What's poppin, people? It's Dante. Welcome to module six, where we will be discussing humanity, play and story. And so I believe that one of the most important things to consider when it comes to photography is that it requires you to engage with humanity where photography, it really has nothing to do with photography, but it has everything to do with the way in which you engage with life. And so the secret to more success is in street photography has more to do with sociology than anything else. And so this is a fun thought. I give you permission to ask for permission, right? There's this big misconception in street photography that asking for permission will ruin the moment. It's not real street photography. And many people think that asking for permission kills spontaneity. But the reality is that permission can deepen the moment. And so confidence will grow through connection and. And the way in which you interact with humanity. And so what I'm trying to express in this very small, quick slide, as you can see this photo, is that there's so many nuances with the way the human experiences life, right? Like, if you're going out there to practice street photography, that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to, like, stand still and not talk to anybody and be some, like, weirdo, you know, but, like, engage with people. Go with the flow, you know? When I made this photo, I was in Jericho, and I went on an adventure with these two boys. We went hiking all throughout the mountain range, and then we arrived at this stream. And then naturally, over time, the scene unfolded and developed, and I was there and prepared with the camera to press the shutter on the front lines of life. But it was the human experience and the way that I engage with humanity that guided me to come home and improve my photography. And so here we have a photograph from Napoli, where I made pictures of this scene where there's people engaging with watermelon and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. And you may look at this photograph and say, wow, this is impactful, striking, layers, composition is nice. It's a great photo. But actually, the interesting thing is that the photo is simply a result and a reflection of the way that I was engaging at this scene. You know, I wouldn't have had the permission to make this photograph if these people didn't trust me. If I just went up to them and started running and gunning and making pictures, I wouldn't have come home with a composition like this. And so I was here with my brother, and we were chilling, hanging on the rocks, sunbathing. You know, I wasn't Hunting, you know, we were on vacation and exploring. And then as I noticed this scene unfold, I started to put together the composition. And the way that I put together a frame when I'm engaged at a scene and I have permission and I'm close to the subjects is I like to find an anchor. I like to find a background, something that sort of puts the photograph in its place naturally. And this man swimming in the sea became the anchor. And it was essentially my physical body moving through the scene as the watermelon was being cut and being brought out that influenced the result of the composition. And so the way that I move my body in relationship to that swimmer in the sea is what created the layers throughout this frame. And so, as I move my body, the foreground naturally fills one third of the frame in relationship to the mid ground of the man on the left hand side holding the watermelon, forming this triangular shape between those watermelon. And. But these kind of things come together naturally through my physical positioning in relationship to that anchor that I had in the background of the composition, creating a spiral effect, a visual feast for the viewer's eye. And so you can see how I made the frame here in this contact sheet. It all came down to me recognizing and unfolding and allowing the unfolding of the scene happen naturally. And so I was close to this man in Napoli, photographing as he cracked open the watermelon, he was actually sharing it with me and my brother and the other locals here at the scene. And so what happened was I noticed the swimmer and I started to position my body in relationship to that swimmer and the scene that was unfolding in the foreground in order to create depth and layers at the scene. And so you can see in this particular sequence in the contact sheet, the way that I framed that man that was swimming in the background really became my anchor and allowed the gestures of the people with the watermelon in the foreground to simply fall together naturally. And so I built structure firstly. But I had this engagement with humanity that created the access for me to make that photograph, for me to add layers and depth to that picture where the people were relaxed, you know, it became very honest, you know, when I was making that frame, it wasn't like I had to force myself into a situation, but I naturally had permission to. To make photograph, to make photographs closely. And so I want to share with you one of my secrets, one of my techniques that I've used early on in my journey to improve the way in which I engage with humanity and get Access to photograph in certain scenes. And so this is something I believe that you should adopt. If you're trying to learn the layering technique, it can become your secret weapon. And so, essentially, I would carry an Instax camera throughout my journey, traveling all throughout the world. And sometimes I would see a scene that was interesting or a person that I wanted to photograph. And so I. I would gift the people in these communities that I photographed in stacks pictures. And this becomes an instant gift and an instant connection and a confidence and trust builder that transcends language and cultural barriers, that will open doors literally and metaphorically. And so when I use this technique, it quite literally had me sort of going on the adventure of a lifetime where I essentially find myself engaging with humanity so much more deeply with when I actually gift photographs to other people. Where here we have a real example of these brothers in Jericho, where we went to the top of the Wadi Kelp mountain range. And so, essentially, I was praying in a mosque, and I was observant, and I was just curious about Islam. And so these men saw my curiosity, and they. They. They then invited me to their home. And so we had tea and coffee, and then they invited me to go to the top of the mountains. And so as I sort of spent time with this group of brothers, through me simply having that curiosity of engaging with their community. And then G Instax prints as a gift, they took me on this journey to the top of the mountain, and I had the experience of a lifetime. And so you can see me here posing with the Jalin brothers, enjoying this tea, enjoying some coffee, dancing, singing, chanting, and looking out towards the Dead Sea. We had this beautiful view. But as we were making this trip to the top of the mountain, the car broke down. And I stepped out of the car to create this photograph. And so these kind of images derive through physical experiences and engaging with humanity. Right. And so you can see in the behind the scenes of this contact sheet, the photograph that I came home with was on the journey to the top of the mountain. And so you really have to trust the process, embrace the journey, and allow these moments to unfold naturally through the way that you engage with humanity. And so I have this adventurous spirit that allows me to go out there and make these kind of photos. And so, as you can see, the photo that I made includes the car in the foreground of the frame. And this is what allowed me to add depth and layers in this composition. And so we have a simple scene here of this car in the foreground in relationship to the People in the mid ground and the sky in the background. But this came through me being there, being prepared, engaging with humanity, and then recognizing very quickly, in order to add depth and layers to the scene, that I needed to include that shape of the car in the foreground of the frame to draw the viewer's eye and create this visual feast. And so be a human first and a photographer second. Recognize that you are a person, right? You're not just a camera with legs, okay? So recognize that your participation is more important than extraction, right? You want to have presence over distance and closeness. This isn't necessarily just physical proximity, right? You hear this notion of getting close in photography, but really it's an emotional quality that you can possess by engaging with humanity, being a human first and a photographer second. And so asking for permission will allow you to work the scene. When you have, you know, permission, it's really easy for you to then work the scene and make these kind of layered frames. But these kind of ways in which you can gain permission don't always have to become this thing where you're, you know, asking somebody, hey, I'm a street photographer, Can I make your picture right? It comes naturally, right? I think that what happens is you kind of don't have to force anything. Your body language says everything. You're not directing, you're not flipping, forcing these moments. You simply just have comfort in the scene that you're photographing. And so it's not necessarily you interrupting the moment, but you're simply being engaged at the moment when you press the shutter. And your presence, your body language, the way that you are holding your, your yourself together is ultimately going to give you that permission. So you don't always have to explicitly ask, hi, I'm a street photographer, can I take your picture? You can have that sort of presence through body language, through the way that you hold, hold yourself with confidence. And then having the permission kind of just comes naturally. And then you're just there with your camera as a fly on the wall. And so engagement will improve your layering because then you don't have to rush. You know, when you have permission and people are allowing you in their space, you'll have more time for things to unfold and enter your frame. And so recognize that fear, this is the barrier that you must overcome. You know, fear is good. If you feel fear, it's important for you to recognize that you're probably doing something right. And then overcoming that fear through courage is going to allow you to break the barrier and get closer to humanity. And make pictures where your courage is. What's going to add depth to your frames? Fear. This is going to flatten the images. And so the more courageous you become, the more confident you become. And the more you can overcome that fear of getting close to humanity, the better the photos will become. The more time you can spend at a scene, working that scene to come home with a layered frame. And so engagement, this is a practice, right step. Standing calmly, having confidence, making eye contact, letting people notice you. This is important for you to hone in on as you go out there and practice street photography. Because really, when you're in a new place, especially a different country, you're not going to be able to express yourself with language, but you're going to use your body language. You're going to use those