Change means Progress

Trying out new genres, artistic styles, getting out of your comfort zone, or, even a different point of view can help you (frankly anyone) to evolve and progress further in your journey as an artist. This post is about my growth in street photography, and how my style changed over the past 2 and a half years when I started out. 

One of my first pictures ever taken with my camera, with no editing, or even a clue what I was doing.

I started my photographic journey mostly with street photography since that was the easiest, and most accessible way to get into that artistic genre, especially in a big city like Budapest.

I think it's important to display the earlier, and often not that special, or even good selection of works. People only see the very best from every artist, and never the bad shots which paved the way to excellence. 

These few are from 2021, gradually getting better, leaning into more cinematic framings and grading. This was also my first time visiting London, so it was undoubtedly an overwhelming of the senses.

Even though I enjoyed my pictures and the progress of taking them, I felt that something was missing. Thinking back, I probably missed a lot of great human moments, focusing only on cinematic shots, but that's why you have to learn from your mistakes.

It's fascinating to me how many faces photography can have. One particular scene could be captured by 10 photographers, with 10 different outcomes. 

While I enjoyed portraying nice lighting and shadows in the streets, it limited my potential for better pictures and ways to tell stories, especially with the exclusion of pedestrians in the photos.

The lack of nice shadows and good lighting can be easily solved with a flash or an interesting subject.

I also felt that Budapest wasn't the most interesting place to picture people on the street, but that was just another limitation set by myself, and probably a byproduct of a well-known, therefore often uninspiring environment.

Truthfully, you have to see your daily surroundings with a new pair of glasses to find many interesting and great subjects to take pictures of.

This was my first year where I started leaning away from cinematic pictures, and diving into candid photography, depicting strangers.

To capture the perfect candid moment, I shoot mostly from my hip, not even looking into the camera or the screen, relying on the center focus and my imaginary framing of the subject.

This technique allows me to get close to subjects, often flashing them, whilst not getting into their face. 

You will be surprised how less people care about being photographed when they don't get a camera shoved in their face, and just hear the shutter going off, if even. 

Street Photography taught me to appreciate the bizarre, the "ugly", out of the ordinary, and most of all, the human part of photography. These moments are as real as they get, no Photoshop, or posing. 

After these 2 years, I learned to find more and more interesting subjects, even if it's just a colorful dress, a tiny movement, an interesting character, or out-of-the-ordinary framing. 

Even if this style of shooting might intimidate you, I highly recommend it to everyone enjoying taking pictures in the streets. It might take the courage of facing your fear, but trust me, it's worth it, and when done right, can create one in a lifetime moments. 

Through my journey, I can reflect on the different styles I tried so far, and be thankful for all the mistakes I made, which helped me to evolve. As an artist change is essential for your evolution and development. Be daring, and try out new styles, genres, or even gear. This little post was just an example of the development which one individual can go through and doesn't mean that this is limited to this specific genre.

Take some great shots, and have an amazing day!