The street is probably one of the most varied, fluid, random, dynamic, daunting and oldest of photographic environments and it is with a certain amount of trepidation that one approaches it and has the courage to present yet another collection of photographs to an already saturated space.
From that initial image of a lone man tying his shoelace to the throng of a 21st century city, is there anything which hasn't been photographed? Like a piece of plastic which may end up in the ocean, perhaps the prospective photographer should think carefull before adding to the maelstrom of images swirling through the virtual and, less commonly, real worlds.
And still the impulse is there, as one makes one's way through crowded thoroughfares or nipping down an alleyway; standing on a corner, waiting; stepping onto a train platform; watching the nightlife unfold; a compulsion to record a scene or present a drama, real or imagined, implied or fictional.
It is a fertile ground which produces so many different scenes, from the lone individual to the press of crowds. There are as many ways to present this particular environment, either carefully from afar, picking out the human state against the fabric of the city, enmeshed in the ever present buzz of commerce or up close, shooting from the hip with a compact or phone camera.
This gallery draws together a number of these themes to present a view, or range of views, of life as enacted on the contemporary street.