subtle cues of being a human that then influence you and your ability to come home with a layered frame. And so if you're standing on the corner scared and fearful, you're not going to be able to do this kind of photography. And so first and foremost, you. You need to think about sociology and the way that you engage with humanity so that you can actually go out there and practice layering. And so layering needs humanity. Layering is something that requires you to gain trust from the subjects. It's something that makes it so when you're out there and you're making these pictures, they feel the photographs you make, they'll feel more alive because you had this emotional closeness to the subjects. You had this sort of physical proximity in relationship to the emotional proximity that then allows for these layered frames to come together very naturally. But, you know, building confidence takes time. You know, I think that the Instax technique, this is something that you can sort of pull out of your sleeve in order for you to improve your confidence and your courage. And so I encourage you to take this sort of first lesson here and really try to apply this to your practice so that when you're out there in the world, you can start to really become more comfortable. And in order to start working the scene and working the layering technique. And so my secret is embracing the spirit of play. So that's what we're going to discuss today, right? The ultimate secret that I have up my sleeve is that I don't take myself seriously. I have fun when I'm on the street. You know, I don't go out there and treat myself so seriously when I'm practicing photography. And I don't think that you should either, because the less serious you take it and the more you embrace, play, the more these kind of photographs will come to you naturally. You're not going to have to force anything. And so this is a moment that I have as an example from Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, this Palestinian refugee camp, Right. We have this man playing with a watermelon. And essentially, it's interesting because when I arrived at this location, there's this gigantic looming wall. You go through the checkpoint, the Israeli soldier looks at your passport and looks at you up and down. You go through the metal detector with your camera. You enter through the barbed wire fence, and then you're there, step standing at this wall. And now you're locked in, basically, Right? You're in this space. It's a quite dangerous space. It was my first time arriving at this space, and I wanted to photograph the wall. And so I went forward with courage despite my fear. And that's because I have a playful energy. Right. When I approached this scene, I was laughing and joking with this man. And then as the scene unfolded, naturally, he lifted the watermelon onto his head and gifted me with this beautiful moment. But it came through that sort of banter, through that lack of seriousness, through my body language, through the conversation, through the way that I interacted with this particular community. Despite it being incredibly dangerous on the outside, I found that my playful energy is what allowed me close to this person in proximity on the inside. And so we'll look at the behind the scenes of how I interacted on the street as I was 20 years old, I think. Yeah. When I made this picture, maybe it was like a decade ago, basically. Hi. Is it okay to take a photograph of the. Yeah, it. The sun is beautiful and the green. The color nice. Yes. What time do you eat? Ramadan? Not now. Okay. After 12. Wow. I'm from America. Yes. Trump. Maniac. Maniac. Yeah, he's crazy. A little crazy. A little crazy. A little crazy. Yeah. Yeah. In America. I live in Philadelphia. Yes. Oh, nice. Oh, cool. Miami's beautiful. And so that was one of those moments that really taught me how to engage with humanity. Early on in my journey, you know, despite being nervous, I was playful. I was interacting. I was discussing the beautiful color and the light. I was moving my body around the scene. And then through that sort of interaction with humanity, I was gifted with that beautiful moment. Adding depth and layers to the frame came naturally, but it was a response. It was a reflection of the way that I engaged with humanity. Photography, it has nothing to do with photography. And when you go out there and you work the scene through play, it's going to dissolve the fear. You're going to feel less self conscious. People will relax, the gestures will loosen and the scenes will last longer as you're playful and not taking yourself serious so seriously. And so I encourage you to embrace the spirit of play. This is critical for me where play, it creates access, right? Openness is going to invite participation. And I believe that you'll have this sort of shared rhythm with the people on the street as you're not necessarily taking yourself so seriously. And I think that the more you embrace play, the less that you take yourself seriously, the less that you're thinking and the more that you're feeling and you'll start to respond with that instinct much more naturally. And so seriousness, I think this kills the rhythm. I think a lot of photographers take themselves way too serious, like they're on this journey to tell a visual story. And they're out there with their camera on their neck, really taking themselves so seriously with rigidity, overthinking and trying to make something. But if you're rushing these kind of frames by taking it so seriously, you're going to start to bruise the scene, right? You're going to start to interrupt what's going on. But if you're playful and you're open, things kind