COLUMNS,  StreetWise

Mobile Photography – StreetWise Showcase – January 2017

”The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street” Robert Doisneau

Hello everyone!

Thank you all for submitting your images to our StreetWise Flickr group during the month of January. We were very moved to see all of your street captures from around the world and we hope you will enjoy this month’s showcase.

It is always very difficult for us to choose such few images for the showcase from all those that were submitted and we want you to know we appreciate each and every post.

As a reminder, we choose images for the showcase that are in keeping with our group’s intention and guidelines focusing on the key aspects of street photography  composition, timing, juxtaposition, catching the decisive moment  rather than relying too much on apping. or images that are more art oriented or painterly.

If you are a mobile street photographer, please consider joining our growing community.

To those new to our street photography community, welcome – it is great to have you join us!

Flickr Group (for weekly showcase submissions) https://www.flickr.com/groups/2750883@N25/pool/

Facebook Group (for information sharing/discussions) StreetWise – Mobile Street Photography – an TheAppWhisperer.com Group

A special thank you to Joanne.

We hope you feel inspired by this showcase and our wonderful group. Until next time, happy shooting, everyone!

Ilana and Lee

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured in this showcase including: Myrna, Julia Nathanson, Paul Yan, Cindy Buske, Jo Sullivan, Basek Aytek, Satoshi, Paula Betlem, Andrew B. White, Isabelle Wolter, Robi Gallardo, Alejandro Cendran Rodriguez, Dinalfs, Kathy Clay, Micheldev1, Tim Bingham, Kathy Clay, Maurizio Zanetti, Luison, Marc Zetterblom, Christine Mignon, Nick Kenrick, Dixon Hamby, Laurence Bouchard, Vondav, Adeline Marques, Gergely Hando.

‘Wonder what he’s thinking’ – ©Myrna

Myrna’s quirky and charming photo is a wonderful example of timeless storytelling reminiscent of a street photo from decades ago – such as Helen Levitt’s images of children in the streets of New York in the 1930s and 40s.

The composition of the photo, taken from a distance, shows a series of nine horizontal rows – including lines of windows, the shimmering silver fence and sunlit sidewalk. The white blinds along the upper row balance so beautifully the sunlit sidewalk below creating a perfect frame.

The small figure, highlighted white sign and sunlight touching the upper right corner create a beautiful line for the viewer to gaze upon.

And then that child – hanging from the top of a fence, his feet seemingly dangling at a height higher than his own… with that bright green t-shirt that draws the viewer’s eye directly to him, wearing shorts, bare legs and black high-topped basket ball shoes, toes pointing outward toward the world.

What makes this such a great storytelling image is that it inspires the viewer to ask questions: Where is this? What sort of building is it? Is the child by himself? Where are his friends? Caretakers? What is he looking at? Trying to do? Was it a ball he was trying to retrieve? A cat?

Well seen and beautifully captured, Myrna!

Untitled – ©Andrew B White

Andrew’s photo is a heartwarming capture, not only in it’s subject matter but because it also literally seems to glow with the warmth of the winter sunshine. The photo captures three lively characters sitting in a row, and is a wonderful example of what we look for in the streets. All the men are dressed similarly  a uniform camaraderie, if you will — in black shoes, pants and jackets, all are wearing hats, and appear to be ‘kibitzing’ with one another.

It also appears to have been taken at the end of a day or late afternoon with the angle of the shadows and the eyes peeking out from them created by the hats.

It is a beautiful color capture with brown monotones where the patterns of the the bricks frame the door and the two men on the right of the photo quite beautifully, while the column on the left frames the third man. To top it off, the plaid hat of the man in the center mirrors the pattern in the bricks.

Fabulous moment, Andrew!

Untitled – ©Tim Bingham

Tim’s street portrait of a woman is wonderful, not just because the subject herself is lovely, but because of the wonderful glimpse the viewer is provided by the up-close-and-personal angle.

The viewer is right there, intimately so. As if one has simply stopped mid-track while passing by this kind-faced person. And, she is a show-stopper, her look at once inquisitive and sweet, is arresting, too. Her doe-like eyes initially draw one in to see the rest of the details in this marvellous shot. From her nicely coiffed and highlighted hair, the details of her wool coat down to the stitching and single button, to her cashmere sweater and pearls just peeking out suggesting this woman is quite attentive to style. The backdrop is a sandstone railing with a row of ornamental, white painted balustrade which suggests the beautiful subject is perched upon a balcony, bridge, or terrace perhaps from architecture of the Georgian era, which is as elegant as she is. All-in-all, this photograph proves delightful to the eye the moment one’s eye meets hers.

Well captured, Tim!

Le Route este Longe ©Isabelle Wolter (woltarise)

Isabelle’s photograph is an immutable one, evocative of another era. The main subject, while walking away is rendered timeless by the elegance of his hat and the sweep of his long coat, which catches the light from above then falls gracefully into shadow. The wonderful texture of the brick which fades into the distance along with the line of the edge of the platform, all move along in the direction the main subject is moving. That everything in this image appears to be disappearing into the horizon suggests a particular feeling that life can be as fleeting as it is enduring.

Wonderful image, Isabelle

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Ilana Buch-Akoundi is an Interior Designer with a background in fine arts, and a passion for mobile photography. Influenced by classical art and literature, she views mobile photography as not simply capturing moments as they happen, but as a marriage of dreams and visions from inner life and reality. Street photography, as a composite emerging from the speed of life, and what’s resonating within. Born in New York City where she still resides with her husband and two children, Buch-Akoundi recently founded hipstaNYC dedicated to Hipstamatic images of New York City, where people from all over the world can showcase their photographs of NYC. She has had photographs featured in mobile photography websites and web-magazines as well as international shows. Lee Atwell has been passionate about the art, science and magic of photography since the time she was a child – at which time her father had converted a small bathroom into a darkroom. For the past few years, she been captivated by the versatility, convenience, and creative potential of mobile photography. In street photography, she enjoys the challenge of capturing the unexpected and also the necessity of being present moment to moment with the surrounding environment – whether it is the continual shifting of light and shadows or the instantaneous and fleeting expressions and postures of people on the street. She has received several international photography awards and has had photographs featured in publication, mobile photography websites and web-magazines. She has also had photos exhibited in several cities – in the USA, Canada, Italy, France, Hungary, Belgium and Portugal. Atwell also teaches yoga and owns a yoga studio in Seattle with her husband.