Overcoming the Fear of Standing Out as a Street Photographer
Street Photography in Nairobi, Kenya.
I have always been the person that is happy to always be behind the scenes. I like to blend in and hide behind the crowd. That is one of the reasons I am always dressed in black and grey because I blend in more easily.
It is almost as though I am embarrassed to be myself and I go out of my way to make sure I do not stand out. I am not sure if this is me being an introvert or it is some character flaw.
As a Photographer, this means that I have a very hard time removing my camera from my bag to take photos in public. I have always dreamt of doing street photography and documenting the different places that I am blessed to travel to. But the fear of being noticed has made me not start. I fear that I will cause unnecessary disruption to people’s peace if I bring the camera to my face and take photos. I fear that I will face confrontation from an angry passerby if I try to take photos out on the street.
However a couple of months ago, I went out with a group from Cameras Africa to document the city of Nairobi and I must say that I really enjoyed the experience of documenting my city. I even had the courage to ask a few people on the streets if I could take their portraits. Talk about getting out of my comfort zone. This sparked a little something in me and I decided that I would try my hand at street photography and documenting everyday life. Here are a few images that I captured from the streets of nairobi on the Nikon Zf with the 40mm lens.
Though it is not optically perfect, I love this lens because it is small and draws less attention. Because of the size of the lens I am not more comfortable walking around with my camera in my hand.
Here’s to gaining courage and documenting life, one image at a time.