Why I Choose Black & White for Street Photography

What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante.

Today I want to talk about why I choose black and white for my street photography.

For the past three years, I’ve been entering this period of change with my practice by photographing in black and white. On a technical level, I’m using the Ricoh GR III or the Ricoh GR IIIx with a high-contrast black and white JPEG profile cranked all the way up. All the shadows, all the detail — it’s baked directly into the file. I don’t post-process the images you see.

That technical choice is intentional. I’m setting up my camera in a way that doesn’t get in the way, so I can enter the flow state more easily. That’s the number one reason I transformed my process from color to black and white. Everything feels simplified and streamlined. Photography becomes effortless. The flow state feels inevitable.

And that’s where I believe a photographer needs to be.

In the streets, walking endlessly.

Because what is a photographer’s goal, really, other than to walk, explore, wander, and cultivate curiosity?

By stripping away the complexity of color and returning to black and white, photography has integrated seamlessly into my everyday life. There’s something about this shift that’s allowing me to find more joy in the practice, generally.

Abstraction, the Sublime, and Seeing Differently

What I appreciate most about black and white photography is how it allows me to abstract reality.

When I’m on the streets, I don’t experience life linearly. I often feel this sense of the sublime — that disbelief that we’re on a giant rock orbiting a ball of fire, held together by what feels like duct tape, falling endlessly through space.

That emotional quality of life is more easily evoked through black and white. By removing color, honing in on negative space, and pushing contrast to the maximum, I’m able to translate that internal feeling into the photograph.

Life isn’t always what it seems. Life can become a dream when you raise the camera to your eye and look more closely.

These days, I’m not trying to make photographs of what life is. I’m trying to make photographs of what life could be — my own interpretation of reality.

That’s why I love black and white. It allows me to take something extremely ordinary and lift it into something extraordinary.

Imperfection, Play, and Flow

The photographs in this collection aren’t perfect. Sometimes there are mistakes. Sometimes there’s a roughness to them.

But those imperfections become the perfection.

Black and white photography lets me work loosely. I’m not trying to control everything. I let the chips fall where they may. I embrace play.

That playfulness puts me in a state of becoming — a place where I never want to feel like I’ve found the one image I’ll make for the rest of my life. By returning to black and white, there’s always more to see, more to explore, more to articulate.

Stripping away color has revived my love for life. I’m seeing anew each day, with curiosity.

By focusing on shapes, forms, moments, and emotional quality, I’m able to evoke an internal state through the act of observing — of putting four corners around something.

And that’s why black and white fits my lifestyle on a deeply personal level.

Between Documentation and Abstraction

I’m no longer trying to depict life as fact.

I’m working in that fine line between documentation and abstraction — where a photograph feels like a fact, but it’s really just a slice, a fragment. Something that prompts a question rather than provides an answer.

By abstracting the world through black and white, I’m able to create images that ask the viewer to look more deeply.

The streamlined workflow, the simplicity, the ability to enter flow effortlessly — all of it allows me to cultivate authentic expression. Walking, observing, photographing — it becomes inevitable.

And that inevitability brings joy.

Infinite Potential in the Mundane

I can be anywhere — a random park, a random corner, any city, any time — and because I’m seeing the world this way, elevating the mundane through the removal of color, I find infinite potential everywhere.

Light, shadow, form — that’s enough.

Even walking the same street every day, the question becomes: Can you still find something new to say?

That’s where photography is born — in boredom, openness, and the challenge of cultivating curiosity.

Living and photographing in Philadelphia, the city lends itself to black and white. The architecture, the timelessness, the history — it works. And on a practical level, black and white makes the game easier. More effortless.

Abstraction becomes the solution to the mundane.

Like a river that’s always changing, light is always shifting. I can never make the same photograph twice. By following light and returning to black and white, I’m always returning to a blank slate.

Returning to Day One

Shooting in black and white isn’t just a technical decision for me.

It’s a way to align my body, my soul, and my spirit — to enter a flow state each and every day. It’s a way of returning to day one.

Hopefully, by sharing these ideas, you can understand why I photograph this way and where I’m headed with my work.

That’s pretty much it.

Thank you for reading.
I’ll see you in the next one.

Peace.

How to Find Your Style in Street Photography

What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante.

Today I want to talk about how to find your style in street photography.

I don’t believe that style has anything to do with aesthetic decisions like whether you shoot black and white or color. I don’t believe style emerges from how you operate a camera. I don’t believe it has anything to do with available light versus flash.

I believe style emerges from your subconscious mind.

