Max

This image features 2 people walking in a Hutong. When capturing the image, I was positioned in a darker environment than the alley outside. Therefore, it features a deep contrast between the silhouettes outlining the men and the bright outside environment. The photograph also includes leading lines formed by the cars and wall to let the audience focus their attention on the main subject-the people. Through the multiple layers is also created depth, giving off a sense of nostalgia. Lastly, the focus on the image is concentrated on the background, not revealing much details of the main subject, adding mysteriousness and making the overall composition look more natural to the Beijing daily life.

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This image shows a old man driving his rickshaw while talking to the tourists at the back. The image has a high contrast between the bright red on the rickshaw and the light green of the bamboo in the background. The image also features a pattern between light and shadows. The lighting is rather soft and dim, but it conveys the emotions of the people in the image, a blend of calmness and gentleness. The overall composition is made so that the middle line falls exactly on the rickshaw driver, emphasizing the subject and his role in the image. The combination of nature and traditional Beijing elements also reflects my Statement of Intent well.

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Similar to the first image, this photo also features a strong contrast between the shadows and silhouettes of the biker and the bright outside environment due to by stance and position in the setting. The photograph also uses sharp focus to create a rich background but leave the subject dark and mysterious. The vanishing point of the image is also placed at the end of the alley, which also draws attention to the cultural heritage of the Hutongs, adding on a feeling of containment and soothingness.

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The photograph shows a little boy reacting towards a toy in his mother’s hand. The most important element in this photo is his vivid expression, which shows a combination of anger and jealousy, urging his mother to give him the toy. His wide opened mouth and narrowed eyes convey this emotion to the audience. The colors of the subject also stand out, being light blue, compared to the gray in the background. The perspective compared to the subject rather high, which adds upon a sense vulnerability while emphasizing its relationship with the surrounding environment and people. When editing the image, I made the boy stand out by adding stronger brilliance and cropping unneeded people in the background.

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This photograph shows 2 old people on a walk in the Hutong district. The most important element here is the lighting consideration, with one person’s eyes being covered by the shadow formed by his cap. On the other hand, the rest of the subject remains light up, emphasizing the sharpness and contrast of the image, adding a sense of tension to the environment. The colors of the subjects in the image remain simple and blend into the background, with the overall color tone. being rather dark and neutral. The image is also a close up shot, allowing more details in facial expressions.

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This image is a heartwarming shot of a family standing together under a tree. The image features gestures, find the father seemingly opening his hands to let the girl come to him. The lighting and composition also emphasize such an emotion. The sunlight shines on the tree trunk and its leaves, leaving the family in its shadow, adding a sense of coziness. On the other hand, the image captures leaves being blown by the wind, creating movement and making the image more natural and lively. Another characteristic of the image is its low perspective, with the camera directly on the ground while the photograph was taken, highlighting the subject and its significance. During editing, I also cropped off unneeded elements and straightened the image to make it more straightforwards and visually appealing.

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This image shows a man walking down an alleyway. Lighting plays an important role in the composition of the image, with it illuminating the main subject of the image. The image also features the rule of thirds, with the man falling perfectly on the bottom left hand corner of the image, adding attention to him while lessening the effect of the vibrant green sign in the background. While editing the image, I added brilliance and exposure to thicken the atmosphere and lighting contrast, conveying emotions of isolation and resilience of the person.

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This photo show a moving scooter in the Hutongs. It features a strong sense of movement, with the scooter being blurred due to its high speed. The center composition of the image also allows the middle line to be exactly on the main subject, emphasizing its importance in the photograph. The color tone of the image remains gray and dull, creating moods of contemplative and aging. The eye-level perspective used also captures and connects people with the story the image tells. While editing, I cropped out a lot of useless elements to let the audience focus on the main subject while not being distracted.

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The color of red is represented rather dramatically in this image. Its vibrant tone leaves a feeling of energy and excitement. On the other hand, the muted tones of the man’s cloths create a contrast between the two. The composition uses the rickshaws as a frame to draw attention to the man on his phone. It also includes the rule of thirds to emphasize the subject. The contrast between shadows and the light falling on the person’s hat also convey mood and feeling to the audience.

