Almost Unseen

The desire and ability to learn something new, at any age, but especially at older ages, when there is sometimes that lack of interest, expressed by the question: what use is that to me now? This desire and, above all, its fulfillment can be a good exercise in prolonging the normal life of those in the twilight of their existence.

Obviously, I am not the one who discovered this, to me it is just a hope that it is true. So say various quality of life researchers and doctors.

A challenge or a contest is a great reason to learn something new...

The theme of the photo proposed in Qurator's Photo Quest is Conceptual Photography.

This is my entry for @qurator's photo quest with the theme Conceptual Photography

Most of us who call ourselves photographers are amateurs. I'm quite an amateur myself. When I say that I am "really very amateur" it means that I am an amateur who has tried during my life to learn something about photography and only then do I understand how amateur I am and how difficult and complicated the technique and art of photography is!

I remembered all this when I saw the theme of the contest, Conceptual photography, and when I realized that I didn't know what it meant.

On this occasion, I started searching, reading, and learning about this kind of photography. This is when I saw how simple it seems at first glance but how complicated this technique is... and the more I read, the more confused I became.

I tried to extract, from the many examples and theories I read, something simple and on my understanding. Here's what I understood, simplified to the maximum...

Conceptual photography is a kind of photography that starts from an idea. That seems to be the basic definition.

I thought all photography started from an idea but I realize I was wrong. Most photographs are taken automatically, without much thought, trying to capture in the image something that we think, at that moment, is special, interesting, beautiful, and worth keeping and showing to others.

Making a conceptual photograph is like making a painting. You have to know from the beginning what you want and then make a photograph that reflects that theme.

Then I understood something that I like very much, which is that in conceptual photography the technical quality of the photograph is not important, that is not the most important thing. Certain deviations and flaws of the photograph are accepted and even used if the photographer's idea can be understood from that photograph if it is understood what the photographer wanted to convey to the viewer!

With these two simple rules, namely that the photograph should express an idea and that the photographic quality of the execution of the photograph is not the most important, I started and tried to participate in this competition. In the hope that I understood the concept of conceptual photography correctly!

The long way to my first concept photography done with good knowledge, but, before knowing this concept.

Not long ago I visited an exhibition, actually a bunch of exhibitions gathered under the name Art Safari-Love Edition. The exhibitions were hosted by a palace in the middle of Bucharest, the capital of Romania... but also the place where I live my life.

_{_{The entrance to the exhibition is easily seen in this photo but the exit is through the far end of the building. This palace also hosts a famous bookstore in Bucharest, called "Carturesti" and a café. The orientation of the flow of visitors towards the exit, crossing these two locations is made, of course, for commercial reasons and with the desire to increase sales.}}

After I finished visiting the exhibition I took the same (obligatory) way out...

In this exhibition, photography was only allowed with a mobile phone. It was the only way I could photograph the exhibits and I had to comply, especially since my main desire was to be able to photograph. This is one of the explanations for the poor quality of the photos put here.

Going through the bookstore I was attracted by what they were selling, good quality merchandise and priced accordingly.

But something else caught my attention.
The windows let me see the street in front of the palace.

That's when the idea came to me.

To photograph what was happening in the street without being seen by passers-by. I love photographing on the street, capturing passers-by in as many different poses as possible. It's hard to do without being noticed.

I have often wished to be ... unseen.
Now I've managed to be... almost unseen!

I said almost unseen because apparently, someone noticed me photographing.

A small street food trailer was placed in front of a window. I had access to the back window and it seems that the person preparing the food saw me photographing it.... or maybe not?

This was the story of my first conceptual photograph taken in some knowledge, even though it happened after the photos were taken. But I understood that I took them following an idea and not just mechanically pressing the shutter release.

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