25 October
Camera
NIKON CORPORATION NIKON Z5_2
Lens
NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S
CameraNIKON CORPORATION NIKON Z5_2LensNIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S51mmf/5.6
Intent
Behind the frame
- What I was trying to do:
- I spend a lot of time on the road. Different cities, different people, different places. After a while, even places I’ve never been start to feel familiar. I was in Milwaukee when I came across a crowd of Brewers fans celebrating something that doesn’t happen very often. I didn’t know anyone there. I wasn’t part of their celebration. I was just a guy passing through with a camera. But I knew exactly what I was looking at. Friends hugging, people laughing, and everyone caught up in the moment. I didn’t know the people or the place, but I recognized the feeling. Familiarity in an unfamiliar place.
- What worked:
- I think what worked best was getting outside of my original understanding of the assignment. When I first thought about “familiar,” I thought about places, people, or things I already knew. I thought about home. But the more I considered it, the more I realized familiarity doesn’t necessarily mean something you’ve experienced before. I spend a lot of time traveling, and I’ve learned that even in unfamiliar places, people do familiar things. I may not know them or their stories, but I recognize what I’m seeing. For me, that’s a big part of street photography. It’s about looking beyond what’s obvious and recognizing something that other people might walk right past. I had to think outside the box a little, and recognize that my interpretation of “familiar” might not be what was originally intended. But that’s also what made the photograph work for me.
- What I'd do differently:
- I wish I had the confidence to walk into the crowd and become part of what was happening, even if only for a few minutes. Instead, I stayed on the outskirts. I was a stranger watching other people celebrate, and I let that feeling of being an outsider determine where I stood and what I photographed. I think getting closer would have allowed me to capture more personal moments and tell a better story. I was there to observe, but I don’t want to confuse being an observer with being afraid to participate. That’s something I need to work on.
Response
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