Leeds .....

Market #2.

This morning I had an appointment in Leeds, so thought I'd have a go at some more street photography whilst there. I really admire a lot of the street photography on blip, but struggle with the 'art form' myself. The main problem I have is I feel really guilty about taking photos of people without asking them first.

When I arrived at the market today there was a man stood outside under a canopy smoking a roll up. He was ( I'd guess ) in his late 60's had a nose that had been broken so many times that it was flat to his face but he was the smartest dressed man I'd seen in Leeds today, wearing a dark suit and crombie coat. The glint in his eyes suggested that he'd seen and done it all before. I really wanted to take his photo, but didn't feel I could without asking him first, but he didn't look like they type that would take kindly to my request. I've been kicking myself all afternoon for not asking him, or at least trying to take a sneaky candid shot.

I had a wander around the market trying a different technique. I held my phone camera pointing it roughly in the direction of any scenes that looked interesting and randomly tapped the shutter button without holding the phone up and looking at the screen. I thought this would make me look a bit more inconspicuous and that I'd get better candid shots, but when I looked back at the photos I had lot's of streetcornersociety stlye 'glare shots'.

The first photo I took today is the one that I've ended up blipping. taken at my favourate brick wall at the back of Leeds market. I spotted this old chap as he was about to sit down. He carefully laid out a crisp clean white towel on the bench ( which was under a canopy and dry despite the contsant drizzle today ), sat down, then carried on making his roll up with the ciggarette butts he'd collected.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to take stunning candid street portraits like streetcornersociety's, or make everyday street scenes tell a story like Monkus/Bimble, but I'll keep on attempting it as I enjoy the challenge. As I'm sure there will be more in this series, todays blip is.....


..... Leeds Market #2