The Street Gawking Gallery Project
This isn't a photography contest and we're not really photographers.
I'm the head of strategy at a branding company in Singapore and my wife Christiane is an economist. That said, we both have the kind of curiosity that borders on offensive and to make matters worse, we both carry some kind of camera everywhere we go. We’re not crap at taking pictures though. We believe that if you look at the odds, taking enough pictures increases the chance that one day you’ll come across an inspiring moment, frame it well and freeze it forever.
Here are a few that Christiane and I have been lucky enough to capture over the course of our gawking habit:
Woman in Subway (London, UK)
This woman played violin so voraciously that the only possible story here is that she replaced a passionately addictive drug habit with the violin.
Man By The Ganges (Varanasi, India)
Capturing brilliant moments by the Ganges in Varanasi, India's holiest city, is about as challenging as capturing a hipster at a Mac store. The question is where to draw the line in a place where people go to burn their dead. This shot felt a bit intrusive, but I think my shyness actually made for a nice portrait.
Romantic Moment Between Horses (Himalayas, Nepal)
On the way back from a foggy visit to the base camp of Mt. Everest, we were in a field of horses when the giant peaked out to say hello. The horses found the sight a bit too arousing the moment I snapped this picture.
The Boys (Bhaktapur, Nepal)
These two boys struck me as different from those around them: they kept their distance, they did not try to get anything out of me, they did not smile, or wave and did not flinch or smile at the camera. There was something about their too-old-for-their-age macho posture: a confidence and pride that makes me think life for them will be better in the future, because they will demand it.
Girl on a Bus (Nameless Communist Stronghold in the Caribbean)
In this nameless communist stronghold, people wouldn’t speak to me - not about their government nor about their personal situation because they were afraid of the consequences. The image of this girl stuck with me because of the way she is holding up her head. She is probably sick of tourists coming into her life to photograph the authentic misery and decay, yet she isn’t hiding behind the window beams or turning her head towards the inside of the bus; she is beautiful and proud and her gaze lets me know that.
