The Images Are In Front of You

A bit delayed due to a hectic week. I was in Toronto on Friday for a couple of good reasons and spent most of the day with my older better looking brother Sam. He will be traumatized to hear we are related, because we aren’t, but that’s how I see him.

He asked me why I was not making images for myself for the last while, sticking solely to photography for clients. A good question, and after consideration, I admitted I was feeling like I’d already done it and was bored. Over the course of the day walking around the Museum and the Yorkville area, Sam reminded me of what my inspiration Alfred Eisenstadt is known to have said, that images are all around you, you just have to see them.

So I made the effort.

I found for myself, that landscapes, architecture, close up and most of what I have done for years and with some success had no interest to me, but the people doing their jobs did. I was less inspired by people just sitting around, drinking overpriced beverages and trying to look pretty, but the people working were starting to click in my brain. I had no camera with me as I personally don’t consider a smartphone to be a camera, your mileage on that topic may vary. And perhaps not having a camera with its natural demand to be used and the subtle pressure to make images, allowed me to see what was right in front of me.

It was the young woman pruning bushes and cleaning up ornamental topiary. It was the young Somali gentlemen cleaning detritus from in front of a condominium building. It was the older fellow having a spirited argument with himself (no earbuds visible). It was the pretty young woman who was working so hard to be noticed and receive approving looks from others. It was the number of people in a crowded downtown with their massive dogs. It was the lineup to overspend on corporate coffee when independents were readily available, but lacking the fancy logo on their paper cups.

There were images worth making all around me. And for me, they were all people. People doing their jobs, not a one making endless selfies of itself. There were those of course, but their obvious narcissism turns me off and I don’t count those folks. Your mileage may vary.

So thanks a ton Sam. I may even charge the battery in my now old Leica M and bring it with one lens with me when next I must venture into the big city, a place I do not enjoy going to or being in.

Please become a member on Patreon to help support this channel. A big thanks to all the existing Patreon members! Send in comments or questions, I read and respond to all. If you shop with B&H Photo Video, please use the link on the main page as it pays me a small commission and does not cost you anything to do so. Thanks again and we will see each other again soon.