Faces of Dublin
The photos for this post were taken during a couple of visits to Dublin. The first was in September when I unwittingly encountered a protest march against the introduction of water charges. The second visit was a few weeks ago on Nov 1st – this time to actually take part myself in a water charges protest march, my first time ever to do something like that. You’re never too old to do new things!
For this post, I’ve selected shots which feature a face or faces as the main focal point, as opposed to general scenes. There are many challenges in street photography – framing a good scene, ensuring there is interest or a story for the viewer among other aspects. I like the challenge of trying to capture facial expressions (unposed, of course). The shots in this selection feature faces where I am almost 100% sure the subject did not know I was taking the shot. Click and move. I’m not always so inconspicuous and in a forthcoming post I will show some shots where I was most definitely spotted by the subject. Still – click and move. No one has yet come after me!
In this post you will see one gentleman who appears twice. I actually encountered him on both visits in two different areas of the city centre – quite a coincidence. I hope you enjoy these shots. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know which is your favourite shot. I won’t reveal mine for now!
Some great shots, I particularly like the one of the girl with the headscarf and flowers.
Thanks David. I’m very pleased with that particular shot.
Incredible shot. I wonder could you separate her from the background and put her into another background. amazing expression 🙂
Thanks Deirdre. I must try that suggestion – the background in the shot is a bit of a distraction. I’m not very skilled at that level of image manipulation but I’m sure there are some YouTube videos that will help.
Fair play to you for getting involved in the protests John, hope the government can be forced to back down. Very good street photography too – never had the courage to give it a try myself.
Thanks Aidy … I was quite intimidated at first by street photography, but after I survived my first few outings without getting beaten up, I really started to enjoy it!
Good collection. Love your man in the Che Guevara hat but my pick is the b/w of the smiling guy in the windcheater.
Thanks Roy – I like that guy’s smile too. One of the things I love about candid street portraits is that, capturing an un-posed moment in time, you just never know what you are going to get in terms of facial expressions. Timing – and a lot of luck!
Well done John. Particularly liked the girls taking the photo of themselves but the clarity of the expressions on all the faces is just great.
Thanks Liz. The beauty of these unposed photos is the great variety of expressions you get on people’s faces. On a few occasions I’ve asked a stranger to pose for a shot but I’ve never been overly happy with the results.