From the day
Perspective: The Street Photographer · Tactile
I lean against a damp brick wall, the rough texture snagging my wool sleeve as I watch a young woman in stiff linen march past, her "votes for women" sash fluttering in the humid breeze. My fingers itch to capture the scene, but I pause to adjust my heavy wooden tripod, glancing at a discarded newspaper where the bold ink screams "OURCQ WON BY AMERICANS; German Line Broken Up By Brilliant Charge Across the River. NEW YORK BOYS LEAD IT Old 69th Storms Powerful Positions." Nearby, a boy sits on the scorching pavement, his calloused hands fumbling to notch smooth timber Lincoln Logs together while thick, black ink from the headlines smudges his knuckles. The air is heavy with the scent of hot asphalt and the metallic tang of a passing Ford, yet all I can feel is the grit of New York summer dust beneath my fingernails as I frame the shot.