As you may or may not know, my partner and I are in the Australian city of Adelaide for a few weeks. We've been doing a bit of exploring, but it's not been a great street photography destination for me. Whether it's my mood, or the place, I can't say. Nevertheless, I've been out a few times with mixed results
Yesterday we went for a train ride to the nearby town of Gawler. A pretty town: full of Victorian buildings, heaps of flowers and a really lovely stream lined with parkland and big old trees flowing through the middle of town. So, we went for a walk around and my partner did her thing photographing buildings for her own work. I just tagged along camera in hand, just in case.
Anyway, we came upon this cafe, with the people inside and a dog fast asleep at one person's feet. A perfect opportunity for me. Or so you would think. I made this image:
Then I thought I would get down for a lower point of view, just to focus more on the dog, who as I said, was fast asleep. Well, as soon as I knelt down and pointed the camera, the dog put its head up, looked at me, stood up, shook itself and walked away with his head turned away from me and my camera.
Again, was it me and my mood? Was it the place? Or was it simply that I startled the dog and he just had to get away? Of course I can't say. I mean I wanted some photos from that place, but perhaps the place and/or the dog didn't want to give me photos of themselves.
You see, for me, street photography is very much a process of sharing, of permission granted by those I photograph, and of respect given by me should that permission be denied. And that goes for not only people, but it seems to apply to places and to animals also. It's a hard thing to explain in words.
Normally, if I make a photo, then I realise the person (or in this case animal) objects in any way, I will delete it either then or later. I've only posted this one as an illustration to this commentary. I am sure the doggie doesn't really mind!
Peace to all.
Yesterday we went for a train ride to the nearby town of Gawler. A pretty town: full of Victorian buildings, heaps of flowers and a really lovely stream lined with parkland and big old trees flowing through the middle of town. So, we went for a walk around and my partner did her thing photographing buildings for her own work. I just tagged along camera in hand, just in case.
Anyway, we came upon this cafe, with the people inside and a dog fast asleep at one person's feet. A perfect opportunity for me. Or so you would think. I made this image:
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| The Doggie in the Window Gawler Australia November 2014 |
Then I thought I would get down for a lower point of view, just to focus more on the dog, who as I said, was fast asleep. Well, as soon as I knelt down and pointed the camera, the dog put its head up, looked at me, stood up, shook itself and walked away with his head turned away from me and my camera.
Again, was it me and my mood? Was it the place? Or was it simply that I startled the dog and he just had to get away? Of course I can't say. I mean I wanted some photos from that place, but perhaps the place and/or the dog didn't want to give me photos of themselves.
You see, for me, street photography is very much a process of sharing, of permission granted by those I photograph, and of respect given by me should that permission be denied. And that goes for not only people, but it seems to apply to places and to animals also. It's a hard thing to explain in words.
Normally, if I make a photo, then I realise the person (or in this case animal) objects in any way, I will delete it either then or later. I've only posted this one as an illustration to this commentary. I am sure the doggie doesn't really mind!
Peace to all.
Funnily enough, we live in the same area. I find in general that street photography can sometimes be tough here. Maybe it's just not dirty or tough enough? Maybe not enough adversity? Mind you, I can think of a number of gritty places here where you'd catch some pretty fine sights of rather brutish and interesting looking folk. The kind that might well take a swing if they saw the camera.
ReplyDeleteI its the ones who are likely to tale a swing that I try to avoid haha. I like the ordinary people and moments. Funny that I picked that up about Gawler Thank you for commenting
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