When you’re out there photographing, you’re not in control of everything. You’re only in control of so much. The moments that come your way, what you put inside the frame, and what you leave outside the frame — that’s where style lives.

We’re in control of how often we walk.
We’re in control of what we notice.
We’re in control of what we photograph.

And when we click the shutter, that decision comes from instinct. It’s a primal response. An internal compass guiding us through the world.

Style isn’t rational. It’s instinctual.

Style Isn’t a Checklist

I don’t believe style comes from giving yourself a checklist, a theme, a project, or a box to put yourself in so that you can “find” your expression.

Authentic expression arises through time, consistency, and repetition.

The more you walk.
The more you photograph.
The more your expression reveals itself.

Style emerges naturally through daily practice — through what you’re drawn to, what you include, and what you exclude. It compounds over time.

The camera you use, the settings you choose — those things only go so far.

Your style speaks through the frames themselves.

Removing the Photographer

My practice today is about removing identity.

I’m not trying to say something with my photography. I’m trying to get out of the way and allow instinct and intuition to carry the frame.

I think of style now as entering flow — becoming a vessel for the medium — making it inevitable that my natural expression shows up in the photographs.

That means stripping the process bare.

Technical Constraints as a Path to Flow

On a practical level, this means the simplest, most streamlined approach to photography possible.

When you look at photographers like Garry Winogrand, Daido Moriyama, Bruce Gilden, or Alex Webb, their technical choices absolutely shaped their expression. The camera, the lens, the approach — those constraints mattered.

But going forward, for me, it’s about removing friction.

I want to think less.
I want to shoot from instinct.

That’s why my workflow is built around speed and simplicity.

I shoot with a Ricoh GR.
High-contrast black and white.
Small JPEG files.
All processing baked into the camera.
Automatic modes.
Loose framing off the LCD.
Point and shoot.

No post-processing. No thinking.

These creative constraints make photography inevitable.

Becoming the Vessel

Your expression reveals itself only when you stop wrestling with the medium.

You find your authentic voice once you’ve mastered the camera and learned to recognize moments instinctually.

The technical limitations you give yourself aren’t restrictions — they’re permissions. They allow flow. They remove friction. They make expression unavoidable.

Style appears when you stop trying to express it.

Style Is Always in Flux

There is no final style.
There is no peak.

Your voice evolves. Your approach shifts. Your expression flows.

I’ve spent a decade photographing — moving from vibrant color to high-contrast black and white — and each phase opened a new space to explore.

That’s the point.

Street photography, for me, is about returning to instinct. Returning to intuition. Returning to that primal feeling that arises when you press the shutter.

That moment — irrational, subconscious, embodied — that’s your style.

You can’t force it.
You can’t plan it.
You can only show up and do the work.

Find a workflow that makes photography inevitable.
Walk consistently.
Photograph instinctually.

And your style will emerge naturally, frame by frame.

Thanks for watching.
I’ll see you in the next one.
Peace.

Identity is for modern slaves

Don’t trust people who still identify with:

• Race
• Sex
• Politics
• Profession
• Religion
• Ideology

Let go of your identity.

The modern world is obsessed with boxing themselves into a certain identity. Whether it’s your:

• Race
• Gender
• Nationality
• Sexuality
• Religion
• Profession
• Hobby

Let go of it all. Stop putting yourself in a box. Stop being a slave to your identity. It’s like voluntarily putting shackles on your soul and making it a prison.

What if the world is a prison, but you had the keys to free yourself?

How to become free?

Let go of the identity. By identifying with anything in particular, you’re just another sheep in the herd. By letting go of the things you identify with, you become yourself.

Just study the etymology of words–

The word identity comes from the Latin identitas, meaning “sameness” or “the same.” Here’s a breakdown:

• Latin root: idem – meaning “the same”
• Suffix: -itas – forming abstract nouns (like -ity in English)
• Original Latin word: identitas = “the quality of being the same”

Over time, “identity” evolved to include:

• Personal identity: What makes you “you” across time
• Social identity: How you are recognized or categorized by others
• Philosophical identity: The condition of being itself or remaining the same in logic/metaphysics

So at its root, identity is about continuity and sameness, not difference. The paradox is that in modern use, it’s often associated with what makes someone different or unique.

By self identifying with something, you are basically just saying that you are the same as everyone else. If you strive to be different, just let go of anything you identify with.

The most toxic form of identity is identity politics

When people organize around their identity, it actually causes MORE division than community. By focusing on your identity, whether you are black or white, republican or democrat, you are actually just boxing yourself in the corner, enslaving yourself to a label, and causing more division and hate in the world.

