Street Photography vs LIFE - for a $100 an hour

12th November 2010

Elliott Erwitt

The other day, me, the missus and Doug the relationship counsellor were in having our regular three way honesty session - you know, doing the "how does that make you feel" thang, when issues of marriage, children and the resultant death of all creativity arose woefully like a lost spectre with a four day migraine.

"LIFE" in a demonstrably suburban household littered with ADHD ankle biters, nightly performances of hysteria (an added matinee thrown in on Sundays), bio-rhythmically lunar pegged neuroses, the need to feed, and a raft of DIY home improvement expectations   ... leaves very little "self" to discover.



Home life can mess with yer mind
(photo - David 'Chim' Seymour)

   And yes, it is sadly very true ... street photography has of late become a bit of a struggle for the Nowhere Man ... output is down, continuity mimics a Coober Pedy dry creek bed, whilst moments of clarity are about as rare as Photo Flo at a Photoshop workshop. 
LIFE vs Observation.
Surface skating vs Emotional Isolation.

Is there any worthwhile middle ground ?
Some small and hallowed patch of bindi free paspalum on which things important can be both achieved and had in equal measure ?

For tokenism just ain't cutting it - you can't do this caper by allocating half an hour each Wednesday around 3, and expect anything less than bulk frustration n heaped spoon fulls of mediocrity.

... scribbling an earnest note,  Doug glanced up from his pad and gazed beyond my twitching left shoulder toward the clock on the wall.