Robbie McClaran

          One of my favourite Street Photography images is by Rob McClaran. It was taken on the streets of NYC (where most of my favourite street photographers come from). It is from his series of images titled My Fellow Americans. When seeing this picture for the first time I got chills running up my spine. 

          The colours in the picture almost look staged. From the yellow balloons making your eye travel from left to right and the contrasting red colours of the ladies shopping bags, bow-tie, and sweater, to the splashes of blue in the crowd. Its hard to believe that in the bustling streets of New York no one in the crowd is wearing a bight pink sweater or even has a purple hat on. The only colours present in this picture are primary triadic colours of red yellow and blue.

          I love how the timing in the picture had to be just right in order to pull it off. The crowd walking in the opposite direction so that the only faces present in the image were that of the old man and the man with the mask. (excluding the lady to the far left in my opinion he should have cropped her out) The fact the the old man is placed just over the shoulder of the masked man, if Rob was two or three steps away this picture just wouldn't be the same. The older mans expression is perfect for setting the tone of the photo. Its almost as if the masked face is projected onto the old man. The fact that the old man is in focus compared to the monster in the foreground makes me feel like the man is cheating death, like he is always a step ahead of the monster, even though he is behind him.

          It all makes me wonder if this picture was staged or just a photographer being in the right place at the right time and having the eye to pick up on his surroundings. 

Rob McClaran: My Fellow Americans, New York City