Photographed from June until September 2022
If I were to describe the subject of my main interest in photography, especially in those couple of months, i.e., through a photography genre, I feel that street photography would come very close but would still be insufficient as a category. The genre I pursue would I call pictures of people in context. Thus, I am not only interested in people on the street but in people everywhere – in the nature, in a public transport, in a city, in a village… at work, at leisure, at worship, going about their daily tasks and so on. I am aware that this is also called candid photography, but I feel this term does not fit my interest fully, either, because at times I photograph people who are fully aware of me as well. Occasionally, I am intrigued by a composition purely because of its geometry, the play of light or colour, even without a person being present.
However, mostly I try to capture people’s emotions, poses, their interactions with each other and with the world around them. I am fascinated by how much pictures can tell and how they can portray people’s stories. The stories are certainly incomplete but that is what carries part of the beauty. If I were to take any person from my photographs and make a documentary about them, we would certainly learn more accurate data about that person, and it could certainly be interesting. But a single photograph leaves us room for our own imagination and perception, while keeping the ratio of expressiveness to compactness extremely high.
As the summer of 2022 was approaching, I felt the need to purchase a camera and document my perception of the world during my travels. The best camera my money could buy me at the time was a used Panasonic DMC-G7 which I subsequently used to take all the pictures in this album. I mostly used a 50mm equivalent lens. Thanks to the decision to photograph throughout the summer, my experience got a completely new dimension, and it helped me to see things differently. Photography became a kind of meditation for me, and I am ever more impressed by how many moments there are to be captured and how many stories there are to be told at any given time of any given day at any given place, as long as people are present.
The pictures presented in this album have been arranged in a very deliberate order, creating a story all together as well. One photograph purposefully following after another, flowing in an association of themes, shapes, topics – minor or major – continuing or expanding on the previous. For this reason, I strongly suggest viewing this album in the presented order, from first picture to the last.
