The Fine Art of Urban Street Photography and Colour Composition

All artists are inspired by something or someone, but it’s not always important to know why we are inspired.

5 min readAug 8, 2023

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“I work completely intuitively, I do not have a concept,” Harry Gruyaert

As a street photographer myself, I’m always working towards making fine art out of street motifs that rise and fall in the streets of Berlin.

I do look for subjects, colour schemes, compositions, but I don’t limit myself with an idea of a concept. That would be a self-imposed restriction that the streets don’t cater for.

I have days when I go out and promise myself to stick to black and white. A dull day in Berlin can be daunting when you feel happy and colourful.

Berliners always seem to gravitate to dark drabness when they dress. Black and white photography suits Berlin.

I saw this colourful panel against the back of a small grey building on Savigny Platz. The brightly painted figures make a nice backdrop for the right moment. I thought if I could hang out and wait till somebody came along, then took a moment to stop and observe it with their back to me, it would make a nice shot.

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Sean P. Durham

Berlin Notes — Creative Writing about art, Life, photography & cats. https://seandurham.eu