On Distance and Photography

I wrote briefly on Instagram about a passage in Alex and Rebecca Norris Webb’s new book, “On Street Photography and the Poetic Image” that resonated with me. In it, Alex Webb mentions the mental shift he experienced when shooting street photos in Florida - a place where people don’t often walk, but always drive. He talks about the separation from the subject by a simple car door, and how it was also a psychological separation for him. While a brief passage, his writing made me think more deeply about my “street” process now that I’m almost always separated from my subjects by distance, or glass.

The rest of the book, by its ‘poetic’ nature, reminds me of an art professor I once had. He had a knack for saying everything and nothing at the same time. Every sentence was a kiss from God until he walked away. That’s when you realized you had no idea what the hell he was talking about. I...