Tour de MANHATTAN – Simon Garnier

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Tour de Manhattan – Simon Garnier – New York City, Usa

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I took this picture in one of my Manhattan’s photo walks. It was toward the end of the day, when I usually take my best pictures. I noticed the toys selling guy from 20-30 meters away and this gave me time to observe the biker going around between the legs of pedestrians. As I approached, I knew I wanted to take a picture of that scene, but I needed something more than the toy itself. After 2-3 minutes wait a man, with gilded sandals and shiny green toenails, walked toward the toy. That was the element I was missing. I quickly crouched down and snapped a first picture, but I knew the angle wasn’t good enough. So I decided to put my camera closer to the ground. I only had 1 second to do it, no time to look through the viewfinder: I aimed instinctively.

The picture is a little bit fuzzy because of that (and because it was a bit dark too), but I think it gives the whole scene a sort of illusion of movement that completes the story well.

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Street photography requires fast judgement of people movements, quick decisions and, sometimes, unorthodox camera positions. Not to be missed: framing skills and vision of how the settings and characters will compose by themselves. Garnier gather all of these qualities into a single shot. Strong colors and the original toy stand out in a surprisingly interesting background, where lines and chewing gum residues add an intense city texture.