Street Photography in Spain & Portugal
A couple of weeks back, I visited Spain and Portugal with my mother. We were there for around two weeks, travelling to Madrid, Grenada, Seville, Porto and finally Lisbon. Knowing that it would be the type of trip where I would be walking around a lot and was not going to have a lot of dedicated “photography time”, I decided not to bring my full kit, instead choosing to bring only my X-T3 and a 23mm prime lens. Even though it is a set up I am very familiar with, having used it to shoot the majority of my hawker photos, it felt risky to travel with just the one focal length. Unlike within a hawker centre, I had no idea what types of shooting scenarios I was going to find myself in, or whether I’d regret not bringing a more versatile lens. In the end though, I think it worked out for the best: my (relatively) lightweight set up meant that I always had my camera on me, which completely changed my mindset and approach towards photography on this trip.
Prior to my time in Europe, it’s been a while since I’ve engaged with street photography in any meaningful way, and so over the course of the trip, I was reminded why it is often regarded as one of the most challenging but rewarding genres of photography. During this time, I’ve thought a lot about the numerous articles, videos and books I’ve read on the subject, and about my own engagement with the medium. At risk of alienating my already limited audience, I’d like to share some of my thoughts and my experiences about street photography and photography more broadly from those two weeks.
Before I start rambling though, two quick points:
This blog post is probably going to be quite different tonally from previous blog posts. Rather than focusing on the stories or my own feelings, I’d like to use this space to write more about my ideas regarding a particular topic, in this case street photography. I might do this from time to time when I have enough to say about a particular topic in photography, but I don’t think this will be the norm.
A lot of my thoughts and ideas are still very much in flux, and so they may be contradictory or even incoherent. I suspect it is highly likely that I will read this in a few months/years and cringe at my ramblings on the subject. Still, as I mentioned previously, I want this space to be for me to share my photos, stories and thoughts which accurately reflect where I am with my photography and with my life in that moment of time. If I’m not cringing, it means I’ve not developed further.
This might well be my favourite shot from the trip, not because the subject matter is the most interesting, but because this in my mind is photography broken down to its simplest elements - interesting colours, lines, shapes, light, shadow, etc. There are very few elements within the frame, and it is not the most complex scene, but the way the elements work together was just exhilarating, and I knew the moment I saw the scene that there was a potential shot. I spent most of the trip waiting in alleys for the perfect alignment of light and shadow and trying to construct a scene, but in the end this was taken while I was waiting for my mother at a weekend market.
Defining Street Photography
While street photography is notoriously difficult to define, I am someone who greatly appreciates some level of structure and clarity in my life, and so in my mind I tend to characterise street photography through two ideas. I’d like to stress that these are purely personal, and I do not believe they are applicable as universal definitions. First is that, as the name implies, street photography occurs out on the street or in some form of urban environment. Not much to say about this. The other idea is probably more controversial, and it is that there is an inherent element of uncertainty as to your subject within street photography. With the chaotic nature of “daily life” and how this varies greatly from person to person, I think this leads to a photography genre where one likely does not know what they are going to shoot a day, an hour or sometimes even a minute before they actually bring the camera up to their face. Yes, we have evolved and developed to be able to anticipate what we might see along a street or in a market, but because you don’t know what your subject is, I still believe there is a level of uncertainty, and thus that opportunism exists within street photography more than within most other genres.
This uncertainty is what I find makes street photography unique, separating it from similar genres such as documentary or travel photography. While I see the significant commonalities between genres, I think street photography is fundamentally unique, and thus I approach it differently than any other genre. With documentary photography, for example, there is a very clear subject/topic in mind, and the setting is ultimately determined by the subject. On the other hand, in street photography, the setting/location is the primary consideration, and the subject itself is secondary. Moreover, with street photography the goal is often to capture a single moment in time, while in documentary there is a lot more flexibility to tell a story through taking multiple shots and sequencing. While all of this may seem overly pedantic, I have always found that distinguishing between the different genres of photography helps me to determine my objectives and thus my approach, and so I think it is worth mentioning.