of just unfold naturally and it will kill your rhythm if you're too serious and rigid. And so play isn't disrespect, right? It's respectful, it's mutual. It's something that you don't necessarily impose. It's a shared experience when you're playful. And so the way that you engage with the world, the way that you are as a person is going to reflect in the photos you make. And so by embracing that playful energy that reflects itself back to me and the things that I create and so smile more, let go of the outcome, allow imperfection to sort of arise naturally through the frames that you make. You know, kind of enjoy the moment, stay present, right? There's simple sort of confidence boosting tricks that I can teach you, but it really is something that happens through experience, right? Smiling the Instax camera can also dissolve that kind of fear. Letting go of the outcome, not taking yourself so seriously, it really is a mindset how to practice play. You really have to go out there and treat the world like you're just this big kid with a camera, ready to explore on the playground and not taking yourself so seriously. And so the more that you play, the more fear will dissolve. And the more that fear dissolves the closer to life you will get. And the closer to life you will get, the more depth will reveal itself in your frames, the more you'll be able to practice layering and so recognize that. And so when you're in these situations and you have access to photograph at a scene, photograph with intention. And so here we have a scene that I photograph on the top of the mountain in Mexico City. And so I have this adventurous spirit. And I always love to go to the outskirts of the city. And so I decided to hop in a taxi and tell the driver to drive me to the outskirts. You know, I just wanted to go somewhere new. I didn't want to photograph in the same areas where everyone shoots in Mexico. And so I arrived at this gondola and I went for this ride to the top of the mountain. I was with my friend Matthew, who photographed with me throughout Israel and Palestine. And so as we climbed the mountain, we recognized the cross, and we were looking to photograph the cross. And we arrived at this construction site. And at the construction site, we recognized some potential here. And so I climbed the ladder and I saw this statue of Jesus. And I had the intention at the scene. And I'll roll a behind the scenes video. And you can hear as I speak out loud at the scene, that I can relate the subject in the foreground to the sculpture of Jesus in the background. And we have that storm cloud with the mountains in the background. And I had the structure built, but I recognized the potential at this scene by looking at the details and different things, by looking at Jesus and then recognizing that I could create something here. But then all of the other spontaneous elements kind of came together naturally. But I was committed to this idea with intention. And then the arms outstretched, mimicking Jesus in the background was the cherry on top that I could not necessarily control. But that's through me having the intention when I'm photographing. It's really important for you to have intention and recognize that with intention and preparation, you can increase your luck and increase your ability to wait and predict and time these kind of moments with alignment. And so watch how I engage with humanity and gain access and trust at this scene to then build this photograph with intention. Yeah, building. I'll go up. I'm going. To. Dude, it's sketchy. Whoa, dude. Matthew, you gotta come up here. If you get the guy in the right spot, you can get Jesus and the guys. Hey, Bro. Oops, oops, oops. And so you can see the way in which I engaged at the scene, you know, handshaking the man afterwards, you know, engaging with this person is what ultimately gave me the access to make this photo. And so with intention, though, anything is possible. It feels like, you know, where this kind of moment was just gifted to me, right? We have this sculpture of Jesus in the background. Position my body in relationship to that statue, creating that, you know, using that statue almost like an anchor point. Kind of like how I used the sort of swimmer in the Mediterranean Sea from that photo in Napoli to sort of guide the structure of the frame. So I use that statue of Jesus as the anchor. And so I set my stage. And what happened after building that structure is a miracle, right? This man outstretching his hands with his gesture on his face, looking very mysterious, mimicking the gesture of Jesus in the background. But that structure of the frame, I set that stage very naturally, with intention, through recognizing the possibility of the interactions between the background and the foreground. And. And then everything else kind of fell together naturally, right? We have this dog that swooped by at the bottom left corner of the frame. We have that bag that sits right underneath his armpit on the right side with clear separation throughout the different things throughout this picture, despite there not being strong, striking light. And so the cherry on top of this picture, of course, is the gestures mimicked between the statue of Jesus and the man with his arms outstretched. And so this is something that you really can't find force. But with intention and preparation, anything is possible. And so essentially, intention is choosing what matters and including that in the frame and removing what's not important from the frame. And so with this picture I made in Penn's Landing, I was obviously intrigued by this Ferris wheel, but there was the element of the woman in the foreground