The Joy of Street Photography
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante. Currently walking around 9th Street here in South Philadelphia, just snapshotting my way through life. Well, check out this awesome sign. It says classic. It’s pretty cool.
Today I’m just thinking about the simple fact that photography brings me so much joy in life. Just being able to walk, to explore, to have the sun on my skin and to witness all of the beauty in the mundane is something so profound, but so simple. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, what I’m doing, what I’m experiencing, or what I find—I always know that there’s just something around the corner. There is always so much to do, to see, to explore, and to photograph in this life of ours.
Because of that, I just keep coming back out here. I keep walking, I keep exploring. Photography gives you this ultimate excuse to just go out—to explore, to meet new people, to photograph new things in new ways. And despite how mundane things may seem, I thrive. That is the most beautiful thought I can come to when it comes to photography: the fact that I thrive in the mundane.
I thrive in the monotony, where everything is infinitely beautiful and interesting when you look at the world through the lens of a camera. When you look at the world and all of its complexities, when you experience things deeply within the moment—it transforms everything.
Existing Outside of Time
For me, the ultimate tragedy is to be stuck inside. Anytime I’m sitting indoors, I feel like my soul slowly dies. But when I’m outside, moving my physical body through the world, photographing, I feel like I exist outside the passage of time.
I’m simultaneously present in the moment while entering a stream of becoming, of evolution and change, through the photographic process of making new pictures.
And when you’re out there making pictures, it’s really important to detach yourself from the outcome—whether or not you’re going to come home with a good or bad photograph. Simply affirm life through the click of the shutter and recognize that your next photograph is your best photograph.
The Spirit of Play
This is the beauty of street photography: the aimless wandering it allows. There are no real goals, no fixed destinations in mind. Just following curiosity. Not attaching to whether anything “interesting” happens or whether you come home with a “good” photograph.
It’s merely a way to engage with life—and with humanity. Anywhere I am in the world, I know that I have the ability to create something. I know that I have the ability to experience something new. And it’s all thanks to photography.
So that’s the thought of the day: don’t take life and photography so seriously—embrace the spirit of play.