This was one of the first few photos I took during my trip, but it was also the last image I was happy with. I re-edited this shot numerous times, and very very nearly gave up on it. I love the light streak along the road (I promise it is 100% real) framing the woman, but balancing the other elements of the shot was extremely difficult. I ended up doing a lot of burning to try and hid the clutter within the shadows.
Intentionality:
I originally had two Lisbon tram shots which I was going to publish, with the other one a lot more of a “standard” shot with the tram going by during golden hour. In the end though I selected just this one because I felt it was a lot more dynamic - if you look closely, you can see the movement blur of the tram. This was a deliberate decision as I wanted to capture the tram in motion, as compared to my other shot where the tram was stationary.
I like to use the word “intentionality” when describing my approach to photography (and to life). Without diving too deep into the role of intentionality within photography (one could easily write an entire book on the subject), I am very conscious about being deliberate in my actions throughout the photography process. In my mind, this applies to how I shoot (things like my composition and exposure) and edit, but also more macro decisions like what, when and why I shoot. I firmly believe that being more intentional with photography is the best way to improve, but also to find more enjoyment and meaning. Regardless of how chaotic a scene in front of me may be, the more deliberate I feel I am with my decisions, the better off I tend to be.
Remember how I mentioned above that it had been a while since I’d engaged with street photography meaningfully? Upon reflection, I think the reason why I’ve avoided street photography for a while is that I’ve struggled with feeling intentional with my street photography. I don’t struggle so much with the shooting/editing process itself, but more with answering questions of what, when and why I shoot. Let me elaborate. One of the most common pieces of advice given to an aspiring street photographer is to bring your camera everywhere, so that you are always ready to shoot. I’m not going to say that it is bad advice, but I’ll admit that it is something I’ve tried committing to multiple times throughout my life, but that it just doesn’t work for me. As much as I love photography, I find it difficult to be “in the zone” while I’m out running errands or am with friends, or conversely when I am trying to shoot I don’t want to be distracted. I find it much more conducive to both my photography and my life that I dedicate specific time for photography, and then go about my day. This allows me to feel more deliberate and engaged with my craft, rather than regarding my photography as a series of opportunistic snapshots.
I think the other reason I struggle with this idea of intentionality specifically within street photography is because I sometimes don’t really understand why I am shooting, and therefore know what I want to shoot. With my other more bodies of work, I am very clear about why I am shooting, or what I am trying to express. My landscape images come from a place of enjoying the experience of being out in the world, and wanting to convey those feelings through my imagery. My documentary work stems from a desire to tell stories, especially about other people and their crafts. Even my hawker project, which may have a similar “capture a moment in time” approach as street photography, also flows from this desire, and I’ve always had a very clear idea of why I was shooting, and so every time I went out there was an intentional effort to work towards a final product. At this moment, I am still trying to figure out the value of street photography within my own practise of photography, and the value I place upon street photography images.
In many ways then, a two week street photography only challenge was a perfect way to challenge me as a photographer, forcing me to confront two of my biggest issues within the genre and photography more broadly. Over the two weeks, I feel I was able to unpack these issues over the trip, and made some progress on both fronts. I realised that a lot of the issues stemmed from the internal pressure not only to produce incredible imagery every time I picked up a camera, especially when I was travelling and on a big trip. This pressure often meant that I’d be in photography mode 24/7, constantly searching for the next great thing. It meant that I wasn’t fully enjoying myself because I was constantly thinking about photography, but also not fully immersed into the photography because I was distracted and nervous. Eventually, I was able to accept that ultimately I was on holiday, and that I did not need to be shooting 24/7. Even in some prime street photography locations, if I wasn’t up to shooting, I just wouldn’t pick up the camera, and despite some initial struggles by the end I was okay with that. This is wider issue is something I clearly need to work on, but I’m glad that I felt like I made some progress.
