Your street photography: image by Kevin Hare

Image ©Kevin Hare

This great image is from Kevin Hare, a student of mine and a member of the StreetSnappers Collective.

Kevin initially walked past the old chap and girls but then spotted the contrast between them He assumed the immaculately dressed man was ex-forces especially with his very red socks and highly polished shoes - then he spotted the two girls. Being from a very different age and background, Kevin wondered what the chap was thinking and he quickly did an about turn to grab a couple of very quick shots. He normally uses a Leica M11 with 35mm lens he also had his SL2 with him which allowed him to shoot at 90mm and therefore able to get the shot without disturbing the scene.

So what do I think of this? Well I think it’s quite a strong frame and top marks to Kevin firstly for spotting the opportunity and secondly actually executing the shot pretty well. This reminds me very much of a well-known Joel Meyerowitz frame I really like (see below) - a similar concept with similar elements.

Kevin’s image is really all about ‘contrast’ - a useful device in street photography - though perhaps some of us rely on this a little too much. But that’s for another conversation. So, our attention is drawn to the guy in red socks. He’s immaculately turned out - not surprisingly because he’s clearly ex-military. The red socks provide a great focal point because they help transport the eye around the frame - and this is a really useful device for us to deploy. Then we look at the two women who appear to be worlds apart from him in many ways. The bench they’re sitting on obviously connects the three figures but there’s also a strong disconnect which causes that little bit of tension which makes the frame interesting. Well done Kevin - a very decent keeper.