Moments of the streets
As you probably have guessed, photographically speaking, I´m immensely found of the fog. And this winter we´ve fortunately had quite a few lovely foggy days. This shot was taken a bit earlier in January, at about 5.30 p.m. It was pitch dark, and I had installed myself on the top of a bridge. As I stared through the dense fog for something to capture, I spotted these persons approaching each other under the glow from the lanterns.
Of course, I had to give it a go!
So far, we haven´t had much snow here in Oslo. A little bit unusual, but the climate change is taking its toll, I guess. Not that I miss it … The snow, I mean. I´m happy not having to pack myself into layers and layers of clothing, before hitting the courtyard with the shovel.
But some days ago, a light drizzle did fall off the skies, and I took the opportunity to pop into a nearby park to check up on any pictorial effects. As you can see, the ground is still visible, so it wasn´t that much we got, but still it was just enough to contribute to the scenery a tiny bit.
A common object in street photography is someone’s face captured as they’re passing by on the underground, at a bus, tram or any other public transport, occupied with their own thoughts. I’ve done this quite a few times, only achieving suboptimal photos, at best lacking any nerve. And so I’ve got reminded that it certainly isn’t a facile metier to capture the gateway to one’s soul this way.
But as I waited for the underground some days ago, this young gentleman caught my eyes as his train was about to move from the opposite platform. And once again I raised my camera, pressed the release button, and hoping for the best, but expecting the worst, I luckily didn’t get a bomb, but instead this…*
*And if you should happen to be a bit too young to catch my drift, you’ll find the explanation in the link below. If not, you will of course know what I mean, but please listen anyway as you slip down memory lane.
About a month ago, I was on my way to work early on a foggy morning. Realizing how the mist was living a life of its own, restlessly producing a continuum of quirky scenes, I stayed a while near the bottom of the steps leading to the underground station, trying to document the events as they unfolded. I´ve previously written a word or two about it here.
This picture is another of the ones I came home with that day. Not seeking to draw any unfounded, not to say outright unjust comparisons with the lady who is about to descend into the haze and darkness of what´s below, my thoughts nevertheless is pointed in the direction of Sparafucile, the “man of the sword” i.e. the hit man from Burgundy, from Giuseppe Verdis opera Rigoletto. You see, I once had the pleasure attending a performance at the Gothenburg Opera, where they rather ingenious interpreted Sparafucile as a man from, lets say a bit “underground”…
Photographing on the streets, the motives appears and disappears in a fraction of a moment, and I find it extremely difficult to frame the perfect shot. Most of the times I have to do at least some post cropping. Which rises a whole lot of questions. What is the perfect crop? How to single out the subjects? What is really the main subject? What about the background? Can it add something to the picture? Or will it just lead the viewers attention away from the story?
The above picture was originally published some weeks ago, with a totally different crop, emphasizing on the persons solely. You can see it here. This time I’ve chosen to let more of the background show in the composition. Except from that it’s exactly the same picture.
So what do you think? Which one is best? Honest commentaries are most appreciated.