that was in the ticket booth that was important for me to include. And so I basically narrowed the attention to those two elements to create these relationships, okay? And so intention will create coherence in the frame. You'll start to recognize the alignments and things that can occur at a scene, whether it's a rainbow, a Ferris wheel, a sculpture, you know, a man swimming. All of these different things that you see on the street can become, you know, something predictable. You'll start to see the repetit repetition at certain scenes and recognize the alignment. That can become much more intuitive over time with intention. And so, you know, as you're photographing on the streets, it's really important for you to be patient. And essentially, when you have intention, you'll start to have a clear expectation of what is possible. You know, when you Notice a moment of somebody repeating a gesture, and you have the sort of intention of making a picture of that gesture. You'll start to slow down, you'll be less bored, and you will become more patient because you actually have a goal. You have something that you're trying to photograph and achieve at a scene. And so intention, it's not necessarily control, right? You're not manipulating the scene or staging the scene. You're really just in the moment and present and so hyper aware of the possibilities of alignment that the result of the photograph almost feels like a miracle sometimes. But it's the. Through being patient and observing these patterns and watching the alignment. And so let reality finish the idea. You know, you want to sort of invite the moments. You don't want to force anything. And so reality will surprise you as you photograph with intention. And so recognize that play plus intention will allow these moments to sort of emerge very naturally. The more playful you are, the more you can engage with humanity. The. The more you engage with humanity, the more access you have, the more you can be patient with confidence and have the intention to make a particular strong layered frame. And so when you're making pictures, choose what matters, include what's important, and remove what's unimportant. Prepare the frame with structure, wait with purpose, and let life complete itself naturally. And let the moments unfold in front of you with patience and preparation and intention. Really anything is possible, but it really comes down to how you engage with the world. And so now we're going to discuss content versus form in layered images and what this means. So what is content? Content is essentially the moment, the gesture, the emotion, life unfolding, right? This is always unpredictable, you know, this is the spontaneous nature of the streets, right? Those fleeting gestures, those moments that are occurring, right? We have this man smoking with his cigarette in the foreground, right? The content of the frame. What is form? Form is the structure of the frame. It's the placement of the different elements between the foreground, middle ground and background. It's the shape, it's the balance, it's the light. You know, light gives shape and form to the structure. And so essentially, this is created through your physical positioning. Think of composition. And so content alone isn't enough, because sometimes you'll have a strong moment, but weak structure, a chaotic background, a flat photograph, right? These things can occur through you, maybe emphasizing too much one thing or the other. And so the best street photographs synthesize content and form. And so form alone also isn't enough, because you can have a beautiful structure but there's no emotional weight in the picture. And then the image will essentially fall flat, lacking life. And so you want to synthesize both with layering, life enters the structure, structure holds the meaning. And so the moments will feel inevitable as you start to build your frames this way, recognizing the ability for you to synthesize content and form in your frame. And so it's really important for you to recognize that you need balance and harmony between content and form. And the best photos aren't leaning one way or the other, but they're synthesizing both together through layering in the streets. And so the goal of the photographer is to put order to chaos. Where the street is chaotic, the content is out of our control. But the photographer who is. Is the person who imposes order to these moments through recognizing structure, through your positioning and your patience. And so when you're out there and you're trying to make a photograph of a spontaneous moment, one of the simplest ways that you can achieve this is by setting your stage, choosing the background, firstly, watching the light, defining the space, what's. And the sort of four corners of your frame. And then you're essentially just waiting for the content. And this allows you to increase the possibility of you making something from the chaotic nature of life. And so the responsibility of the photographer is to essentially stay present, to be there, right? Not just to react, but to sense the potential of a scene unfolding and to prepare the structure to put order to the scene. And so content plus form together is what makes strong layered form frames. Neither alone is enough. And layering is what's going to unite both of these together. And then essentially, as you combine the content with the formalities of composition, meaning will emerge naturally. And so make sure when you're out there and you're practicing layering, that you're not too caught up with composition at the forefront. You know, of course we want structure, but we also need content. And so the best