Street photography is one of my biggest passions. This particular style of photography allows me to document life as it happens. Nothing is staged and I have little control over the subject outside of exactly when I decide to click that shutter button. It's the essence of what is raw and what is chaos.
I like to go out into the city during the weekends, and when I can, during the weekdays as well, to hone in on this craft and to perfect it. I try to start my day off in the center of downtown Los Angeles and then venture out to other areas. Sometimes I would run into photographers who I know and follow their work, either from Instagram or other outlets, and sometimes I run into photographers who I have never met before, but I know of their work.
A couple of months ago, I was in downtown Los Angeles doing my street photography thing in front of Grand Central Market which is probably my favorite places to photograph and document. I normally stand outside in front of the eastern entrance to Grand Central. If you go to Grand Central a lot, there's a very good chance you've seen me doing my thing. When there's nothing of interest to me outside, I'll venture inside and do some shooting before heading back outside again. That's pretty much my routine at GCM.
During this one day at GCM, I had my fill of the outside scene and ventured inside to get some shots and if you've never been to GCM, it's a pretty happening place. Many photographers like to go to GCM to photograph it so it's not out of the ordinary to see so many people with cameras around their neck. When I do run into said photographers, I do a quick size up and check out their gear. If you have a Leica, some sort of film, or a unique and rarely seen camera, I'll do the small head nod of approval.
One photographer I noticed on this day had an all black camera with a wide, black and yellow camera strap. I believe it was some sort of Canon A1 (or AE-1) or Nikon F model. It was a brief encounter but we made eye contact and I did my head nod of approval. After the encounter, I went about my business and captured some moments inside GCM and then headed back outside to see if I can catch something interesting in the new scene.
As I stood outside, the same photographer I had a brief encounter with, came out and took a quick photo of me before leaving the area. I didn't mind it. Didn't even flinch. After his snapshot of me, I smiled and I hoped he got a good shot worthy of the film frame he just used.
Before leaving GCM to my next area of documenting, I hopped on my phone and opened up Instagram to see what new stuff the photographers I follow had to show me. In one of the photos, I noticed a photo of a black camera, with a wide black and yellow strap. I instantly knew it was his, so I sent him a direct message asking if it was him that took the photo of me at GCM and indeed it was.
A week ago he sent me this...
Portrait of a street photographer
This photo is by ric_81. I don't know his full name sadly but we've been following each other for a good amount of time now. He's a film photographer based out of Los Angeles (I believe) and he's got a great gallery on Instagram. I recommend you check out his account and follow him. I'm sure to run into him in the future and it's always great to meet someone who share the same interest and passion for film and mutually follow each other's works.
I do dress like this when I do my street thing.