Seeing With New Eyes

Sometimes it just takes changing your perspective to make a photo more interesting than it might otherwise be. Some might argue that the chalk drawing on the sidewalk is interesting enough on its own. Anyone care to identify the name of the original artist and painting?

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with Marc Rochkind--who, aside from being a faithful follower of this blog is also the creator of ImageIngester and several other useful photo workflow utilities. But that's another story for another post. This post is about our conversation. Marc was visiting Philadelphia and was excited about how many more opportunities for street photography it offered than his home town of Boulder, Colorado.

I sympathathized. I'm originally from Los Angeles, and though the weather and atmosphere seem ideal for street photography, the fact that Angelenos are more likely to be inside a building or an automobile than walking the streets makes opportunities more limited than you might think. Philadelphia's Center City, a district alive with pedestrians, shops, restaurants, theaters, tall buildings and construction, is a street shooter's dream.

That said, I believe (and I'm sure Marc would agree) there are equally bountiful photo opportunities in Los Angeles, Boulder, Cleveland; maybe even where you live. The challenge is that once you get used to a place, especially a place you're familiar with, it can be hard to see it as you would if it were new. It becomes difficult to imagine that anyone else would be interested in the sights you see everyday. The result is that you have little interest in photographing them. It's usually only after you leave or have been away for a while that you realize how much you miss these familiar sights, or discover after looking at other people's pictures of them how interesting they can be when photographed by an interested photographer.

So here is my challenge to you: If you find you've lost interest in wherever you happen to live at the moment, maybe you should freshen your eyes rather than your locale. Look at familiar streets, buildings and people as if you had never seen them before. Look at them at different times of day, in different types of weather, maybe even with a different type of camera. I guarantee that the more interested you are in what you see, the more interesting it will become to other people.

As for me, I'm planning a week-long visit to my home town in late July. Maybe this time I can find something worth photographing.

Comments

[Charles Lanteigne]

That looks an awful lot like Vermeer's "Young Girl with a Water Pitcher"...

[Tomas K.]

A variation on Vermeer? ;-)

[Gordon Lewis]

Charles and Tomas are both right. The drawing is "inspired by" Johannes Vermeer's "Young Woman with a Water Pitcher." Photographers looking for an education in the use of light and shadow need look no further than the works of the great masters of oil painting.

[Marc Rochkind]

OK, I will take up the challenge... as if I had any choice in the matter! ;-)

--Marc Rochkind

[Karl Storck]

I think this is a very important topic. I become really blind to my home town. The only time I really see it is when I have some new gear to try out. I really should try to rediscover my home town this summer!

BTW, a post about Marc's Ingester software would be most interesting. I've been using it for quite a while and I'm really happy about it.