photographs synthesize these two things. And this is where play comes in. This is where engaging with the world comes in. And the more that you engage with life and find yourself out there on the front lines of life, playfully engaging with people, photographing with intention, you can easily synthesize content with form because you have confidence and access to make these kind of frames with closeness. And so we're now going to discuss layering and the use of layering to create meaning. And so layers create meaning. And so when you're. When you're photographing, you know, you're looking at a Moment, it's a quick, fleeting thing. But when you relate that quick, fleeting thing to something else that's occurring in the street. These relationships are what create meaning in the picture. And so meaning essentially lives in the relationships. You know, one subject is rarely enough. You want to have different things going on in your frame that relate. That allow the meaning to emerge very naturally. This isn't something you can force, but it really does influence your ability to create meaning. The idea of making a photo with layers, right? Relating the foreground to the background. Looking for gestures and different things that Those sort of, like, simple relationships that are made between the subjects in your frame. That sort of charge your photograph with meaning. And so meaning, it lives between things. It lives between elements, between people, between gestures, between moments. And so the narrative role of layers is really important. Where the foreground can sometimes have an emotional impact on a viewer with a gesture. Where the middle ground is where the action occurs. And the background giving context adds layers and depth and weight throughout the frame. And so meaning is created through the separation. Where the separation of the layers will create clarity. Where the overlapping elements can sometimes collapse the meaning of. But through layering, we can guide the viewer's eye. Throughout these different relationships that are made. Creating meaning and impact in the frame. And so one of the simplest ways to create meaning in a frame. Is through the use of juxtaposition. Where there's unrelated elements that combine together. That create tension or irony in a photograph. And so these kind of moments create meaning without explanation. And essentially, the viewer will complete the idea in a picture. And so with that picture you see here of this man here holding this newspaper. It's charged with meaning. Simply due to the fact that we have this face of Muhammad Ali. And this was the newspaper cover when he passed away. But the thing that I did was make a micro adjustment and movement. To relate the way that this man is holding the newspaper. In relationship to the suit that he's wearing. And so the relationship between the face of Muhammad Ali. The placement of his face on top of the man holding this newspaper. Is what gives this photograph weight. You know, not only is it the character in the frame that is interesting. But it's also this sort of ironic tension between the gesture. And the way that I physically position these two elements together in relationship to the background on the right hand side. Synthesizing this composition with layers using juxtaposition. And so proximity will suggest closeness. Distance will suggest separation. And so the distance that you have towards your subjects. Will also create these different relationships naturally. And so Contrast, it will reveal meaning. You know, whether or not subjects are stationary or moving. That sort of motion around stillness, that sort of way in which these different things interact within a composition, those relationships that build will also hold meaning. And so avoid forcing meaning. You know, these things aren't something that you have to sort of force in a picture. I think that a lot of the time, if you're trying to make a statement or you're trying too hard, the photograph sometimes falls flat, right? But you got to allow life to unfold naturally and allow the meaning in your frame to emerge through the way that you relate different subjects throughout the composition from the foreground, middle ground and background. And those different relationships cause tension in a picture, creating story and meaning, and so let meaning emerge. Embrace ambiguity, right? Not everything needs to be resolved. Not everything needs to be an open ended or like a concrete kind of picture, but it can be open ended. That allows the viewer to sort of interact with the picture as the sort of different planes and the different relationships that are made sort of linger with the viewer. And so I think that it's important to embrace ambiguity because it will add depth over clarity alone. And so layers are meaning tools, right? Layers are what's going to help you form these relationships between the different elements within a frame that naturally give meaning and weight to your picture, that naturally tell a story. You don't necessarily need to force these things, but by layering different elements and relating different people throughout your frame with intention, meaning will emerge naturally. And so now we're going to discuss emotion versus abstraction in street photography and how we can blend these two together to create stronger photographs. And so there's these two gravitational pulls in photography, emotion and abstraction. And I don't believe that either is better. They just feel differently, right? Where an emotional driven photograph has this immediate feeling, right? We have gesture, expression, human connection. It's very readable. Quickly here we have a