On the issue of what and why I was shooting, I found that giving myself a specific focus really helped. Over the course of the trip, I had one main focus - the interplay between light and shadow. There are so many possible subjects and ideas to explore, but I was inspired by the likes of Fan Ho. Yes I allowed myself the flexibility to explore different ideas (like the trams in Lisbon or tapas culture in Seville), but by default I was almost entirely focused on exploring that one idea. With this clear idea in mind, I was able to answer the what and why I was shooting, which in turn helped me control and regulate when I was shooting. When I saw what I was looking for, I’d pick up the camera. Otherwise, I was happy to just relax and enjoy where I was.
Practice
As you can imagine, I am friends with quite a few other people involved in creative fields, and so when I’m watching a friend perform onstage or a piece of art being drawn, I sometimes wonder just how much how much physical skill is required in photography. What I mean is that in most art forms like painting, playing an instrument or dancing, there is some physical skill involved. I contrasted this with photography, where anyone can move a camera, dial in settings and press a camera. Let me be brutally frank and say this: what a dumb thought. While photography may be slightly different to other art forms, these two weeks have a very good reminder to me that photography requires constant practice and effort to achieve any level of mastery, just like any other artform. In the same way that most people who write are not writers, most people who take photographs are not photographers, never mind good ones. The difference between the two, in my mind, is the intentionality behind one’s actions, which comes from hours and hours of practice.
Practice in photography takes a few forms. The first is technical mastery over your camera. Especially in a genre like street photography, where a split second may be the difference between a winner and something for the bin, being able to operate your camera instinctively is so critical. If one is trying to think about how to change the shutter speed on their camera, it’s really hard to be fully concentrated on things like capturing the decisive moment. But practice in photography goes beyond so much further than usage of the camera; one constantly needs to work on how to see and observe the world around you. Both these reasons why I choose to use a prime lens when shooting street. Beyond the technical benefits like a wide aperture and sharpness, I find that the biggest draws are that it forces me to learn to see from one constant perspective. While the options of a zoom lens can be highly beneficial, they are also limiting because they provide another major variable to think about when shooting. By this point, it is a focal length I am very used to, and thus found it surprisingly alright that I did not have any lenses with me.
As much as I do really like this shot, this was one of many instances through the trip where I wished I had the guts and to take that extra step closer. The funny thing is that right after this very frame, all three men looked up at me and posed. That killed the moment I was trying to capture, but how friendly they were was a good reminder that not everybody is out to get you, and extra step closer may have turned this from a good shot to a GREAT one.
Being able to envision a shot and the technical mastery over your camera can only get you so far though. One still has to have the confidence to take it, which is sometimes not as easy as it looks. I can guarantee that every street photographer, at some point or another, has identified and visualised an incredible shot of someone, only to not have the confidence to take it or further pursue the opportunity. While I recognise that different people have differing willingness for confrontation or judgement, this is something which absolutely comes with practice. Being a street photographer often requires a you to be reasonably thick skinned, and as intimidating as it can be at first, it is something you get better with through time and practice. I realised how out of practice I felt at the start of the trip, with most of my shots just showing the back of people, or from a long distance away. As I slowly became more comfortable, I’d be willing to take those extra few steps in, or be more willing to shoot when people knew I was there. I felt exactly the same way while I was shooting in hawker centres - if I hadn’t shot in a while, I’d feel a lot less confident and confrontational than if I had been shooting weekly.
Wrap Up
If you’ve made it to this point, thank you for sticking to it. Everyone who knows me knows how much photography means to me, and also how much it influences my outlook on the world, and so I thought that I’d provide a bit of an insight into the kinds of things which go through my mind photographically. As I mentioned at the start, I recognise that a lot of these thoughts may just reflect my own issues and areas I need to work on, or that some of the ideas may be contradictory/nonsensical, and that I might very well cringe when I read this in a few years’ time. But as I always say, I think it’s important for me to accurately reflect and document my photography journey, including the silly thoughts.
As of the time of publishing this article, I am currently working on finishing the edits on a lot of my other photos from Europe, which I hope to be able to share very soon. My next post will probably be a wrap-up of all my photography in France, and will be a lot more story-based than this blog post.
