living tolerable. So, yesterday… "Are you taking pictures of people?" asked the woman (five-to-six months pregnant) with the double pushchair. The three of us stopped our conversation and glanced around at her. Dan – the other photographer – and I nodded and smiled. I gestured at the precinct. "People, events, life… yes," I said. She turned up her nose. "That is so sad," she said. Raised eyebrows from us and we turned away and ignored her, continuing our conversation. A friend of hers arrived then and I spotted her saying something to her friend with a look of disgust on her face and then the pair of them glancing at our group. I sighed. Her husband/boyfriend then also turned up and the same thing happened. It shouldn't have got to me. I shouldn't have cared what some small-minded, possibly hormonally-imbalanced, rude cow thinks about what we do for fun. But it did get to me. Looking through the photos I took yesterday I spotted her in the background of a number of shots, always looking directly at the camera. I'd like to think that she was upset that she wasn't the centre of attention for any pictures we took. I'd also like to think that I'll eventually let this slide and not worry about it anymore. Unfortunately, I don't think either of those things is true. For #StreetSaturday by +Siddharth Pandit, and for #StreetPics by +Arnold Goodway. Google+: View post on...
Parasol
I don't think I'd ever seen a person walking around with a parasol before yesterday (I usually only ever see their miniature varieties propping up the appearances of cocktails) and yet it's been the perfect parasol weather recently. Well done to this lady! And more parasols please! Everyone should have a parasol. Look how stylish a parasol is! Goshdarnit, but I've got a hankering for a parasol right about now! For #StreetPics curated by +Arnold Goodway Google+: View post on...
Standing Room Only
I'm glad I was on the south side of the street under the shade of a tree; waiting for a bus is not something I would have enjoyed under the full blast of the sun and with the humidity levels with which we've recently been doused. Still, nice to see that some of the older people have been sensible in the recent heatwave; many of them are now down to just the one cardigan and coat over their shirts, vests, and thermal undervests. For #BenchSaturday curated by +Rainer M. Ritz. Google+: View post on...
Birthday Girls
"Look, Ethel! I've got flowers for my birthday!" "Oh, how lovely Clarissa! I've got a compact, digital camera for mine." "Flowers are more traditional." "Indeed they are, although they'll die soon." "But they smell nice now." "My camera has that new camera smell." "My flowers look very pretty." "I can take pictures of things that look very pretty and keep them forever." "The stems of my flowers taper to fine, sharp points." "I don't really see that that's a good thing to… my eye! My eye! What the…! Clarissa! No! Stop!" It was quite a fight. #StreetPics Google+: View post on...
Gangs
In 1979 a movie about gangs in New York was released called The Warriors and it's fair to say that it's a damn fine film. Watch it if you never have. Consider that an order. The only problem with The Warriors, however, was the impact it had on British lives; cities suddenly found themselves festooned with gangs copying some of the outlandish groups portrayed in that particular flick. Chichester wasn't immune to the effect and it still harbours a few die-hard cadres to this day keen to keep the movie dream alive. Today was the annual Gang Day in Chichester where the various gangs try to recruit from the members of the public in broad daylight; the police look the other way – there were none around for the first time this week – and hardly anyone gets slashed with a razor in return. I didn't join but I did get talking to this trio who are members of a reasonably well-known outfit known as The Fluorescent Fellows. On the left is Brazilian Alan (on account of his similarity to UEFA Cup winner with Ipswich Town in 1980-81, Alan Brazil); in the middle is Vest O'Hanrahan (that's his actual name and not a reference to his clothing choice); and on the right is the gang's enforcer, Geoffrey. Google+: View post on...
Girl By The Wall
There was a girl by the wall across the road from where I and my colleague were sitting in a little bit of shade while he ate his lunch today. She looked cool. Not in the temperature sense since there was none of that going on (it's been mighty hot is what I'm trying to say here) but rather in the in-her-own-world, don't-care-about-anything sense. I wanted to take a picture of her but there were a few things stopping me: firstly, I didn't want to upset her cool; next, I don't really do that whole shooting people while they're looking at me schtick; finally, girls are dangerous. However, a bus that briefly pulled up and blocked the view endowed me with a sudden sense of bravery. As it moves off, I thought, I shall snap a shot quickly and she'll never realise! And even if she does… well… how much harm can a girl really do anyway? And that's how I got this picture and spent twenty minutes of lunch running away and fending off an attack with a handbag. I think she had a brick in it. What was she carrying a brick for? Google+: View post on...
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