Is internet shopping having a adverse effect on Street Photography , I noticed last weekend that the footfall in my local city was way down and decent photographic opportunities were harder to find as a result. Street Photography is quite often a numbers game, greater numbers, create better photo opportunities and more of them , as Street Photographers we have a vested interest in the well being of our urban and retail environments.
Ultimately the internet, poor political leadership and a lack of insight is killing the heart and soul of our towns and city’s ,which is basically the life blood of Street Photography, mass Saturday afternoon shopping activity is becoming a memory in all but the larger city’s .
The Street Photographers of today are unwittingly recording the demise of both a social and retail revolution that shows no loyalty or sentiment for what has gone before, as the very fabric of our lives is exchanged for a growing need for charity shops and faceless mail order warehouses that are owned by multi-national tax dodging, rate avoiding corporations.
One of the reasons my personal photography is based around events rather than urban landscapes is that I need to work in surroundings that are well populated . The lone silhouetted figure walking through a shadowy scene might be a cliche but photographers are waiting longer for these lone figures to show up !
Austerity has certainly effected the behavior & spending power of normal families in the UK, it has also effected the ability of local councils to deliver services . All in all the UK seems to lack confidence , direction, insight, unity and optimism at this time , perhaps we should be shooting life with more of a documentary objective view over the next few months, as we are certainly living through “interesting times” !
Strange how creativity appears to be linked with a inner feeling of happiness, genuine happiness seems to be thin on the ground at the moment as is my creative mo jo .
Maybe, in the future our pictures will help us to understand what just happened ?
Keep it real !