G Dan Mitchell Photograph: Restaurant For Rent

A group of passers-by along the sidewalk in front of a Manhattan building underoing renovation.

There’s a conversation I’ve had a few times with painters in which we’ve addressed one of the most important differences between photography and painting. In most cases (ignoring exceptions that come with certain approaches to painting for the moment) the painter “knows” every element of the piece since he or she placed them all. It would be very surprising (though not quite impossible) for the artist to later discover some element that had previously been unobserved or that wasn’t where it was placed. A photograph is usually (though, again, there are a few exceptions) quite different in that the photographer can rarely know every single element of the subject. Instead, the photographer finds a scene/subject whose broad outlines and primary focus are “right,” makes a photograph (and, yes, there are a few other steps I’ve left out) and cannot know every single component of the image, leaving the possibility of later discovery.

I think this is true in just about all photography, but it is especially the case with street photography, where the scene is often very complex and the elements and their interactions are evolving quickly and constantly. Often the photography must work very quickly and intuitively, frequently with little time for reflection before making an exposure. And then, what we end up with is a tiny fractional slice of what was “happening,” a slice that takes on a sense of painting-like permanence, even though it derived from something that was wholly in flux.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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