Curious about…
The Reasons I Love Street Photography – The Curious Camera Club’s 1K followers Celebration.
Actually, this is a double celebration. We originally ran a competition on @thecuriouscameraclub Instagram page because we were super excited that we had reached 1K followers. But today we are ALSO celebrating the one-month anniversary of our Official Launch!
Make that a TRIPLE celebration… it turns out that the members of The Curious Camera Club are even more awesome than we anticipated. When we asked, “What makes you Curious about street photography?”, we had planned to select one outstanding answer for a feature.
Instead, we’ve decided to feature all sixteen entries (in no particular order). Because what’s the point of The Curious Camera Club having such brilliant members if we don’t showcase them, right? As always, be sure to visit these talented photographers’ Instagram accounts and show them some <3. They’re not only inspiring photographers, but really cool people. Just click on their names to head over to their accounts (links open in new tabs), and click on any of their featured photographs to enlarge them. No squinty little thumbnails here… Instagram take note.
@simonescarano.street
Serendipity is my favourite word and street photography to me is a perfect example of how to experience that in an artistic form. Every time I go out shooting, the curiosity for what form beauty may appear in to my eye puts me in a “treasure hunt” mindset, which is so much fun to me. Finding that beauty and being able to capture it is the most thrilling and rewarding experience!
Moreover, being a person who tends to wander with his mind a lot, street photography helps me stay in the present, in the very moment.
@simonescarano.street
@fortunathaly
I haven’t been shooting street photography for very long – I have always liked photography, and two years ago, I received my first camera and lens as a much-wanted birthday gift.
I am the kind of person who starts “doing” before “reading”, so I just started shooting. Only now am I starting to understand the settings and technicalities more, which does help.
Shooting different things was fun, but since I started posting on Instagram, I’ve learned what I love most is street photography. I feel this “thrill” when I go out… it’s just not the same when photographing the beach. But the beach/street/pool/stripclub/mall/supermarket with people in them (or anything connected with human interaction, without necessarily including people themselves), that IS fun. For the simple reason that that is life. People are life, not things. And life is fun, sad, shit, great, and so much more.@fortunathaly
Since I have been shooting street photography, I am noticing much more, which feels nice, like I am more alive… more awake.
@seastonestreet
Street photography: capturing moments that are simultaneously intimate yet universal, random yet synchronistic, poignant yet humorous, and dreamy yet real.
I love the solitude of doing street photography and never feel lonely – I think because I get so absorbed in noticing everything, it connects me to my surrounding, to other people, myself, and therefore life. When you are doing something you’re passionate about, you really feel alive! I enjoy the editing part too – discovering hidden surprises and creating something entirely new and unexpected.
The best thing about street photography, however, is that every image is unique. In this growing world of photographers, it is increasingly difficult to stand out. No one else will ever capture the same moment in the same way as you do, and that feeling is priceless.
@seastonestreet
@hi495th
Why do I like street photography?
Because it’s my therapy. Lots of things had been going on in my life over the last couple of years. Whilst I’m recovering, I made a trip to Bali to visit my sister, and I took a candid picture whilst on the plane. I took a picture of an old man gazing out through the window. That picture instantly struck me out, as it reminded me how we should seize every moment in our life, and that is what I struggled with at that moment.
After that trip, with some help from YouTube, I encouraged myself to take pictures about people’s daily lives. The first day was very intense, since I’m quite possibly an introvert type. I started with my phone, then a borrowed camera, and now I just got my first own camera. My photography journey, even though it is still early, already taught me a lot: how to be brave, to be sincere with myself, to be grateful, to live my life.
I know there is still a long way to go on my journey, but I can feel I’m better now, and hopefully I can become an even better person.
@hi495th
@christopherr_sanaghan
What makes me curious? Things that stand out. Things that take a different light to others. I’ll paint a little picture: every day I work, and I get thirty minutes break time to myself, when I rush out of my van to take photographs, because that’s what I love to do.
Some days it’s dark and gloomy, some days it’s bright… but I take photos. I look for light; I wait in that light. I’ve a 15 month old child, and another on the way in six weeks’ time, so I take photos with just my P20 Pro – I’ve not got a fancy camera, just my phone, because for now that’s all I can afford. But it’s not about the camera. It’s about the person behind it.
For me, street photography brings out a sense of rebellion. Should I take this photo? Should I not? But it’s about capturing the moment as how you see it, not anything else. What your eyes see is what you felt, and that is special.
@christopherr_sanaghan
@raph_stre
I often ask myself the reverse question: what am I for street photography? The answer to this question is a continuous search for a way of thinking about things. Surely I think that street photography is a fundamental way to understand and discover the habits of people and the places in which they live. To immortalise an event means to write pages of cultural history. This is why we are its creators. Well are all probably, for street photography, fundamental factors for the creation of identities.
