Sometimes I wonder whether capturing good street photographs is a coincidence or an ability? Undoubtedly, it is the mix of two of them.
The fact is that we can say about our whole life that it is a sum of fortuitous happenings. Since we are born, we are already given information about whether our life will be more likely happy (the case if we are born in a loving family) or somewhat more likely sad (if we were born in a family of drunkards). Of course, at the beginning of our life, we are too young to be aware of these issues. Nevertheless, most people, as they grow up, learn many things. Also, they learn that the fact that they were born in this particular family was a divine, eternal coincidence.
One of the most significant examples of the fact that our life is the sum of fortuitous happenings is Sir William Herschel’s case.
Sir William Herschel became a scientist thanks to the fact that at night while observing the moon through his made-by-himself-telescope, he accidentally met Sir William Watson. The latter was the son of the Secretary to the Royal Academy. He was awed by the quality of Sir Herschel’s telescope view. Sir Watson noticed that he had not seen the moon so accurately through royal telescopes. Moreover, he spotted that Herschel was a self-taught astronomer. Herschel, in a short time, joined the Royal Academy. He provided to it his self-gained astronomic knowledge. Eventually, he became one of the greatest astronomers ever.
Like we see, coincidence is a natural part of human lives.
Now, back to street photography: is that mean that all my pictures were taken accidentally? Was it only a coincidence? Of course not. The more we practice photography, the bigger the chance that more of our photographs will be better. Practice is the key to success, not only in photography. Practicing is the main thing that can help us succeed in many aspects of our existence. It is a truth, the same as our lives are the sum of coincidences.
