INS(oev)IDE #2
Insights and analysis of another photo taken in the first few weeks of October.
My last post in this section was a bit longer, explaining some of the reasonings and roots behind wanting to do this type of writing as well as analyzing two different photos from the last website upload.
The following posts will be a bit shorter, only analyzing one photo and hopefully I can continue posting these on a weekly basis as I publish photos to the IG and website.
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Onto the Photos!
I try my hardest to keep my head up when I am walking through the neighborhoods. It’s a multi-purpose exercise.
1) For “training”; proper walking posture is important for a healthy kinetic chain. Keeping chest upright and vision on the horizon can help your mental health as well as improve running form and I find with the volume of walking I do, practicing this definitely helps my running and keeps my core strong and engaged.
2) For “safety”; having my head down on my phone is very dangerous especially on Commercial and Main. People often, unfortunately, use stop signs in this neighborhood like yields so I keep my head on a swivel as much as I can to avoid getting clipped by someone rushing out ‘cause their late for work.
3) For “examining”; with my head up, I tend to pick up on a silhouette or a colour combination from further away. There is nothing worse than having my head down answering a text or changing a song and realizing someone has crossed the street or gone into a restaurant when I could have approached them earlier.
One of the personal “rules” I try to keep is not approaching people from behind, especially if they have headphones in, I know it can be a bit scary to have someone on the street approach you from behind so I try to avoid it. Most people I take photos of are just trying to get their daily errands done or get from point A to point B, so I really don’t want to startle anyone and it’s usually not a great start to then asking them for a photo…
Keeping my gaze long and down the street not only allows me to see an outfit from far away, but it gives me some time to start my approach as the groups of people dissipate after crossing a street or as the person I want to take a photo of walks into a pocket of sun.
This photo is less of a story about an interaction and more a story about how sometimes, the composition, structure, and colours of a photo just end up working out. For spontaneous, unplanned, and quick interactions, it still amazes me how well they turn on occasion. Let me explain…
For starters, people often comment on is how the subjects of the portrait look like they are absolutely alone in the photo at times in my posts. This is partially chance, and partially timing. In this case it was a mix of both. It’s sometimes tough to pull off, especially on a busy Saturday afternoon, but I saw this outfit from over a block away and waited on the corner for her to cross the street. There was a good pocket of lighting there and I was able to let a few groups of people to pass by which gave a few seconds to frame the subject with no one else, not even a passing car, in the photo.
What stood out to me about the outfit was the silhouette of the jean jacket and pant combination. Jean generally has the ability to be both rigid and comfortable and this outfit combination achieves both in the right way. The jacket has a unique cut with a bit of structure up top, but relaxed through the sleeve with a slight “oversized” fit in the torso. Jean on jean can sometimes be a tough look to pull off but, the jacket being a completely different weight, structure, and fade from the pants doesn’t give that ol’ “Canadian tuxedo” look and instead shows that these pieces were paired on purpose and can be worn independently as well.
The second aspect of the outfit that caught my eye is how the pants “fall” onto the shoe. The “shoe-pant-interface” is a hotly debated topic, always, and
does a good job highlighting some thinking about it in this article from a few years ago if you’d like more of an exploration on it, linked here;
The “stack” that falls from the jeans onto the shoe was captured very nice in this photo and it was definitely something I noticed flowing well as she walked closer. I believe its the combination of the shoes being chunky enough to give a nice stack and the denim being aged or weighted in a way that it all fits well together. As a short guy myself, I often am a “pant roller”, one cuff often for sure, but this fit has definitely inspired me to give the no roll a shot next time I’m out and about.
Once she crossed the street I did my regular “pitch” and my eyes moved to all the accents of red in her outfit. The shirt under her jacket created a triangle of red under her face with the cuffs of the long sleeve peaking out cheekily. The red-striped canvas bag, and of course the burgundy shoes, all help to accent the slight red in her lips, maybe planned or maybe a mix of the sun and cold on that day.
The intentionality accents is what I think can make an outfit awesome. You could argue there is nothing “wild” or “off the wall” about this outfit, especially if you’ve been consuming some of the stuff that has come out of Paris Fashion Week lately, but the subtle nature of the accents shows there was thought put into getting ready and heading out for the day, or there was some sort of subconscious recognition as they were getting dressed. Either way, this person definitely has taste and carries it well with them throughout the day and I appreciate the effort. Thanks again, Gabrielle, for letting me take your photo!
Rounding off this photo analysis is looking at the composition of the photo as a whole using a term I like to adopt from wine making, “terroir”. Terrior, in my usage, is captured in the image from the streets which add to the flavor and make photos a real time piece. The crane working on the Broadway station helps add some dynamism to the frame but also indicates the ever growing, changing and expanding nature of the city. The tiny red accents of the flag and hydrant compliment the pops of red in her outfit, maybe subconsciously what drew me to her in the first place. The angle of the shadow they are creating is pleasing to the proportions of the frame and of course the first signs of fall leaves changing helps to give it a real “seasons” feel, with the off shooting branches of the tree gracefully drawing the viewers eye to the face.
I’d love to tell you that all of this ‘terrior’ is intentional, but like in wine making, it is often up to the environmental factors at the time. Sure there are factors I can control like making sure that crane was in frame, but often my favorite part of the editing process is seeing what I’ve captured by chance and I nerd out with some of these things. I wonder if anyone else picks up on them too?
Conclusions
That’s all for now. Unsure how much people really want to read these analyses at this point so I am going to keep them limited to one or two photos although I could probably write something about every photo I take.
Thanks again for reading and I hope you stay subscribed to this section and learn a thing or two about the process!
If you have any ideas, comments, questions, or if you’d like to see a specific photo I’ve taken recently analyzed, leave a comment below!