This image features another man riding a scooter. Similar to previous shots, the contrast between the shadow covering the man and the outside environment creates a sense of mysteriousness, diving deeper into the unknown. Shapes in this image are also crucial, as they outline the man and other objects, adding upon the mysterious feeling. Selective focus in the image allows sharp details on the person while moderately blurring the background.

Throughout my practice over the last few classes, I wished to try to combine different photographic techniques together to form an interesting photograph. Therefore, some of these images may be linked to multiple techniques. During the field trip, I wish to learn from these and improve on my skillset to get a better version of such images.

Layers (#19):

In photography, layers are used to create depth and volume, adding upon a feeling of complexity and thickening the atmosphere. The same applies to the photo above. It captures a person through a net looking at the far horizon. The nets in the image are what adds the layers, which further adds on and emphasizes dimensional depth and is used as a sort of medium to transmit a feeling of powerlessness and dread of the main subject, adding some symbolism to the photograph.

Furthermore, the net creates leading lines. The vertical strings of the net lead the viewer’s attention to the far end of the photograph, to where the person is looking at. This adds upon the feeling of confinement in the photograph.

The Decisive Moment (#1):

A decisive moment is defined as capturing the exact instance something unique happens. This photograph happens in the exact moment the subject attempts a shot towards the goal. It creates a special harmonious balance in the photograph, making a connection to the audience. I also made the image black and white. This blends the main subject in with the outside environment, also creating a sense of peacefulness and calmness.

The net around the subject shooting the ball also adds some layering and further dimensional sense to the image. It is as if the story takes place in a completely different space, surrounded by the outside environment, adding strong emotional feelings.

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Avoiding Distractions (#10):

Including unneeded elements and objects in an image often overcomplicates the visual elements and draw viewers’ eyes away from the main subject. Therefore, I cropped the image above the show simply 2 people blurred in the background behind a football net. At first, the different vibrant colors and objects in the background made the image lack a clear point of attention, making it seem more random and cheap. However, after cropping, the people in the background became the center of attention. The cropping also shows how the net’s vertical string passes through the 2, adding on a sense of distance and makes the image add on a sense of sorrow and sadness.

Focus on Background (#7):

Focus is all about the sharpness of the photograph. Most of the time, it is on the main subject. However, in this image, I have put the focus to make the background seem sharper towards the audience. This creates a sense of dreaminess on the subject, showing the nearby environment to add further context and story to the image. The foreground of the photo shows a rather blurred person looking at his camera. This adds mysteriousness to the photo and evokes guesses and thoughts from the audience.

The photo also has layering. The person is clearly in a front layer, creating a sense of depth and driving the audience’s attention towards the background as well, adding on a balance between the different elements and objects of the image.

Eye Contact (#6):

In photography, eye contact can show power and determination. In this image, the person looking at the camera transmits a gloomy feeling, with only one eye looking towards the camera, also suggesting avoidance and shows a desire to be remain unseen by the rest. The tone of the image overall is also dark, having large areas of grey and black, suggesting a subdued atmosphere in the environment.

Centered (#14):

This photograph features a rain droplet the moment it hits the wet cement floor of a stadium. The droplet finds itself in the very center of the image, showing and emphasizing the main subject of the photo. It also creates the feeling of symmetry and balance throughout the atmosphere, providing stability and meaning to the rest of the elements and objects showed in the image. The water sprinkles it creates when hitting the floor also creates a sense of calmness and peacefulness, showing the beauty of nature and its position with our daily lives.

Not only, but the photo has a clear diagonal line passing through the top and bottom. Being the staircase of the stadium, this perfectly straight diagonal shows action and movement, which works together with the water droplet to give off the overall energetic but at the same time calm and mature feeling.