frame that I made of this couple in Mexico City engaging in a kiss as the water is coming down from the sky. We have this incredible rainstorm in the background in relationship to the kiss in the foreground, right? There's emotion driven photograph that gives you an immediate feeling, whereas an abstraction driven photograph requires slower reading. We have a combination of shape and form, light and shadow. There's more of a feeling rather than a narrative in these kind of images. And so layering for emotion is very simple. You want to have a clear subject with strong separation, a clean background, and a structure that supports the emotion on the faces of the people in your frame. And so when you're making a picture, make sure to separate the elements in your picture clearly. Make sure that the emotion on the face is separated from the background, that there is no clutter and overlap, so that the emotion can have an impact through layering. And so when you're layering for abstraction, look for the ways in which light can sometimes cast upon a space. Look for, you know, ambiguity. Sometimes the overlap between elements can become interesting. You know, silhouettes and shadows. Looking for light as a way for you to sort of abstract reality is one of those simple ways to add depth to a. To a picture, right? Light is sometimes one of those things that can instantly sort of give you the ability to create more abstract frames. And so emotion will dominate attention. A frame. Here we have this amazing celebration inside of a church in Zambia. And the expression of this man's face as he is singing with all of his heart is very much visible, smack dab in the center of the frame. And so I believe that when you have an emotional photograph, it's really important that that gesture is separated from the rest of the frame so that it's easy to read and supports the sort of emotion of the face of the person. And so when abstraction leads in a photograph, you know, this is where things can become a little bit more complex. We want us have a little bit more ambiguity where the viewer will explore slowly. And so emotion, it's kind of indirect, where feeling arrives over time, whereas abstraction, this is something, you know, that will require the viewer's eye to sort of move throughout the frame. And the feeling that the viewer will get is something that sort of lingers with time. It's not something that's going to be so impactful directly. Right? It's an indirect sort of feeling that you get while looking at these kind of abstract frames. And so the way in which we can start to make photographs with more intention is by having clarity of our vision, right? And so I think that sometimes emotion and abstraction can clash, but it really depends on the scene. It depends on what you're trying to achieve. You know, I think it's interesting sometimes to blend these things. You know, I think that it's important to have the ability to photograph with intention. And when you see something with clarity, then you can start to build the frame. And so here we have this boy who's seated inside of this little shop here. And of course, we have some abstraction going on, right? We have this triangular shape of light. We have the reflection of the buildings. We have some elements here that are a bit More abstract and allow for light and shadow and reflection to give visual interest in the frame. But I combine the gesture of this boy and his facial expression looking up towards the light to add more emotional weight. And sometimes the simple gesture of a face, the simple sort of like facial expression of somebody, you know, these things can add emotional depth to a picture. But it's important for you to have clarity of what you're trying to achieve. And so you can sometimes lose sight of what you're trying to do. And so it's important to simply have intention, essentially. And so you can use these things together. Right? Emotion and abstraction together can create strong street photos and both can coexist. You know, where I'm photographing a real moment of this man with his rooster, but I'm using the light and the way that it's casted upon this space and the shadow on his face to add a little bit more abstraction to the frame, to add a little bit more mystery to the frame and allowing the layering to transition from that light to the shadow area and revealing some different things that are going on in this picture that are a little bit more mysterious. You know, from the eye of the sort of main subject here to the little reflection in the window, the rooster and the mystery, and then finally the subject on the right hand side, where the light and shadow play, interacting with the emotion of this man's face creates a more mysterious frame. And so emotion is all about immediacy. You see a moment of somebody gesturing, you see a facial expression that is strong and prominent, it's going to give an immediate response to a viewer where abstraction, it can linger with the viewer, where the viewer's eye will carry throughout the frame. And I believe that layering is a way for us to bridge the. Bridge these things together where we can use light and shadow, we can use reflections, and we can combine that with the human elements within our frame to essentially combine both emotion and abstraction, content and form to create stronger street photographs. And so finally, we will discuss the world as a stage. You know, the world is a stage. I think that when you consider life this way, it's very interesting, you know, especially with layering, you know, we want to have structure in our photographs. And so when you recognize that, you know, the stage being, you