London Street Photography
“If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that Street Photography is just Human-Wildlife Photography, hear me out...”
Street Photography is an art form that I’ve always respected from a distance; I’d always admired the striking images captured by other photographers but had never turned a hand to it myself until recently, after a day experimenting in (and below) the streets of London I can confidently say that I’ve found another style of photographing than I love!
Before I met my company for the day (04/11/2020), Clare Edmead, I had a stroll around Kings Cross station, which was eerily quiet compared to usual, thanks to the pandemic.
The first stop pf the day wasn’t actually for taking photographs, but rather for admiring them. We visited the Natural History Museum in South Kensington for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition (WPY for short).
I admire wildlife photography in the same way I admire street photography - I have an appreciation of the level of skill that goes into it and am blown away by the images people capture, having never properly turned my hand to it. I’ve been captivated by the exhibition since my first visit, and so it has become an annual tradition for me, this year’s images were no exception and we left feeling inspired to capture some photos for ourselves, after a bite to eat.
After refuelling with a good Honest Burger, it was time to grab our cameras and hit the streets. We headed for South Bank via Westminster Bridge where we were treated to clear blue skies and the start of golden hour sunlight. I had expected all my images taken that day to be edited into black & white, but the way the autumn colours glowed changed my mind.
We stopped off at what seemed to London’s photography hotspot - the South Bank Skateboarders (I’m sure they have a much cooler name for themselves, although there is a nice ring to that if you ask me). Having spent years photographing wake-, paddle-, surf- and kite-boarders, skate-boarders were another to tick off the list, and I felt quite at ease photographing them.
One last trip underground before parting ways gave Clare and me the chance to capture the rush-hour commuters on their return home from a hard days grind. Baker Street was on my “shot list” for the day, having seen some awesome images during my brief research of London Street Photography. The image images I captured there are definitely my favourites and most proud from the day.
My final stop for the day was at the watering hole of The Hope where I met up with close-friend, and photographer, Max, to quench our thirst and have a good old chin wag before going into Lockdown Season 2 the day after.
If this day has taught me anything about photography it’s that street photography is just human-wildlife-photography (hear me out); it often takes a great amount of patience to capture the right moment with the exact composition, lighting and subject that you have envisioned in your head; but also fast of reflexes and reactions because that moment is fleeting and will never be the same again.
A brief footnote on camera equipment; Clare was shooting on her Canon 5D Mkiii with 35mm F1.4 and 85mm F1.2 lenses, and although I was jealous of her sharp and fast lenses, I felt at a huge advantage with my mirrorless camera body. The articulating rear screen allowed me to shoot from waist height and even ground level without crouching or lying down on the ground, allowing me to capture unique perspectives much more unobtrusively.
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