So, if we quick search in google about happiness, wikipedia said “happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being which can be defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.”
As street photographer we see the world in different ways compare to normal person. We pay (much) more attention to our surrounding, then use our instinct, gut and imagination to create an artistic scene from elements/moments that available in public spaces every day. We blend them together into one artistic painting based on the reality of human life. That is the main reason I called street photography as documenting human life (humanity). Humanity here is not only about people, but also all other things that strongly related to human life such as animal, tree, building, car, Sun, water, and any other things that have huge influence in human life.
So, what is the relation between finding art scene on public place and happiness? I believe in by keep finding art on the street means we keep search things that has beauty inside, has something that hit our gut and imagination in positive way. For example, in the photo above, I shot it in the middle of entertainment park, at weekend time, imagine a crowded place plus a lot of noise from live music around there. However, when I look up, I realise there is a tree that just stand alone at height and watching us all silently. I feel I just find my “Oasis” by looking this tree, it is just clean up my mind from chaos and create an inner peace feeling.
So the point is, even in a “chaos” place we can still find something positive, something that grow to our heart, something that we think it is artistically good. In street photography we learn how to compose ordinary things that happen in decisive moment into a visual art that has deep meaning or visually interesting to look at.
Another example is in the photo above, I found her just lying around at near front door of Starbucks Cafe, no one pay attention to her at all. When I saw her I just raise my camera and shot her casually, then suddenly she walked toward me, and that is the moment when I realised she has beautiful blue eyes! Always remember that we can shoot street photography everywhere (read here), not only on the street area.
I believe if you are a person who doing street photography daily, you will understand the special feeling when you think you just have ordinary day (or even bad day), then suddenly beautiful or unique moment appear right in front of you; you manage to photographed it, then suddenly you feel your mood is getting better, feel happier, and more confident about yourself. It simply makes you become a more positive person.
As a street photographer we simply keep search for beautiful/unique moments out there to be photographed. We aware more about our surrounding. That is why being a street photographer will make us keep finding positive things about this world.
There are plenty of beautiful or unique things that most of the time unseen by many people out there. They never realise there is a decisive moment created by universe that able to become a piece of art, simply because they never giving enough attention about their surrounding, could be because busy with their smartphone, their paperwork, and talking with their friends.
As a street photographer it is our “duty” to share to the world about this beautiful moments. Our daily activities may look boring outside, but if we look deeper and more carefully, there are many many chances artistic moments are happening right in front us.
That is all about my thought of being a street photographer, just remember that when we are shooting on the street, we can become a happier person because we pay more attention to beautiful things in this world more than how “normal people” see the world.
Keep shooting and do not forget to be happy!
Nico Harold