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Street photography is that mysterious style of photography that can mean so much while showing so little. I can only look at the masters, wondering what magic they possess.
I have to be honest. It’s hard. Before really getting into it a year ago, I thought it was just going around, taking pictures of people crossing streets, applying VSCO, and being done. While that works, there are some overwhelming challenges.
When you start looking at street photography, I mean really looking at it, you start seeing patterns. You realize photography is about building a database of situations to look for. The person crossing the crosswalk, a clash of colors, irony, the airplane flying over the tip of a tower. That’s the easy stuff that very quickly starts making your portfolio boring.
The challenge is capturing that story in one frame or building a mood through a series. That’s the art that only a few have mastered, and it’s incredibly hard. Maybe one day I’ll get there too.
Shooting Street Photography At Dazaifu Temple
As I explore southern Japan, I keep running into these two situations that send me into a tailspin. First, I find it incredibly difficult to shoot in extremely crowded areas. Wherever you point your camera, there is just a sea of people; whatever story you’re trying to capture is lost in the noise. The other challenge is areas that have no symmetry or broken symmetry. Combine the two, and I’m a mess.
That’s what Dazaifu Japan was a few days ago. It’s a cool Japanese temple that is rich with culture and heritage. It seems like shooting there would be so easy. But now days, it’s become a hot spot for Chinese tourism, mix that with Golden Week and welcome to the jungle.
