Street Photography as a Way of Being | Photographing the Mundane
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante.
Getting my morning started here in Center City, Philadelphia. Just making some photographs with the Ricoh GR IIIx. Sounds like there’s a subway running underneath me.
I’m just following my curiosity, photographing everything as I typically do.
Check out this nice little exit sign.
Making photos of whatever I find.
Look at this nice little loop, this knot that’s formed. Go to macro mode, photograph the shape. It’s kind of beautiful, you know — these simple abstract shapes that you can make.
Photograph Everything, Don’t Take Yourself So Seriously
I think that when you’re practicing street photography, the most liberating way to do this kind of thing is to not really take yourself so seriously and to photograph everything.
Find yourself lost in your hometown. Just wandering.
When I’m photographing, I look at all the details — the trash, the textures, the buildings up above. I’m just kind of curious about how life will look photographed.
The Somatic Experience of Being in the Street
When you’re open and receptive, when you’re in the moment, responding to the sights, the sounds, the smells of the street — embracing the somatic bodily experience of life openly — your intuition kicks in.
You enter this Zen zone of just noticing.
Noticing all of life’s complexities.
All the different things around me become infinitely fascinating once I uplift them in a photograph.
Abstracting Reality Into New Worlds
I’m extracting from the world and abstracting it — creating new worlds from nothing.
But the something that I have in my frame isn’t necessarily what I see.
A lot of the time, what I see in my photograph when I get the result back is surprising.
What you see isn’t what you get.
What you get is what you didn’t see.
Looking Beyond the Veil
High contrast.
Black and white.
Cranked to the max.
Underexposing.
Using the exposure compensation dial.
It feels like I’m looking beyond the veil.
The interesting path for me going forward lies in the mundane nature of reality.
But I don’t think reality is necessarily what it seems when you photograph things.
Life becomes a dream.
Childlike Curiosity & Rebirth
That idea flows through me when I’m on the street.
Everything I see and witness is fueled by that inner childlike curiosity — like a child stumbling through the world.
Everything becomes fascinating again.
Everything feels fresh again.
Each morning feels like I’m reborn.
There’s a vitality that flows through me that provides clarity when I’m on the street.
Responding to the Body, Not the Mind
I just want to feel deeply.
I respond to the gut.
I respond to instinct.
That bodily, somatic experience of being in the street — being receptive, being open — is what guides me.
I’ll blow around in the wind like a trash bag, like those pigeons flying overhead.
I photograph aimlessly.
Not trying to say anything.
Just allowing whatever comes my way to be what’s on display in the photographs I make.
Control, Letting Go, and Walking
The beauty of photography lies in spontaneity.
You go outside.
You walk.
You see your town.
You make photographs.
The only thing you’re really in control of is being out there.
You’re not in control of coming home with an interesting photo.
You’re not in control of seeing anything exciting.
What is in your control is moving your physical body through the world.
Being open.
Being receptive.
Feeling.
Through the stream of photographing throughout the day, you’ll find what you want it to say.
You don’t need to go out there trying to say anything.
Jump Into the Portal
Look at the puddles.
Jump into the portal.
Life becomes a dream when you walk around in the street photographing everything.
You just gotta slow down.
Oops.
Turn this off.