05 November 2009
To include or not to include people in a photograph, that is the question! Cities are by definition places where people live and gather. For urban photography, the difficulty is that as soon as a person is included in a picture, it becomes the focal point of the image. So there are no two ways about it, either you include people in the shots and they are the focal point, or you do what it takes to eliminate them from the image.
If you decide the image needs no one in it, this might mean waiting for a few minutes, going on location early in the morning or late at night, going back after working hours or when school is over, etc.
If, on the other hand, a human element enhances the image, you'll need to do your own 'casting', choosing the right person that will be included in the picture. Do you want the sweaty jogger, the lady with the dog or the couple holding hands? The choice is yours, but it is a critical one since the attention will first go to the people you have chosen.
This might also mean choosing the right time of day or waiting a little while longer to have the 'perfect' person come by. While you wait, you can prepare yourself: measure the light, study the scene, explore the angles, work on the composition, etc. Then it becomes easy to act quickly and capture the perfect moment with the perfect person at the perfect location.
To illustrate, below are two pictures taken of the side stairway leading up to Sacré Coeur in Montmartre. The first image feels empty with no one walking by and I felt it really needed some life. I waited a little while for some people to go by, but they were not what I had in mind so I waited a few more minutes until the right couple came along to convey the atmosphere I wanted to convey.
Photography is all about finding what you are looking for and sometimes being patient for all the elements to come together. It is about waiting for a door to open or to close, or for someone to walk out of, or into, the picture...
