Phoneography Challenge, the Phone as Your Lens: Architecture as Street Photography

26 August 2013

Lens:

1. Samuel Machinery Company, Philadelphia, iPhone 4s, August 2013; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2013

2. 30th Street Station, Philadelphia, iPhone 4s, August 2013; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2013

Let me know which you prefer and why.

Pens: Okay, okay, okay–it’s my third post in a row that features street photography. It’s hard for me to state which is the more compelling component of this genre: the movement or the stationary.

Buses bustling, cars careening, crowds dispersing, bicyclists peddling, pedestrians strolling, diners dining, lights flickering, people watching, others listening, signs staring, windows modeling, vendors vending. This visual landscape is intoxicating.

Along with iconic building and places Philadelphia offers various urban backdrops and elements. My one-day excursion was a feast for savoring.

In the Lens section are two stills from that trip. Each is a slice of architecture that defines inner-city life: a building under renovation and skylighting in 30th Street Station.

“A Grand Day Out,” by British Street Photographer David Solomons

For me these images clearly fit into street photography, which also includes architecture. Any city struts its character through the history of its buildings. The old and the new summarize much of the depth and breath of what transpires from dawn to dusk and from past to present.

These images (click here and here for the other posts) tell teeny tiny tales about what is found on the street. This pulse of storytelling has attached itself to my thoughts.

To observe human interaction from the street level is to be a voyeur and spy of sorts. I cannot wait to (unobtrusively) do more.

Tip of the Week: Click here for twenty-one tips from Digital CameraWorld that will help you launch a “street photography” photo shoot. Three well-known photographers give pointers: David Solomons, Matt Stuart, and Nick Turpin.

Here are other entries:

http://goomfh.wordpress.com/

http://weliveinaflat.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/dog-walking-hungry-ghost-festival/

http://watchingthephotoreels.com/2013/08/26/phoneography-challenge-challengers-choice/

http://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/phoneography-challenge-architecture-cleveland-museum-of-art/

http://completelydisappear.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/a-new-hope/

http://angelinem.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/phoneography-challenge-still-life/

http://thepalladiantraveler.com/2013/08/26/phoneography-challenge-travel/

http://ohmsweetohmdotme.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/more-mccc/

http://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/phoneography-challenge-street-photography-architecture-stairway-to-heaven/

http://travelwithintent.com/2013/08/26/streets-of-livingstone/

http://nwframeofmind.com/2013/08/26/iphoneography-monday-8-26-13/

http://photobyholly.wordpress.com/

http://woollymuses.wordpress.com/2013/08/28/wordless-wednesday-phoneography/

http://pilotfishblog.com/2013/08/29/iphoneography-monday-challenge-portraiture/

http://livingwithmyancestors.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/phoneography-challengers-choice-still-life/

http://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/the-architecture-of-stillness/

Note: Here’s a reminder of the weekly schedule and themes for upcoming Phoneography Monday Challenges:    

1st Monday: Nature

2nd Monday: Macro

3rd Monday: Black-and-White

4th and 5th Mondays: Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).