A few days ago my downstairs neighbor passed away. He was very young, probably in his 20s. I immediately thought about the picture I could make of this. I imagined the body carried out on a stretcher, covered by a white cloth. The photo would contain the grieving family and my onlooker neighbors. I had the perfect vantage point from up above. The photo would be powerful, show a moment that would surely touch the viewer. But is it off limits, to catch people in this moment? I got my camera out and I was ready, but they took hours to bring the body out so I ended up eating dinner and forgetting all about it. I’ve seen my fair share of dead people in life so I’m desensitized. It’s just another part of life to me.

Confrontation seems to be a popular topic in regards to street photography. It will likely happen to you. If it doesn’t, you better shoot more. I was confronted a lot early on, but it was mostly my fault. Be an actor on the streets. Walk around with a smile, be a goofy tourist. Don’t shoot if you’re in a bad mood. People pick up on your bad energy and think you’re up to something sketchy.

I still get confronted occasionally. Mostly when I’m in not an actor, so it’s my fault. I don’t blame those people. I’ll occasionally chat with them about what I’m doing and it’s turns into a positive interaction, which is nice because it puts me in a good mood.

There’s nothing good to come from this encounter. It’s just going to put you in a bad way and likely ruin the rest of the day. Better to ignore them and move on.

I think we all have a tendency to want to prove ourselves as valid artists. Also ego plays a part. Don’t have an ego. Let the person win. You don’t need to come out on top or win the battle. Better to win the war.

Strolling through short form content like Reels, Shorts and Tik Toks you’ve most definitely seen people recording individuals doing goofy things, pranking and creating drama for likes.

Carrying a camera used to be cool, seen with prestige. Now people look at photographers with suspicious eyes. Who wants a video of themselves at their worst moment floating around the web. It’s understandable. Street Photography doesn’t have nearly the reach as some of the content creators but the effects of drama for likes has trickled down to us. And we kinda deserve it. I’m guilty of taking photos of people doing weird things, looking odd or dressing funny. I post those photos online. I’m no different than the content creators I suppose. Just dumb because at least they are getting money for low hanging fruit.

It’s especially common in NYC street photography. There are so many street photographers over there capturing all the strange NYC people. Most times they aren’t even doing anything, just walking and looking a bit odd. At a certain point, it’s not a challenge and it becomes repetitive and boring. I mean whats the point of street photography anyways though. I tell myself it’s for documenting purposes, but it’s probably just a fun challenge that keeps me out of trouble and a good for the steps.

It would be nice though to lower my expectations and be happy with a unique image every couple of months. I’m trying to stop taking pictures of low hanging fruit and work on creating more unique photos (whatever those are in 2023).