Self-Portrait Challenge- Street: Rain

Let me start by admitting that I realize I am not doing this month’s challenge correctly. I feel that Street photography should capture a certain sense of life found on urban streets. The images should be spontaneous, raw, and a bit on the wild side. I am not quite sure how these unplanned images can be melded with the idea of a self-portrait. I think it is hard to capture spontaneous images while being in the images yourself. Having said that, I know that I am being lazy and a bit shy. I could probably go downtown and just throw myself into the crowd and snap a few shots. Perhaps I will do that next week.

In the meantime, this week I have stayed in the burbs where I live yet again. Actually, I was even lazier than that; I stayed in my front yard this time. I was going to walk down to a fruit stand down the street from my house, but then it started to rain, so I thought I would capture the intensity of the tropical rain instead. How is this Street photography you may ask? Well you can see my street behind me. Right? You can actually see my pimped out ride as well.

Picking up where I left off last week, I just wanted this image to inspire fun. I am very happy with how it turned out. I think the image speaks for itself, but as I was talking the shot, I was reminded of a passage from Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins that has always stuck out in my mind.

I am paraphrasing here, but he says something like this:

There are two types of people- those who walk timidly in the rain worried about getting wet. They scrunch up their shoulders and scream and whine and run. But then there is the other type of person who simply walks in the rain as if nothing is happening. This type of person better understands his place in the universe.

I try and always remember that when I am in the rain. I have chosen two images to illustrate my point. See you on the street next week. Hopefully.


Here is my portrait for this week: