Social Encounters

These came from being out, mostly already in conversations, already part of whatever was happening. The camera wasn’t a way to enter the moment; it was something I purposely carried into it. I wasn’t looking to interrupt or redirect anything, just to stay aware enough to recogniSe when something was there. Street portraiture can feel predictable to me. Too much asking, too much shaping, too much construed distance disguised as connection. I don’t want that. I’m not trying to turn people into subjects or moments into something cleaner than they are. I don’t really direct or construct. I let things sit as they are and try to respond to them without breaking them. The frame isn’t there to control the situation. It’s there to hold it, as it is, with all the unevenness and tension that comes with real interaction. These images sit somewhere between intention and accident. I was present, I was paying attention, and I chose to take them, but the encounters themselves weren’t necessarily built for the camera. They just existed, and I stayed with them long enough to make something out of it.