You are what you are not

A much more interesting approach to life seems to be identifying with what you ARE NOT. Meaning- the more things you acquire, the more things you identify with, actually make you LESS of an individual. So in order to become a true individual, in order to cultivate your true identity, simply identify yourself with the things that you DON’T do or DON’T consume.

Christian mysticism is the stream of Christianity that focuses on direct experience of God—not just belief, doctrine, or ritual, but an inner transformation and union with the divine.

At its heart is the idea that God is not only something to be understood intellectually, but something to be encountered, experienced, and lived.

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What Christian Mysticism Is (Simply)

A simple way to put it:

Christian mysticism is the pursuit of union with God through prayer, contemplation, purification of the heart, and love.

Mystics often describe:

• Deep inner stillness
• Experiences of overwhelming love or presence
• A sense of unity with all creation
• Detachment from ego, status, or material striving
• Seeing God in everything

It’s less about theology debates and more about transformation of the soul.

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Core Ideas of Christian Mysticism

1. Union with God

Mystics believe the ultimate aim of life is union with God—sometimes called:

• Theosis (Eastern Christianity)
• Divine union
• The unitive way

This doesn’t mean becoming God, but becoming fully aligned with divine love.

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2. Purification of the Self

Mystics often speak about:

• Letting go of pride
• Detaching from ego
• Simplifying life
• Cultivating humility

The idea is that God is always present, but the noise of the mind and the desires of the ego obscure that presence.

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3. Contemplation and Silence

Mystics emphasize:

• Silent prayer
• Meditation on scripture
• Stillness
• Watching the breath
• Being present

Not asking for things—just being with God.

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4. Love as the Highest Reality

For many Christian mystics:

God is not just truth or power — God is Love itself.

This leads to:

• Compassion toward others
• Seeing the divine in every person
• A sense of universal kinship

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Influential Christian Mystics

Pseudo-Dionysius (5th–6th century)

He taught apophatic theology — the idea that God is beyond all concepts.

Instead of saying what God is, he emphasized saying what God is not:

• Not limited
• Not material
• Not confined

God is beyond language and thought.

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Meister Eckhart (1260–1328)

Eckhart taught that:

• There is a divine spark within the soul
• The goal is inner stillness
• Detachment leads to union with God

He suggested that God is found in the ground of the soul.

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St. Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582)

She described the spiritual life as a journey through an “Interior Castle” with many rooms, leading to union with God in the innermost chamber.

Her writings are very psychological and practical about prayer.

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St. John of the Cross (1542–1591)

He wrote about the Dark Night of the Soul:

• A period of spiritual dryness
• Loss of certainty
• Feeling abandoned by God

But he taught this is actually a purification leading to deeper union.

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The Three Classical Stages of the Mystical Path

Many Christian writers describe the journey in three phases:

1. Purgative Way
   Letting go of sin, ego, and attachments.
2. Illuminative Way
   Growing in understanding, prayer, and virtue.
3. Unitive Way
   Experiencing deep peace and union with God.

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Practices in Christian Mysticism

Common practices include:

• Silent contemplative prayer
• Fasting
• Solitude
• Reading scripture slowly (Lectio Divina)
• Walking in nature
• Simplicity of life

Many mystics also worked with their hands—gardening, manual labor, walking—because embodiment was important.

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Eastern Christian Mysticism (Hesychasm)

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition:

• Repetition of the Jesus Prayer
• Breath awareness
• Stillness (hesychia = silence)

Goal: Prayer of the heart — where prayer becomes continuous and natural.

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What Makes Christian Mysticism Different

Compared to philosophy or theology alone, mysticism emphasizes:

• Experience over argument
• Transformation over information
• Being over knowing

It is lived, not just studied.

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A Simple Way to Understand It

If theology asks:
“What is God?”

Mysticism asks:
“How do I live in God?”

The Discalced Carmelites are a Catholic religious order devoted to contemplative prayer, silence, and union with God.

The word “discalced” means “without shoes” (from Latin discalceatus).
It refers to the reformers who returned to a simpler, more austere life—often wearing sandals or going barefoot as a sign of poverty and humility.

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1. Origins

The Discalced Carmelites were founded in the 1500s by two Spanish mystics:

• Teresa of Ávila
• John of the Cross

They reformed the older Carmelite order because they believed it had become too comfortable and distracted.

Their aim was to return to:

• Simplicity
• Silence
• Deep contemplative prayer
• Interior union with God

Not activism, not preaching crowds—but inner transformation.

