This is my favourite photograph from last few days. There is no story behind this photograph or any of my observations. Simply two women captured at the base of Queen Victoria statue: young girl texting someone on her mobile phone and the older lady having a cigarette.
Usually when I take photographs I pay a lot of attention to vertical and horizontal alignment as I tend to take the photos slightly skewed in one direction. If I am not careful I need to correct the verticals in post processing, which takes time. At times, however, like in this photograph having a tilted horizon emphasises the point of view. The man in the centre of the photograph was reclining against one of these small metal poles, which are everywhere in Sydney. Taking the photo on an angle in this case was deliberate to show this, otherwise the lens tends to flatten out scenes like that.
I was passing Sydney Town Hall when I have noticed a skateboarder sitting on the ornate balustrade and he was having his lunch. Bent almost in half he was looking somewhere as if he was trying to spot someone. At the same time there was considerable group of people at the pedestrian crossing and I have noticed that practically everyone was turned away from the skateboarder. With a semi circular space created between the young man and the rest of the crowd. Town Hall is a busy place at lunchtime and it was rather odd there were no people walking towards me and the skateboarder.
There are certain streets in Sydney where I hardly ever have an opportunity for a street photograph. They are either poorly attended by people or do not contain enough businesses or office buildings or both. The section Clarence Street between Market Street and King Street is one of these spots. To my surprise on this day I was in luck. There was a young woman sitting on the pavement licking her fingers looking forward somewhere perhaps waiting for someone. She was very casual about it, actually too casual for my liking as she effectively closed more than half of the walk way.
I have noticed an increased number of people carrying advertising boards around Sydney in recent times. They are called many things, such as walking billboards, human billboards, moving billboards, sandwich boards. They seem to be filling in some advertising niche. I am not sure who pays attention to them but apparently it is cheaper to pay a person to carry an ad all day long than to rent a space on proper advertising billboard. I guess this means smart financial decision but how do the people who carry these signs feel knowing they are cheaper than a poster box?
This photograph of a well known fashion label shown by a smartly dressed young lady maybe an exception where it works as her looks extend the brand image.