Themes for photographs

Man reading the newspaper in his doorway in Porlock, Somerset. The sun shining and the colours caught my eye, as well as his relaxed pose in this little space. Taken on iPhone 12 Pro, settings: telephoto 52mm, f2, iso 25.

Being new to street photography - or am I?! - where do you start? Well, I have been watching YouTube videos by street photographers, looking at websites and Instagram posts of photographers and reading lots! It would seem a good idea to review many of my old photos (to see what has motivated my photography in the past) and to see if there are any particular themes that are obvious. On reading, these could be: telling a story, people doing particular things, light/shadow, night, black & white, architectural, reflections, neighbourhoods/environments … I need to get out there!

I have started to review over 10,000 photographs that I have taken since 2015 - quite a job, but enjoyable. Obviously not all are related to what I would define as ‘street photography’, but some of the themes that have started to emerge from my review so far are: people in the street, alleyways and arches, doors and doorways, bridges and boats, trains and railways. I plan to pick out some that I like and group them together to create some order out of the chaos! Watch this space.