The face says it all

Click to enlarge

There’s something about Kalk Bay that makes street photography essential. The place is full of quaint and peculiar and eye-catching. Whether in the harbour, on the street or inside one of the iconic establishments like The Brass Bell, it’s almost impossible not to take pictures. This image is just one of many memories I have from the area.

I don’t often take pictures of people – I’m just not good at it. My ineptitude for portraiture is a result of inaptitude and landed me in trouble round about the time my daughter got married. I refused to take the wedding photographs, insisting she get a professional to do the job, Having seen the results, I know it was the right decision and hope she sees it that way. We’re still on good speaking terms many years later, so I guess she did – does.

I like street photography, however, and it frequently entails pictures of people – with or sometimes without their knowledge. What’s different is it’s not posed – or generally isn’t in my case. A guy busking, people walking and talking, kids jumping (boys) or skipping (girls) – it’s all part of the scene. And the scene tells a story. Hence good portraiture tells a story.

There are times when I see a person and immediately think they will make for a great image. But I usually approach the opportunity and subject with some trepidation. Like the guy in the image above. He’s one of the fisherman folk from Kalk Bay and was amenable to having his picture taken. (There was, of course, an exchange of currency involved.)

It wasn’t an easy picture to take, believe it or not. It was difficult to avoid buildings or other background interference. It might have been appropriate to have the boats in the harbour as a backdrop, but that meant taking the shot into the rising sun. So, I took the picture with the buildings and replaced the background in photoshop. If you think that’s cheating, well at least I didn’t use AI to generate the image or the backdrop.

Sometimes I’m lucky, and this was one of those times. Now make up your own story.

I'm going to be away for two weeks after today, so no blogs for a while.