Is Street Photography losing it's shine ?
As we head towards the end of 2016 I'm beginning to wonder if the limitations of Street Photography are becoming exposed and I'm asking myself if the stylized aesthetic we all bought into should be exchanged for a more meaningful Documentary approach ?
The overused visual devices that are looking so tired now are becoming parody's that define the art form, the Street Photography Now book should be re-released with the title Street Photography Then , as it is more useful as a historical record than a source for inspiration and is probably the greatest contributor to SP cliche ! Many of the on-line resources appear to be more engaged with kit rather than promoting the understanding of the "Street" environment that togs shoot and should be trying to interpret.
The value of the moment is becoming diminished due to the volume of "special moments" that appear to be captured everyday with 99% of them having nothing to say,
The series I'm shooting at the moment is nothing more than a dead pan record of two dimensional closed doors that will probably never open again . The surprise for me is that I feel as if these simple pictures reflect my life more than the slices of life I have shot previously. The UK appears to be a place of increasing uncertainty and change, but I see little of this reflected in the work. being created on the streets, the search for honesty and truth in personal picture taking has been replaced by the pursuit of pictorially pleasing anonymous shadows and silhouettes that avoid the real lives that create them..
2016 has taught me that I must bring more of myself and my life to my work , I believe that a greater level of visual integrity is more useful than my technical and aesthetic vanity .
Keep it real !