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2. What They Believe

The spirituality of the Discalced Carmelites centers on:

Interior prayer
Prayer as a quiet, wordless encounter with God in the depths of the soul.

Detachment
Letting go of possessions, ego, and attachments that cloud perception.

Union with God
The ultimate goal is mystical union—what Teresa called spiritual marriage.

The Dark Night
John of the Cross taught that the soul often passes through a period of dryness or darkness before reaching deeper union.

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3. How They Live

There are two main branches:

• Friars (priests and brothers)
• Nuns (cloistered contemplatives)

Their life typically includes:

• Long periods of silence
• Meditation and prayer
• Simple manual work
• Fasting and discipline
• Living in small communities

It’s a life intentionally stripped down to the essentials.

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4. Mount Carmel and the Name

The Carmelites trace their spiritual roots back to hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land in the 12th century.

Those hermits wanted to imitate:

• The prophet Elijah
• A life of solitude and prayer in the wilderness

So the Carmelite tradition has always had this desert, prophetic, inward character.

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5. Why They Matter

The writings of Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross are considered some of the greatest works of Christian mysticism ever written.

They speak about:

• The soul as an inner castle
• The purification of desire
• Direct experience of God beyond concepts

In many ways, their language overlaps with:

• Neoplatonism
• Apophatic theology (like Pseudo-Dionysius)
• Eastern contemplative traditions

It’s a tradition focused less on belief and more on experience.

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A Reflection

Their whole path is about stripping life down until only the essential remains—
silence, prayer, attention, and love of God.

Because I am overflowing with physical vitality, my mind, body, and spirit is unstoppable

Snapshot Street Photography Changed Everything About My Practice

What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante.

Today I want to talk about snapshot street photography and how it’s completely transformed my practice.

For the past decade, I’ve been practicing street photography. But over the last three years, I’ve shifted into something much looser — photographing in a very open way using a compact digital camera, the Ricoh GR, and simply pointing and shooting without caring about the result.

I still understand what’s inside the four corners of the frame. I can see moments, compositions, potential photographs. But the difference with the snapshot is that I’m just living my everyday life and bringing the camera along for the ride — detached from whether I come home with a good or bad photo.

Letting Go of the Hunt

This approach emerged after years of going out into the world hunting for my next best photo. Traveling. Chasing locations. Trying to become the best photographer I could be.

And while striving for excellence is noble, I’ve realized something more important:

The meaning is in the process itself.

By immersing myself in photography every single day — no matter how mundane things might seem — and photographing wherever I am, I’ve found infinite creative potential.

I’ll give you an example. I went to the art museum with some friends and made a snapshot as one of them pointed toward Jesus on the cross. It was just a candid moment between me and one of my closest friends. Something I never would’ve photographed in the past, because I wasn’t “hunting” for a photograph.

Before, I was always looking. Always searching. Always trying.

Now, I’ve stopped trying.
I’ve stopped hunting.
And I’ve started becoming myself through the practice.

The Snapshot Isn’t “Less Than”

The snapshot isn’t something to look down on.

We often think:
snapshot vs photograph
amateur vs professional

But what’s liberating about the snapshot is that it’s democratic. It’s a way to cultivate curiosity in everyday life.

To me, the snapshot is the simplest and purest form of street photography. It doesn’t require technical mastery or formal education. I use a compact camera on automatic settings — usually program mode or aperture priority — and I adjust one thing:

Exposure compensation.

Everything else? Automatic.
Focus is set.
I press the button.

By removing the technical hurdles, I can fully embrace the present moment and start playing the game of street photography — noticing, responding, and photographing without friction.

Presence Over Perfection

The beauty of snapshot photography lies in the ability to notice.

Street photography, for me, is about:

• Presence
• Awareness
• Being embodied in the world

Enjoying the sounds, the smells, the movement of the street — and responding instinctively.

Photography isn’t about composition, lighting, or timing. Those things emerge naturally through intuition. Photography is about engaging with life, with humanity, and cultivating enthusiasm for simply being alive.

Photography is just waking up and wandering with a camera.

To do that, you need curiosity.
You need enthusiasm.
You need vitality.

Flow Through Everyday Life

The snapshot allows me to enter flow consistently because it’s seamlessly integrated into my life.

The camera stays in my front right pocket.
I go to work.
I photograph on my lunch break.
I hang with friends.
I walk the streets.

There’s no separation between being a photographer and being a human.

Photography becomes a way to find meaning in the mundane.

Your goal as a photographer isn’t to find something interesting — it’s to make the mundane interesting.

Don’t wonder if something spectacular will appear in your frame. Look at what’s already there and play the game of finding beauty within it.

