Why is Street Photography Getting Harder?
Originally sent exclusively to The Focal Point subscribers on December 19th. Want to be the first to get my personal newsletter in your inbox every week? Subscribe for free here.
The more I do street photography, the harder it gets.
Probably because over time our standards keep rising. What once felt like an accomplishment - capturing an interesting subject and a good composition now feels like the baseline.
But why?
Recently, this year in general I’ve been way more critical of my work, more aware to the nuances that separate a good photo from a great one.
This isn’t a bad thing - it’s a natural part of the creative process, but it can be challenging.
I love this quote from Ira Glass talking about ‘The Gap’: If you haven’t read this before, read it twice.
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” - Ira Glass
That “gap” doesn’t close when you improve; it just shifts.
The more I practice, the better I get at identifying what works, but also what doesn’t. And for the most part, what I create still falls short of my vision.
Street photography amplifies this ‘gap’ because it’s so unpredictable.
You can’t plan the perfect moment to happen, you have to be ready to react, to see something extraordinary and even then, you might not capture it the way you thought.
The more I do it and sometimes land on something I like, the more it pushes me to understand what makes a photograph resonate with myself or a potential viewer.
I think this challenge is what keeps me coming back.
The increasing difficulty isn’t a sign that I’m failing; it’s proof of ‘the gap’. There’s still room for improvement and my work isn’t quiet where my taste wants it to be.
Maybe that gap is part of what makes photography so additive - because the moment you close it completely, you stop aiming for something better.
I think this so called ‘gap’ exists based on your level of taste.
The more I think about ‘taste’ the more certain I am it’s the most impactful piece of the puzzle in any art form.
We’re all using the same tools and canvas’ but your taste will determine your output.
Taste is the filter through which our ideas pass.
Your taste could be built from personal experiences and influences around you mixed with your inherent personality. You know the old Nature VS. Nurture argument.
Why do I like certain fonts, colours, shapes and sounds over others?
Because my taste says so.
If that’s so, how do we improved our taste?
At the time of writing this, I don’t think you can consciously know if your taste is getting better.
But I think you can at least be aware that the gap between your taste and your work created exists…
…and If the gap closes, we stop pursing the work.
See you on the street,
Mike
PS. Edit your photographs like I do with these Lightroom Presets:
