TELL US ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR STREET SCENE...
WHAT CAUGHT YOUR EYE AND MADE YOU TAKE
THE SHOT?
I took this photo in a busy part of Wellington – Te-
Whanganui-a-tara’s CBD (Willis St.) where there is a bus
stop, seating, and often interesting light though at this time
of day, 1:40pm this is less of a feature.
I liked the ‘thirds’ arrangement of people across the image
and was particularly interested in the man sitting on the
footpath behind the seat, and his contrast in position, dress
style, and posture in comparison to the seated man in
cool attire and the chatting shoppers with their bags on
the left. I was struck by the front row, middle row, back row
positioning of the three lots of contrasting people, perhaps
reflecting their apparent ‘success’ in society?
At the time, I noticed the central seated man’s cool gear,
with labels & wording, but I only saw the interesting detail
of these, and the bonus of ‘Truly Madly DEEPLY’ on the left
hand shoppers bag later. Can retail consumerist activity
really facilitate love-like experiences?
I like the middle (horizontal) band of hands doing different
things, and the inverted ‘V’s’ formed by the shoppers legs &
their bag handles; triangles being a favourite shape for me.
It was luck that two people were drinking from cups at the
same moment; here I enjoy the (non-inverted) ‘Vs’ made
by their arms, which provides balance across the image as
well as lying across a diagonal, adding to dynamism in the
scene.
As I am familiar with this stretch of street, the line of trees
(background upper left) probably registered unconsciously
as a pleasing lighter leading line, together with the
receding overhead shop signs, to take the viewers eye from
the front to the back of the image, which adds interest to
the story told in this snapshot.THERE ARE RARELY ANY SECOND CHANCES IN
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY, HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH
NOT MISSING THE MOMENT?
I take a lot of images if its a moving or evolving scene and
then delete & crop! Also, if seeking consent to potentially
use the images with recognisable people, I talk to the
subjects AFTER taking the shots, and also offer to send or
post them small copies to keep.WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST LEARNING CURVE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY?
Two things come to mind; I’m slowly learning to ask for
consent to use images at the time of making them – saves
a lot of walking the streets searching later!! (Though of
course, it is legal to photograph in public without asking
for consent). And secondly, working out dimensions for
hanging an exhibition, or a pasting layout, as in the project
mentioned below, continue to tax my non-mathematical
neurons!WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON RECENTLY?
I have recently completed a temporary public ‘paste-
up’ installation of cut out life-sized people onto a shipping
container, in Newtown, Wgtn., called ‘...a footpath near
you.. ara hīkoi pātata..’
I am interested to do more large scale public art but first,
want to complete a colour photo book about my own
suburb; Mt Cook – Pukeahu.WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE?
F8, 1/320s, ISO400http://www.maryhutchinson.co