The title of this project is “Life in the Alleyways”. The project will focus on the concept of the harmonious combination between the people of Beijing and their living environment of the Hutongs. The project will capture the interactions between the 2 to show the traditional and rather slow paced lifestyle of the bustling metropolis. I will get inspiration and develop my ideas through photographs which emphasize contrast between light and shadows, vibrant colors, as well as with a low angled perspective. Light and shadows set drama and mood for the main photograph. Light rays captured also give off a calming and sincere texture and feeling to the photograph. On the other hand, vibrant colors provides a feeling of depth through different layers and directly transmits an emotional touch to the piece. I plan on making the using some sharp tones to contrast other rather muted colors to reach this goal. Low angled perspectives capture large objects showing a strong sense of dominance, while emphasize a feeling of juxtaposition for smaller objects which are “surrounded”. In my photograph, I wish to use this to capture younger children around adults to give off this a similar product and convey such emotions to the audience. Therefore, the overall emotional touch I want the group of photographs to bring is a relaxed, calmed, and peaceful environment brought by the Hutong district and how it has condensed the history and culture of Beijing. While the rest of the city experienced dramatic changes during the mid to late 20th century, it was the Hutongs which were preserved. There, it is as if time hasn’t made any influence to the environment and locals, continuing to be a representation of the city and its historical environment. I plan on using this unique atmosphere and meaning the Hutongs carry to portray a sense of nostalgia, urban decay, as well as an authentic, unposed everyday life of the locals. I will also use Saul Leiter and Fan Ho as the 2 main inspirational artists during the trip. Saul Leiter’s use of reflections, color, as well as manipulation of the camera and Fan Ho’s light and shadow choices are what I wish to learn throughout the practices I will be doing-the combination would surely add another layer of depth and meaning to the photograph.

Fan Ho “Back to Mother”

Saul Leiter “Red Umbrella”

Works Cited:

The general concept I wish to focus on during this trip is “The People of China”. Moreover, I wish to make a combination between people in their everyday lives and the cultural background and environment of the Hutongs. My plan is to set the locals as a part of the foreground of the photograph while having a calming and cordial background to convey emotions of peacefulness. The product would hopefully speak for itself to give the audience an insight of Beijing’s rich historical background and significance in Chinese culture while naturally showing people through lenses which would portray and emphasize life under such a setting.

The Hutongs and Its People

The Hutongs themselves are narrow alleyways and streets found in the heart of Beijing. They are formed by the traditional Chinese “Siheyuan (四合院)” constructed mostly at the period of the Yuan Dynasty when the structure became a common way adapted to build neighborhoods across the packed capital. In images, the Hutong’s atmosphere appears to be a blend of a traditional Chinese lifestyle with some more modern touches across some buildings. With the addition of locals living in the region, the hutongs can give off a sense of nostalgia and a closely knit community living below walls of skyscrapers of the larger metropolis. It feels like life isolated from the outside world and passing of time, getting photographs a glimpse of Beijing’s true appearance from the past.

Photographers in the Hutongs and China:

Xu Yong:

He was among one of the first Chinese photographers to capture images of Chinese daily life in the Hutongs without any political influence and ideological restrictions. Therefore, his photos focused more on the older and more rusted regions of the Hutong districts. He used his camera as a political metaphor to show the true lives of Chinese at the time period. Even though having differentiating goals and purposes, I wish to study his techniques when photographing the scenes, which include the combination of light and blur to convey emotions. Xu Yong is able to selectively focus the subject while softening the background, while at the same time blurring motion in the foreground to emphasize movement and create a stronger emotional impact on the audience. Xu Yong often uses black and white lenses to photograph, which also creates a stronger feeling of nostalgia and change in the modern society. Through studying his techniques, I wish to make my images more straightforward to the audience and give off a thickened atmosphre of the setting.

Fan Ho:

One of the most influencial Chinese street photographers in the modern era. Fan Ho has a smooth touch to all his photographs. He uses lights and shadows to his advantage to add a special texture to his work. The contrast he added on the teeming and robust streets of the East portrayed its essence and soul. People in their daily lives were captured to show a true glimpse of Chinese cities to the outside world. Fan Ho also manipulated negative space between objects to emphasize isolation and balance at the same time. I wish to learn from his techniques to add a deeper mood and tone into my photographs.

Street Photography Mind Map

This is my mind map for street photography. It goes into different techniques and elements in the field to make the theme and main idea clearer for the audience. It also provides a few photos on the Hutongs to emphasize my goal in the field trip coming up.

Street photography is a field in photography which captures people in their true daily lives in public spaces. It isn’t staged, faked, or preplanned in any sort of way, but captures strangers in vivid ways and focuses on their interactions, both physical and emotional, with their surroundings. These deceptions of everyday life of society show atmosphere, setting, and capture a broader view of the way we are living. The publicness of the space allows street photographers to take images of strangers without their knowledge, making photographs diverse in emotions. These emotions that would have went unnoticed in life were captured to show the true mechanisms behind the human lifestyle and character.

