StreetSoul

Category: Field Notes

  • The Obvious Answer

    The Obvious Answer

    I’d be a street photographer. Yes, predictable: a photographer choosing photography. What a plot twist.

    I’d go out without a clear route and probably spend far too long beside some ugly wall because something there felt almost right. Most days I’d come home with very little. One decent photograph, perhaps. Sometimes none.

    I like that kind of work. The walking, the looking, getting it wrong and going out again. A camera makes me notice the odd little scenes people create without realising it. Without one, I’d probably hurry past.

    If the salary were the same, that’s what I’d do. Sore feet included.

  • Three Times the Same Stranger

    Three Times the Same Stranger

    The weirdest coincidence I’ve ever experienced didn’t happen to me. It happened inside one of my photographs.

    At a fairground, I raised the camera because of an embrace, an exposed arm and a small cactus tattooed above the word Strong. That was enough.

    Later, while editing, I noticed the rest: three female figures with dark hair and black tops, all facing away from me, arranged from largest to smallest. They looked like three versions of the same person, or one life moving backwards through the frame.

    I hadn’t planned any of it. For a fraction of a second, the street put everything in exactly the right place.

    The camera noticed the joke before I did. As usual.

  • The Day I Didn’t Know I’d Miss

    The Day I Didn’t Know I’d Miss

    Daily writing prompt
    If you could relive one day from your past, which day would it be and why?
    View all responses

    I don’t think I’d choose one of the obvious days. Not a wedding, not a trip, not some supposedly unforgettable moment. Those days already know they are important. Everyone behaves accordingly, which is probably part of the problem.

    I’d choose a completely ordinary day. I don’t even know which one. A day when I woke up, had breakfast, complained about something stupid, went somewhere familiar, talked to people I assumed would always be there. Nothing worth writing down. At the time, I probably wanted the day to hurry up.

    That’s the day I’d like back. Not to fix anything. I wouldn’t warn anyone or try to behave better. I’d probably still waste time, get irritated, miss things happening right in front of me. But I’d know. I’d know that all those boring little details were already disappearing, just very slowly.

    Maybe that’s enough. One ordinary day, exactly as it was. Even the stupid parts.

  • The City Has a Counter — sequence

    The City Has a Counter — sequence

    I keep coming back to the same small bargain: shopfront glass, numbers, a public fountain, a counter telling the hand where to stop.

    Barcelona is not scenery in these pictures. It gets in the way. It puts something between people and whatever they need: a pane of glass, a strip of metal, a place to wait, a rule nobody has bothered to write down.

    People adjust.
    They wait. Lean in. Pay. Drink. Move on.

    The street gives a little. Then it asks for something back.

    A woman with earbuds stands at a ticket window, interacting with an older man behind the glass. The scene is captured in black and white, with reflections visible in the glass.
    A person leaning over a decorative public drinking fountain, brushing their hair under the flowing water, with a store in the background.
    A person wearing a black shirt and a large backpack stands with their back to the camera in a narrow street, while another person sits crouched on the ground, appearing contemplative. The scene is captured in black and white, highlighting the urban environment with buildings and a motorcycle in the background.
    A woman sitting at a table in a café, looking pensively out of the window, with reflections of people and décor visible on the glass.
    A street scene in black and white featuring two individuals. One person stands casually against a wall near a closed gallery, while another is focused on their phone. The cobblestone street and urban environment add to the atmosphere.
  • Legit

    Legit

    A person leaning over an ornate public drinking fountain, splashing water on their head. The setting is urban, with a shop visible in the background.

    The city provides, but never cleanly.

    A man drinks from a public fountain.
    The sign says legit.
    The metal looks tired.
    The gesture does not.

    Barcelona is not a backdrop here. It is a system of small permissions: drink here, wait there, lean on this, keep moving.

    The body accepts the deal because sometimes that is all the street offers.

    Technical: Ricoh GR IV Monochrome · Lightroom Classic.