Street Photography: Inspirations

There was something about the photograph in yesterday’s post (see below) that stirred up recollections of other images.

© 2019 Xiomaro.com

Luke Delalio, a long time friend who is talented in photography and many other artistic disciplines, mused that the photograph reminded him of an image by Alfred Stieglitz.

He was close. The photograph he was thinking about was Wall Street by Paul Strand, a Stieglitz protege (see below).

Luke’s reaction to yesterday’s photograph got me thinking too. There was something about it that seemed familiar, but it wasn’t the Strand photograph. I knew Strand’s image well and it was a favorite. But I can’t say I was consciously influenced by it. Perhaps I was unconsciously. Or maybe it’s just that there are certain phenomena that many photographers find appealing as a subject for an image.

After thinking about it some more, I only needed to look up at my office wall to see the large framed print of the photograph appearing at the top of this post. It was taken at a subway station on 7th Avenue, not far from Times Square.

The shapes, the angular lines, the stark black and white, and the lone shadowy figure could have been part of the series of images I made recently. Except that the photograph was created in 2015. It’s interesting how the subject matter that appeals to the unconscious mind becomes revealed over time in photographs.

Then I remembered another part of the genealogy. In 2015, I saw the photograph below created by Sapna Dhandh-Sharma, a good friend who is the Editor of the UK-based photography magazine, Aspect Ratio.

I loved the image as soon as I saw it and it was not long after that I unconsciously created my own take of it on 7th Avenue.

Xiomaro does not endorse any advertisements that may appear anywhere on this page.