In this blog post, I intend to express my enthusiasm for residing in the northern region of the United Kingdom. While it offers a plethora of attractions and activities, street photography presents a unique challenge. For instance, the bustling streets of Manchester and Liverpool, despite their high foot traffic, provide limited opportunities for capturing moments that make for great street photos. Liverpool city centre, in particular, is characterised by a constant stream of people moving like zombies, from shop to shop, and that’s it.
Saturdays should be full of opportunities for street photography, yet nothing seems to happen. It’s the same with Manchester. This makes street photography so damn challenging. I can be in the city for hours and capture nothing, and unfortunately, I found this has been getting to me. I’ve started feeling frustrated, wondering if it was the right decision to move to the north of the country. Of course, I know it was the right decision to move here, and I wouldn’t live anywhere else in the UK. The great thing about shooting street photography in the north is that when something happens in front of the camera, I know that no one else will capture it. I know that the capture can’t be replicated. This in itself makes working in the north best, and it’s a way to work through the frustration that I sometimes feel.
I have started to rethink my approach to shooting in the north. I’m now looking for areas that might offer me something different. Walking around places like Birkenhead can offer some wonderful opportunities, and yet these areas can be a little bit dangerous. There are so many characters in a place like Birkenhead that would be wonderful for street photos, yet they will not like me taking their photos, and most of these characters are on drugs or drunk, so problems could increase if I try to take a photo. I keep saying to myself, just go for it, what’s the worst that could happen?
When my wife and I started looking at moving to the north, my thought was to look at all the towns and cities within 50 miles of Liverpool. I’ll have so many opportunities for my street photography, and yet after three years, I’ve started to realise that yes, I have many towns and cities like Stoke, Newcastle, Blackburn, etc., and after spending a few weeks travelling with my wife to these places, I came away with nothing, not one photo. Most of these towns are just dead, with nobody around.
The past week has been spent in Liverpool and Manchester. While I have managed to capture a few photographs, I have also returned home feeling despondent and exhausted. It is imperative that I overcome this negative outlook, but unfortunately, it is a challenge that I find readily surmountable. Fortunately, I have the support of friends such as James, Nuno, Jay, and many others. These remarkable individuals motivate me to excel as a photographer and as an individual. Without their encouragement, I believe I would have succumbed to the discouragement of photography and life. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all who have stood by me and endured my moments of low spirits and negativity.
I will never give up on street photography and in a future blog I’ll write more on why I’ve been struggling and its not for the reasons you might be thinking.
