How to Find Endless Inspiration in Street Photography

What’s poppin’, people? It’s Dante.

Currently walking around Philadelphia, and today I just wanted to share some thoughts about how I can return to the same street, return to photography, to the same day every single day for the rest of my life, and still find new ways of photographing.

I can still find new ways of waking up in the morning and finding a new opportunity for me to make a new photograph.

And what that means is I can essentially cultivate my own inner world through curiosity.

I’m not dependent on the external world delivering me something.

Everything Becomes Interesting and Photographable

In order to get to this place where everything becomes interesting and photographable, I believe you must remove all preconceived ideas and notions of what makes a great photograph, of what you’re going to find when you step out onto the street, and simply be.

To experience life from this state of being, where everything is interesting and fascinating, I believe requires more so a mindset shift than anything.

There is no camera, there is no technique or thing that I can share with you that will transform the way that you feel and think about life.

But ultimately, the thing that I’m most grateful for is that photography puts me in this place where every fleeting moment and every single day is meaningful.

And it’s because I have the opportunity to create something every fleeting moment.

The Power of a Compact Camera

When you have a compact camera, this does change the game.

So maybe there is something to be said about the way that the camera can inspire you or influence your photography and your practice.

Because when I have something that disappears in my hand, right, that quite literally can disappear behind your hand, that can fit in your pocket, well then there is no excuse for you not to start producing.

And what happens when I step out onto the street is, you know, I start to slow down.

I start to see.

I start to feel.

I start to look all around me and scan everything.

Even just the way that the light is casting upon this little beam here, right?

I’m looking at the textures, the people, the buildings up above, the clouds that are moving, and what’s beneath my feet.

And then from that place where you’re scanning and looking and observing, you’re going to start photographing.

But when you’re in your mind and you’re thinking and you’re analyzing and you’re rationalizing everything, when you have an idea in your head of what you should be photographing or what you shouldn’t be photographing, well then you’re gonna start hesitating.

And so I find that this return to the day, this return to infinite creativity every single day, is all mindset.

Can You Thrive in the Eternal Loop?

Can you thrive in the eternal loop?

Can you wake up each and every day and embrace the spirit of play and find something new to say, to find a new way to play, to find a new way to seize the day, to create?

You know, I think that what’s amazing about photography is it puts me in this place.

It puts me in this place where there’s infinite potential and inspiration.

It’s all around me.

You don’t have to seek out a gallery, read a book, go to a show, or watch a movie to become inspired.

But you simply have to start moving.

You have to move your two feet and walk on repeat endlessly.

And maybe then you’ll start to see.

Maybe then you’ll start to photograph.

But it’s only going to happen when you actually start to attack, when you actually start to do, when you actually start to click the shutter and move.

And you know, this existential question of the eternal loop, I find to be extremely fascinating.

Like, if you were to return to this same street every single day for the rest of your life, at the same time, at the same place, will you find a new way to make a photograph?

Will you have the inspiration within you, cultivated with curiosity, to actually go out there and practice?

And if you find yourself in this place where you can achieve that, well then I feel like that’s where you arrive at this place where joy and sort of peace is found.

But that joy and peace isn’t necessarily the goal.

Joy and peace are simply a byproduct of you fueling your life with curiosity.

And photography is what I thank for getting me there.

The World Is Always in Flux

Ultimately, I can walk this same street here on Market Street.

I can look at the same people coming out of these same doorways.

But the light is always in flux and changing.

The people are evolving.

The buildings are always in flux and changing.

There’s new advertisements upon the walls.

The way that light falls is always out of my control.

The birds are flying in spontaneous forms.

And that’s something that I see every day, but I see it anew each day.

I see everything with this fresh perspective because I return to this blank slate.

And that blank slate is where we seek to be, I believe, as artists, because we want to have infinite potential to evolve and to go beyond.

And if you’ve arrived at a peak where you feel as though you’ve seen everything or mastered everything, well then you’re never going to start doing.

Photograph Like a Child at Play

But if you’re a child in the morning, a child is eager to go out and play.

A child is eager to just go out there and seize the day, to go to the playground, to express themselves.

And a child isn’t burdened with the expectation of performance, of validation of what they are doing.

But they’re simply playing because they seek to play.

And so when you’re photographing, do it because you simply enjoy the act of doing it.

Don’t do it for the reward of the image.

Don’t do it for the applause of a crowd.

But simply find yourself returning to that same street in your town with eagerness, with pep in your step, with curiosity.

Because that’s what guides me.

That’s what guides, I believe, all great photography.

Cultivate Your Inner Curiosity

Don’t be dependent on the external world delivering you novelty.

But cultivate that inner curiosity that will then propel you to practice your photography.

The inspiration is already within you.