Additionally, street photography doesn’t deliberately add meaning and a story to photographs, but leaves it open ended, allowing each viewer to form a story accordingly to their life experiences and past, making the same images meaningful to a larger variety of viewers and groups of people.

“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.” — Robert Doisneau

Works Cited

Blog, Px. “A Simple Secret to Better Street Photography – 500px.” 500px, 30 Sept. 2015, iso.500px.com/a-simple-secret-to-better-street-photography.

Blumberg, and Naomi. “Street Photography | Definition, History, Types, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Aug. 2014, www.britannica.com/art/street-photography.

A Definition of Street Photography. www.dostreetphotography.com/blog/definition-street-photography.

 Saul Leiter

“A window covered with raindrops interests me more than a photograph of a famous person.”

Saul Leiter was a famous American street photographer from the middle to late 20th century. Unlike other street photographers, Leiter’s images capture and add on a sense of abstraction and mysteriousness to the atmosphere while being rather straightforward, allowing every individual to see the piece from different lenses and perspectives. Sometimes, even the most basic scenes of everyday life-a car in the rain, pedestrians, a man with his cigarette-can be captured by him to reflect deep meaning and our everyday lives.

Leiter spent most of his life capturing street photography images in the city of New York after coming from Pennsylvania. Self taught, he was able to capture New York by showing its dense urban lifestyle and heavy atmosphere, showing people and objects through realistic perspectives, which was later seen and described as poetic and painterly. In the 1940s, he started experimenting with color photography, a medium which was adopted by others years later, and showed a throughout understanding of how to manipulate colors to convey feeling. During the time period in which photography was rather old school, used to take ‘lame’ as Leiter said-images of the rich and wealthy-he moved on by showing people submerged and blended in to the city environment, something modern photographers still do to this day.

His photographic style is something I wish to study during his unit. I wish to learn upon his usage of reflections and choice of lighting to make my image more inspiring and make the sense of atmosphere thicker and more obvious. The deep meaning and visual behind his images while still ensuring the tidiness and simplicity in the photograph is truly astonishing and I’m looking forward to using this as a reference in our Hutong trip later on.

“Snow, 1960″ Saul Leiter, New York City

This image captured during a snowy day shows a man passing through a street through a frost covered window. Even though being straight on and simple, the window and frost create layering, add on depth to the image, and emphasize the mood. The subject in the image-the man, is rather not the only main point of attraction. The faint words on the window and what presumably is a yellow vehicle in the background create a feeling of abstraction and blur-the very few elements in the image work together to show the ordinary and overlooked people in society through visually appealing lenses.

The maneuvering of color inside the photograph is also impressive. Looking back through the modern lenses, the contrast between the vehicle’s bright tone and person shadow, or dark tone, shows and gives off a feeling of bittersweet nostalgia and a sense of a slow paced lifestyle. To some extent, it also gives symbolizes purity and calmness. Saul Leiter’s photograph also doesn’t include sharp details, but rather uses shapes to give off feelings and emotions. Shapes frame the photograph in a way which they emphasize the subject and spread the mood of the man throughout the environment.

However, apart from the visual elements, the meaning behind the image is also interesting and worth paying attention to. The man in the image seems to staring at his left palm, which is surely not his phone considering the time period, symbolizing us a pause in time in the busy days of New Yorkers. Leiter himself has never truly analysed what he wanted to show through the photo. By rather appreciating street photography than “dissecting it” preserves the meaning of this art while respecting different views and meanings it conveys to each individual.

From this photograph, I wish to study Leiter’s application of colors to enhance mood and emotion, as well as using other object to frame my photograph to thicken the overall atmosphere. I can do so by using mirrors, reflections, and enhancing a combination of bright and dark tones. I will also try shots from unique angles and perspectives to mimic Leiter and see whether it would improve my photographs.

Works Cited

“Art Net.” Saul Leiter, www.artnet.com/artists/saul-leiter/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.

Snow, 1960. Artsy, www.artsy.net/artwork/saul-leiter-snow-1. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.

“This Week’s Photo — Snow — Saul Leiter.” Medium, medium.com/@arshdeep.nz/this-weeks-photo-snow-saul-leiter-7823d918517c. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.

“The Understated Genius of Saul Leiter.” A Flash of Darkness, flashofdarkness.com/the-understated-genius-of-saul-leiter/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.