No, I’m not going to give you a lot of T.M.E (Through My Eyes) videos … For those of you who are new here, a while ago I started making POV videos with a GoPro attached to my Ricoh GRD IV. People could follow me in my wanderings to be with me and see a little how I operate in the street. I abandoned this concept because I found the processing of the videos too time consuming for a rather average result. Since then I gave my GoPro to the kids who use it in the pool…

I have a rather direct and instinctive approach in the street. Very often I click in direct reaction to what is in front of me. This is the Snapshot philosophy. Since I’ve been doing street photography, I’ve always used this term for my photos. Some people see it as a negative connotation because Snapshot is associated with an instinctive and unreflective move. I claim this type of photography because for me the energy that comes out of these photos is beyond measure. The street is not only about polished compositions, beautiful scenes and eccentric characters. The street is also energy and the best way to capture that is the snapshot. Very often in my case, these photos contain gestures. I am often very close to people and the composition is random because of my proximity. I didn’t dig up any old photos but among those from 2022, I found these.

For me, street photography is also the art of observation. From this observation comes photo opportunities. Yesterday I gave myself an hour to take pictures before going to work. I decided to go to the Friday market. I don’t go there often because it’s quite far from the city centre and I get bored of these places quite quickly because in the end all the photos look the same. We have light/shadows thanks to the big umbrellas, colourful characters, lots of people… If I were to do a city tour with a street photographer, I would take him here. He’d have the time of his life. But when you’ve done it several times, it’s repetitive and there’s no challenge. It’s almost too easy and too predictable and you don’t come back. Here clearly observation doesn’t make much difference. You just have to click. I still came along with some interesting pictures, but no merit…

I was most interested in the area around the market. Less people and that’s where you have to be aware of what’s going on around you. Stand somewhere and anticipate what people are going to do. Even without taking pictures, it’s very exciting to see life unfold in front of you. Everyone is busy and in their own bubble. I have a different attitude and I watch little scenes unfold before me. I observe and try to spot interesting things like gestures, compositions, characters, attitudes. To make it easier I often choose static people. People who are in transit and waiting. It is in these situations that I abandon the snapshot aspect to build up my photos and my compositions.

These three photos were taken in quick succession. No more than 10 minutes passed between the first and the third. I had approached a bus stop. There was not much going on and then a bus arrived and people were rushing in. It was packed like an egg. People were waiting to try and get a seat on it. My eyes were caught by the man who was waiting patiently outside to get on the bus. It was an afterthought when I saw the guy in the red polo leaning on a bin. I knew I had potential. I had to stay for something better to happen. At one point he crossed his arms over the bin and turned around. That was the moment I was waiting for to click.

For the second picture, the bus and the guy in red left. I decided to stay a while to see if there was anything else going on. I really like hanging around bus shelters. I am rarely disappointed and very often rewarded. A lady who was waiting started to grab the shelter structure with her hand. Here’s more photo opportunities. I quickly switch to macro mode to be able to focus a few centimetres away from her hand. There is a lot of contrast and it is not easy. I’m not entirely satisfied with the result, but I made do with what I had, I could have made an enlarged composition with just this fragment (the hand) which would remain mysterious, but I opted for a different approach. After the second bus, I wanted to move because I didn’t want to repeat myself here and I needed to see something else.

That’s when I came across this third situation. A stop sign lying on the ground. It’s quite an unusual situation. It looked to me like the sign had been cut off at the base. This too had potential, and I wondered how I was going to photograph this. There was nothing else and I thought of my own shadow to enrich the composition a bit. The locals sitting on the other side of the street were looking at me and probably wondering why this weird guy was taking such meaningless pictures… The parked car was in the way, but the guy was on his way out. That’s when I saw this dog cross the street and enter the frame. I rushed to take his picture, but it was a failure. But that’s when the most unlikely thing happened. The animal must have sensed that I was struggling with my composition and came to give me a hand. He landed right in front of me as if he was posing. I took several pictures and the last one is my favourite. He lays down on his back and closed his eyes. When you look at the picture, you don’t know if he is alive or dead. I really like this picture with its shadows, its colours and of course the improbable attitude of the dog.

If I were asked to choose between snapshots and moments when I spend more time observing and working on my compositions, I would be unable to choose. It depends on the moment and my state of mind. I think I include all of this in my toolbox that I use on the street.

All photos were made with the Ricoh GRD IV.