know, whatever it is that you're putting within your frame is already arranged, right? There's already things going on, but it's really up to you to sort of set your stage right. It's not necessarily like life is like or like the world is like this backdrop, right? But it's like when you're photographing and you're using layers. You're. You're allowing the life that's unfolding in front of you to happen naturally, right? Your job is to simply just notice these things. Your job is to simply notice the world this way. You know, where the street, it's already performing. You know, gestures are repeating, patterns are emerging, and rhythm is forming. And these moments are constant. But it's really just up to you as the photographer to recognize those moments, to recognize the structure that you can create and recognize how the world is a stage and we're all simply actors, but you can put order to it, almost like the conductor of the orchestra. And so stages exist everywhere. They exist where there's light, patches, doorways, corners, crossings, ordinary places. I think that it's important to look at the world this way because as you're layering, we always are looking for those simple backgrounds. We're always looking for those sort of places that set the characters, that set the actors upon our stage cleanly so that we have separation throughout the frame. And so what defines a stage, essentially, a stage is a place for layers. You know, here we have the Mount Vesuvius in the background. There in Napoli, right, We have that clear, defined space with the horizon line, the water in the background, and the separation between the foreground and the middle ground and the background was very easy for me to put together in this frame. It was something that allowed for separation and relationships between the different elements in my frame. You know, the stage itself is essentially where the people in your frame will be living and acting. And so choose the background, watch for the light and define the frame and what you put within the four corners. And so when you have this sort of limited variable about what you're placing within your frame, and this is how you can impose control over the chaotic nature of life when you set a stage. And so stop chasing for the actors, but find the stage, right? When I was photographing here at this scene, I was intrigued by the beautiful fog in Penn's Landing. I was looking at the bridge and looking at the light and looking at the fog and this beautiful scene. And then naturally, as I was intrigued by this stage, people actually just emerged in the scene. And I allowed the scene to breathe, and I allowed people to enter. I wasn't hunting for any particular subject or trying to make something extraordinary from these people's gestures. I was simply looking at life, looking at the scene and allowing the people in the frame to come naturally. And Then the scene kind of just fell together through me recognizing the stage. Firstly, I wasn't chasing the actors. And so you can repeat this kind of technique of layering by returning to the same places over and over again. You know, here is the same location, a different angle, however, but it's the same exact place, right? The same backdrop, the same sort of situation, you know, where the people are standing in different ways now. And so when you go back to the same location over and over again with repetition, this will reveal the play. This will reveal the way that actors dance upon the stage. And I think that it's important for you to go back to the same locations, find these stages in your local hometown that you can sort of work with to influence your ability to practice layering. And so one of the best locations for me to practice layering was here in Penn's Landing, because I knew that I have this stage, right, this consistent stage, this consistent place where I can always come back to and have, like, you know, basically just clean separation between the background and the foreground and the different people that enter the frame. And so it's important to really stay consistent and go back to the same places with repetition and see the different ways that you can make frames in these places. And so you're simply going to bear witness to whatever happens within the stage. You're not out there imposing anything. You're simply observing life. And the control that you have over the scene, the control that you have over the moment, happens naturally through your physical positioning and what you include and exclude from the frame. And so it's important for you to be present, right? This is more important than you being clever in the way that you can compose or do a visual trick. I think that with presence, you will start to have intention with your compositions. You will start to sense the world this way as a stage. And you will start to put together this visual puzzle of the different people throughout your frame with layers and depth. And so prepare space, find a stage, find a place that you can return to time and time again. Wait patiently, let life enter, and remember that the curtain always rises, and there's always another time for you to go back and to try again. And so when you find yourself practicing with repetition by returning to these same locations with your stage, you can really start to hone in on that intuition that guides you to make these kind of layered frames. And so I encourage you to practice to find places nearby that you know you can return to time and time again that give you that ability to set the stage and then wait for the actors in the play. And so, thank you for watching this module. I will see you in the next one.