Recently, I’ve been adopting the snapshot approach to my street photography. This has been the most liberating technique and approach to making photographs that I found.
Imperfection is beautiful
The great thing about approaching photography loosely by making simple snapshots is the fact that the compositions become imperfect. Perhaps, embracing this allows for a more authentic and raw perspective. By throwing the camera around and photographing without much intention, the compositions naturally become much more dynamic and surprising.
Make things simple
Making snapshots is a very simple technique. You don’t have to have any real technical knowledge or skill when it comes to making snapshots. By simplifying my process, I have become much more creative and prolific with my photography. I am able to make many more new pictures that are much more interesting and resonate with me. Simplifying the process has opened me up to photographing of all sorts of things that I would otherwise overlook and not pay attention to.
When it’s all set and done, did you make the photo or did you not make the photo? I say, just make the damn photo!
The surprise is worth it
For me, I want to be able to photograph in the same location for the rest of my life. This means, the photographs that I make should be simple, yet surprising each time. By stripping down to high contrast, black-and-white, I’ve set a limitation that increases the probability of me surprising myself. Ultimately, I’m looking to innovate and push what a photograph can be, while not relying on interesting subject matter.