Street Photography How Enjoyable It Is Just To See People
How enjoyable it is just to see people
NOTE: Watch out cynism!
I have been thinking about the meaning of taking a photo and buying a camera. I had this thought since I started my first solo backpacking trip at 2019 to Japan for 11 days when I was 15 years old. I felt like I wanted to take a photo to capture what I was seeing but at the same time I wanted to focus on seeing with my eyes without being distracted by the process of taking photos. And I was more quesetioning about why I need to take a photo. I have cynical perspective on people at touristic places that try to take famous building and good looking foods, etc. And I wasn’t fully persuaded. Why do people spend so much time on taking photos of for example Eiffel Tower? You can find much better photos of Eiffel Tower on the internet. What’s the value of your Eiffel Tower photo? It will be low quality, superior composition, wrong exposure and focus compared to professional photographers. There will be always better photographers with better cameras and better skills. Hence, the quality of the photos does not matter. That’s what I think for non-professional photographers. (it will be different story for professional photographers who make money out of it). That’s why I and many people think that their smartphone is enough for it and camera industry went down, which makes sense. So, I was not interested in buying camera before. I couldn’t find a reason. But then, do all of your photos have no value since it does not have comparable quality? No, it still has. Then, what value? Your photos will be special and individual in two aspects. One is the subject (what you are taking photo of) and the other is the process, experience of taking the photo. These two things can’t be produced by someone else. It must be you.
Subject
Hence, I have been more into taking photos of ‘people’. All the individuals have different faces, bodies, clothes, different ways of walking, and people who are existing at the same location at the same time for the same reason have different thoughts and emotions going on in their mind. And it changes over time, sometimes second by second. You can observe it more evidently from kids. At one second, it was smiling, and then face with curiosity in another second, and then cries in another second. Every photo will be unique and almost impossible to replicate or reproduce. So, I value and enjoy street photography more than taking photos of buildings, foods. If scenary photo is take at places where it is very hard to approach, then it is different story since you won’t find many photos of that place on the internet. This does not justify buying a camera since it can be achieved by smartphone.
I still want to buy a camera
While I was visiting Zoka Cafe and Greenlake in Seattle (my the most beloved place in Seattle) for every single week alone, I started to feel like I want to record this place and people who are there. I want to capture what I am seeing and feeling. And I did with my phone. But I wanted to use camera. I felt like something was not filled. Why? Is it just my internal excuse to spend money and buy a camera? Now, the second point comes. The process andn experience. And I was sliding into camera world. I watched YouTube videos about all different cameras and FB marketplace for used cameras.
What camera do I want to buy? To answer this question, you have to know what you want to take photos of and why. It sounds like a simple question but I don’t think so. It is more of philosophical quesetion. Why do you need a good camera? As said, your smartphone will take awesome photos. And, most of people including you will consume photos on their 6 inch phone screen. You don’t need high resolution photos. Your scren will be the bottleneck. Even if you look at them on the laptop, still same. Then, do you have reason? Better photos for what? To capture the pore on face? to capture each hair by hair? Nah. It was also no for myself. But, I still wanted to buy the camera. And my answer is because of the process of taking photos.
The process of taking photos
Your mindset and attitude when you hold dedicated camera becomes different. With phones, taking photos is not the purpose. You see something nice and think so wait, I want to take a photo. Hold on. Click. But I think when you hold a dedicated camera, you look for things to take photos of. It becomes the first purpose. And then your viewpoint changes. The world looks more like a movie scene. The perks is that you appreciate the world more. (What a cool thing it is and it is not something you can easily buy at a store!) Relating it to camera, this stream of thoughts made clear about what camera I want to buy. A camera that is fun and that will make me engage into the behavior of taking photos. The best and most well suited one is film camera. I would love to use film camera but I am not dedicated enough to develop the film yet. After burning my retinas by watching used camera posts over three weeks at every night, I bought Leica Q which is appreciated as a camera that makes you enjoy taking photos.
After buying Leica Q
Leica Q is old but not cheap and known to output good quality photos at 2025 still. However, to be honest, I was a little disappointed. The photos have great vibe but I expected much higher resolution and sharpness. But that’s fine since that is not the purpose of my photography. It is fun and that’s the most important thing I believe the camera should be. It does its job. And I am enjoying it.
- It is actually pretty reasonable decision in terms of money to buy a camera. You buy a camera and you appreciate your life more. You recognize that the world, people are more beautiful and more dynamic than you were recognizing before.