The Art of Surprise

When I’m photographing, I ask myself:

What will reality manifest as a photograph?

Photography always surprises me. What I get back isn’t what I saw — it’s often what I didn’t see. That’s what keeps me curious.

Photography becomes an abstraction of reality.
It becomes an act of surprise.

That surprise fuels the loop:
play → curiosity → surprise → more play

Embracing Mistakes

Practically, I shoot small JPEGs, high-contrast black-and-white, crushed shadows, highlight-weighted metering. Imperfect. Raw.

Sometimes I make mistakes.

But those mistakes are where the magic is.

Those loose snapshots — those imperfections — are what keep me coming back.

Becoming, Not Completing

A lot of photographers get caught up in:

• Projects
• Bodies of work
• Books
• Themes

My goal is different.

My goal is to stay in the stream of becoming.

Joy is found in change.
Joy is found in evolution.

The moment you think something is finished, stagnation sets in. That’s burnout.

The snapshot liberates you from containment. It frees you from external validation. It allows you to photograph for yourself.

Final Thoughts

Street photography is presence.
Street photography is awareness.
Street photography is being here — now.

By carrying a compact camera every day and snapshotting whatever arises, no matter how mundane, I stay grounded in embodied reality. That’s where street photography is born.

This is my personal philosophy. I hope it encourages you to embrace play, stop taking photography so seriously, and just live your life.

Bring your camera for the ride.
The moments will arise.
You just have to notice.

Peace.

Why I Practice Street Photography When Nothing Is Happening

What’s poppin people? It’s Dante.

Today I want to talk about why I practice street photography when nothing is happening.

I’m no longer on the hunt for something interesting to photograph. When I’m out on the streets, I embrace the mundane. I recognize that this is the name of the game. The goal as a photographer is simple: do you have the ability to articulate the mundane nature of life?

Embracing the Mundane

One of the ways I do this is through light.

The simplest gestures — faces moving in and out of light, shadow play, people walking through a space — can be elevated from something ordinary to something extraordinary in a photograph. I don’t limit myself to only photographing when something is happening.

When you walk around the city, most of life is people moving from point A to point B.

If you’re attached to the outcome of finding something interesting, you’ll eventually hit stagnation and burnout. My goal is to be in an endless state of motivation — an endless state of making new frames.

Returning to Day One

I do this by mentally returning to day one, every single day.

I go out with a blank slate. No preconceived notions. No checklist. No expectation of a book or a project. I’m simply responding to the mundane life in front of me through instinct.

The present moment is the ultimate gift in life.

That’s what fuels my creative ability. It’s cultivating curiosity. It’s waking up with enthusiasm. From that state of being, photography becomes effortless, and the mundane becomes interesting.

Feeling More Deeply

I believe that when nothing is happening, something is there — you’re just not feeling deeply.

So when I’m out there, I look at the birds in flight. I look at the way light casts upon the world. A simple gesture. Someone reading a book in the park. A detail. Someone smoking. Reflections. All of it can be elevated.

But it requires you to be hyper-aware and present at the moment you press the shutter.

What Getting Close Really Means

There’s this idea of getting close in street photography that goes beyond physical proximity.

I believe closeness is an emotional quality you have about life. From that state of being, curiosity and photography become effortless and inevitable.

So don’t limit yourself to hunting for interesting moments on the streets. Don’t look at life as if it owes you something. Use photography as a way to say thank you — as a way to appreciate life with gratitude.

From an abundant state, you enter the flow state.

Thriving in the Everyday

This is the goal for me — to be in a state of being where everything around you becomes infinitely fascinating, and the mundane nature of life doesn’t become a burden. It becomes a game.

I love walking the same mundane lane every day. The goal isn’t to find something new in the world, but to find something new to say.

Look at the light.
Look at the gestures.
Look at the way people move.

It’s not about sensational moments or compact compositions. It’s about you and your interpretation of the world around you.

When you’re emotionally attached to outcomes, burnout is inevitable. But when you’re detached and present, photographs become inevitable.

Stop Hunting. Start Being.

Empty your mind. Enjoy the day. Respond to your gut.

Stop thinking. Just shoot.

Treat photography as a way of being — a way of staying present, a way of saying yes to life.

When you do that, photography becomes effortless and inevitable. It doesn’t matter whether or not anything interesting is happening.

Life is mundane. But through photography, life can become a dream.

So go out there. Create your own world with a camera. Explore your subconscious. Return to day one. Photograph in the spirit of play.

That’s the name of the game.

Go out there and play.