Little Bits
Sultanahmet, Istanbul June 10, 2017
So when does it stop being street photography and start being described as…..what? It’s always street photography to me in truth, because it’s what I see. Street photography for me, when I’m hitting my mark, is at base the attempt to put forth true life pictures, composed and photographed on the fly with the intention of accurately reflecting the juxtaposed elements, contradictions and minuscule happenstances that we all witness each day. I want to see pictures of what a place looks like, and clear representations of those people in the frame. I’m not interested in graphic displays of shadowy photographic manipulation, and I don’t feel compelled to question or contemplate photos that are abstracts of reality if they exclude all personal elements in favor of easier pictures intended to showcase technical photographic prowess at the expense of intimacy and the sublime nature of interaction. I don’t know what that other kind of street picture is called, but classic street photography it isn’t. It’s mathematical and attractive and and at times brainy…..but easy to pull off when technically correct photography replaces courage and the ability to get close to people without fear.
Her shoes are tightly tied around her ankles by extra large shoelaces, otherwise they would fall off…..after a blessed few pictures the Turkish police swept the two girls into a waiting van to take them somewhere….I know not where. I was only just beginning to see what I wanted out of these moments, to see the images I wanted to create, and was just grasping at and beginning to process my own intent when it was suddenly over. Yet another lesson in acting quickly and urgently because once it’s gone, it’s gone, and it is never, ever going to come back.
SUZANNE STEIN PHOTOGRAPHY 