In fact, how can we determine who man is without knowing the essence of this? In conclusion, I am curious to discover, through street photography, who I really am.
@raph_stre
@rik_yyy
Street photography keeps me curious because there is always an opportunity for a shot. Each corner, each neighbourhood, each path chosen holds a new possibility and new angles.
I love street photography because all you need is your eye and a camera with you. I can pass through the same place thousands of times and always discover something new, something beautiful… sometimes something that is always there, but for some reason, most people don’t see it.
@rik_yyy
@theshuttercurtain
My grandpa taught me how to use a film camera and I fell in love with it. When he passed away, I made myself a promise to keep on shooting pictures, and recently I got into street photography not really knowing about the genre, even though I read a couple of classic street photography books. So I decided to get a new camera and to start shooting some street scenes.
I’m in love with it, a lot. Every time I go out to shoot, it’s like a ritual to me, something that I need, that I strive to do every time. No matter the weather or the camera that I use, I always find time to snap a photo. I will always be grateful to my grandfather for showing me this world, because it’s the only thing I want to do for the rest of my life.
@theshuttercurtain
@impiccable
Street photography: what keeps me Curious is that even if you took the same photo every day at the very same time of the very same object, it would still come out differently each time. I love the surprising elements, the variables and the spontaneity required.
More so, I LOVE the mindfulness of practicing street photography and having to be alert and tuned in whilst out and about. Even if I return home with nothing but sh*t shots, the feeling of having done it and having been in that flow rocks harder than any synthetic high.
And the feeling of coming home with shots that nail what you wanted to capture… well, that’s about as much fun as you can have standing up with clothes on and a camera slung around your neck.
@impiccable
@in_publico
I got into street only recently, some time last year. I had only done landscape, cityscape and museums… usually trying to exclude people. But the more I looked at street photos on Instagram, the more interested I became in it. I found that I really like capturing people candidly, getting a natural expression rather than a posed one. That’s one aspect. Another is capturing a moment in the street that is just unrepeatable, and that either has humour or a special mood or composition.
I also like to work thematically, so I have started putting series of nine images together. It provides that little bit of extra challenge. And lately I’ve started trying to combine literary quotes with photos, because that allows me to combine my love of images with my love of books and words.
@in_publico
@_andrea_headley_
I got into street photography because of… a boy. When my crush started inviting me along to shoot with him, I, of course, said yes. Until then I mainly ventured into still life photography and nature photography. He showed me the ropes of walking the streets, keeping your eyes open, sometimes going to the shot, and sometimes letting the shot come to you. I began to see it as a sport, a challenge, and a game.
Alas, as with most situations like this, he loved me and left me. At first, I thought I wouldn’t want to get out and shoot street again. But what I realised is that I didn’t just fall for him (unworthy as he turned out to be), but I fell for the city – both LA and others. I fell for the street. And now it’s the thing that keeps me going. Street photography has introduced me to new friends, random strangers, and myself.
@_andrea_headley_
@chrisprior
I’m new to street photography but after one month of going out for an hour every day, it’s fast becoming my favourite way of shooting. THere’s always something different, it makes you look closer and notice things you wouldn’t normally, even in familiar surroundings. And it improves your photography skills rapidly, as you have to be quick, otherwise the moment is gone forever. It’s very exciting and has reignited my passion for photography.
@chrisprior
@hunter_shoots_raw
I like street photography because places and people are always changing. I can go to the same places day after day and see different subjects and different conditions. Also there is more of a community feel about the genre. I think this is due to the lack of financial opportunities within street photography. It’s more of an art for art’s sake thing.
@hunter_shoots_raw
@sidewalk_by_tj
I shoot street mainly because it connects me to my environment: it makes me appreciate every day (rainy or sunny), enjoy the little touch of lights through a tree or on a wall. It makes me look at people differently, all beautiful with the light and shadows shaping bodies and faces. And shooting film even more reinforces this feeling, slowing down the process even more.
@sidewalk_by_tj
@oi_look
What keeps me Curious? Trying to capture those small fantastical moments in life that most don’t see. Those moments that in the blink of an eye pass through and are lost forever.
@oi_look
@giant_evertonian
I love the genre of street photography because it reminds me that there’s beauty in the most mundane and simplest of things if you only take the time to look. To be able to capture that one fleeting gesture or witness the highs, lows and satirical coincidences that surround me/us every moment of every day is both very challenging and very addictive, but hugely rewarding.
@giant_evertonian
Some entries have been edited for clarity. The Curious Camera Club Team would like to thank everybody who participated in our 1K Followers Instagram event, and look forward to continuing to discover, support and promote street photography talent. Our community is growing because of its amazing members – thank you to you all for being awesome!