My least favorite subgenre of street reportage photography is stock photography. The cover images should be neutral in every way and timeless, so that they can work and be used for as long as possible. Yes, this is good for publishing resources – they don’t need to update the images frequently.
But what about history, archiving, the era? Here, two opinions will clash: that of the photographer and that of the publisher.
A photographer needs work, which means they need to take photos as often as possible, to update the views and subjects.
The publishing house doesn’t need to send anyone to the shoot again or pay fees.
But you still have to do both.
I'm not saying that this is some big and obvious problem. Publications, on the contrary, sometimes send a photographer to update a view to match the weather and the updated terrain.
In short, everyone has their own benefit, their own truth.
Of course, I always try to include certain elements in the frame so that you can trace the time and era.
More often than not, it unknowingly gets into the pictures: repairs, landscaping, trends, clothes...
It’s as if there’s some degree of responsibility for what’s depicted in the photo.
And if the question arises whether to show it or not, it’s better to show it so that there is some kind of record of the time.
Right now, it seems like no one is interested in any of this, but over time, I blame myself for not filming this or that story.
This time, I was swinging from being overly reportorial to being overly formal.
...From narrative to pattern.
Here you can see both a spotted, contrasty street shot and a reportage‑style one.
Right now, I don’t have a specific genre‑related mindset; I still feel like I’m nowhere.
It’s as if I’ve explored these worlds and now just visit them when necessary.
After all, not all genres and frequencies (layers, worlds) I've studied it!
But for now, it seems like the material that has already been studied is being consolidated.
I need a new breakthrough in my vision of the world, and sometimes I feel it coming on...but it’s still very faint.
Perhaps this is happening very gradually and will only become noticeable over time.
