This street photography was complex, yet simple at the same time. It was difficult for me to think of a theme because New York City has so much to offer. It was challenging to focus on one subject because there would always be another scene that was more appealing to the eye. In addition, themes seem to overlap each other, making it even more difficult to find photos that would clearly represent my theme. However, this old versus new architecture theme developed over time as I began to take more photos. As I walked down various streets in the city, I found myself captivated by the beauty of buildings at night or under certain light. My experience is similar to that of Larry Sultan’s (author of a passage from Photography Packet) in that I did not know what I wanted until I took multiple photos. I chose this theme because there are buildings everywhere in NYC. However, I rarely stopped to look at these structures because they all look the same from the ground level. However, if I stopped to assess my surroundings, I would realize that every building is unique in its own ways.
This part of the project gave me the opportunity to travel to various areas in NYC. Old buildings seem to be common among new neighborhoods, or rather they would stand out more. I was also generally pleased with the quality of the photos because they were taken with my phone. It was difficult to zoom in due to the settings of the camera, but the shutter speed was quick. Images were not blurred when they came out. When choosing locations, I focused on old buildings that seem to be in the center of new ones. This allows for a more apparent comparison of the two buildings’ conditions. In various images, I focused on how older buildings tend to be taller than the newer apartment buildings. Isolated buildings were more interesting to observe because their features would be more apparent. In these photos, newer buildings are often set apart from older buildings, which were connected to each other.
Issues I came across when I was snapping photos of various buildings in the city were lighting and positioning. It was difficult to find the perfect spot where I can capture the entire background. In a couple of photos, I had to decide what I could leave out of the frame and what needed to be kept. Every time I shifted my position, the lighting would change slightly. This forced me to readjust the screen and reassess what should be in the photo. For many of the photos in this set, I wanted to follow the Rule-of-Thirds. However, this was not easy to accomplish because these tall buildings would take up most of the frame. It was also challenging to experiment with different depth-of-fields because I was unable to adjust the camera’s setting.
Also, I depended on natural light when I took photos. As a result, many photos were dimmer than what I expected. Noticing this trend, I was able to utilize the light to illuminate many of these buildings. For example, in the photo of City Hall, I was able to use the shadows of the new buildings on the side to highlight the outline of the old building, which is positioned in the middle. Many photos in this set utilize this method to accentuate the difference between the old and the new.
The final challenge I came upon was choosing the “right” photos and organizing them in a way that made sense. When I first uploaded all of my photos into the computer, I had a lot more than twelve photos. Some were duplicates of the same position, while others were different angles of the same building. It was difficult to narrow down to the final twelve. I had to find photos that did not just look “nice,” but also worked well with other photos. When juxtaposing two images, I wanted to create a flow. I wanted photos to transition well from one type to the next.
I enjoyed writing captions for these photos because they did not have to be mediocre captions. Rather, I was able to include my voice in them. These captions also highlighted what I wanted my audience to notice in the photo. Together with the contrast between light and shadow, the audience would know what I wanted to focus on in each image.
I like the experiences I earned from completing the Street Photography project. I learned that photography is not about capturing the pretty moments. Rather, it is about letting the subject come to me and exploring it through different angles and techniques.
