28 June 2009#24

Oxford Street, London, 30th September 2006

When people spot me taking their picture I usually stop, smile and move on as was the case with this picture of a girl counting money at the end of a days work. Many photojournalists in particular dislike people gazing into the lens as it betrays the photographer’s presence at the scene and compromises the objectivity they seek to portray. This is less so in the case of street and documentary photographers like in this example by Robert Frank where I think the glance of the woman in the coffee shop holds our attention and makes the viewer engage with her in a way that seems more personal. I never saw the girl at the exchange booth again.

Image: Robert Frank – Coffee shop, railway station, Indianapolis, 1956