Street Photography as a Way to Get Outside

Jul 16

When I was a kid, I didn’t have to be prodded to go outside - I just did it. It was like breathing; it was just part of being a kid for me.

It helped that I was privileged and had easy access to fun things to do and other kids in my neighborhood to play with. I had woods behind my house and a creek that I played in a caught crawdads, and fish.

I think for a while as I got older, I took that for granted and didn’t realize I needed that time spent outdoors. In my late teens and early twenties, my idea of a good time was to get high and drink, which led to sitting around a lot indoors.

I’m lucky that today I have street photography, which is a great activity to do outside.

The Problem with Modern Society

There are so many things these days that keep us trapped indoors. So many jobs require you to be completely sedentary and sit and stare at a computer screen all day long. In my last job, the company had a dystopian time tracking system where I had to log every single minute of my work day and meet a certain number of billed hours per day. There was basically little to no time to go outside for a break to catch some fresh air or even enough time to go out to eat lunch.

In the United States of America, the work culture is extremely toxic. Employees are overworked, forced to work second jobs because of the abysmal pay, and management is often abusive.

That being said, I think you have to take some personal responsibility in regards to your mental health and quality of life. And one component of that is getting outside and being active. It doesn’t even have to be street photography, although I think it’s a great reason to get outside and be healthier. It could be going to your local park or even just going on a daily walk in your neighborhood.

There are a lot of things, like social media and watching Netflix, that can get in the way of living an active life if you let them.

Technology Gives Us a Lot of Conveniences, But Too Much Is a Bad Thing

The Internet is an amazing thing that gives us access to an endless amount of information and entertainment.

As with anything, though, you can have too much of it.

Social media is the perfect example when it comes to street photography. As a platform, it can help you get your work in front of an audience to share your work. But it can also be a huge time suck if you’re not careful about it. It’s also easy to let your self-worth be tied to how many likes and followers you have.

I don’t think you have to delete your Instagram account and go live in a cave, but some moderation is a good idea. Addicts aren’t good with moderation though, so maybe check your local cave vacancies if that’s the case. Or a therapist.

We’re Addicted to Our Devices

I’m totally guilty of being on my phone too much. I need to break out of the habit and read my books. I have plenty of books on my shelves that I haven’t read yet. But habits are hard to break.

But a good habit I’ve been developing is going outside for walks and street photography. It’s a great way to get off your phone, because what are you going to do, walk down the street scrolling through your Instagram feed?

We Weren’t Made to Live This Way

I just can’t help but think about how we weren’t made to live a sedentary lifestyle like this. We weren’t made to be sitting inside all day, staring at a computer screen or phone. We’re supposed to be outside, active, and in nature.

I also feel like we’re not supposed to be so isolated. We’re social creatures and should be surrounded by friends, family, and have frequent interactions with our neighbors and even strangers. That’s one thing about the United States that’s a bit unique in a bad way, is that people live in suburbia and drive everywhere. As a result, the only people you see are in cars. There isn’t an easy fix for this other than choosing to live in a more urban area, but it makes for an unhealthy lifestyle.

To tie this back to street photography - it forces you to break out of some of these habits and get outside and be active.

Street Photography Offers an Escape

It’s really nice to have an escape from everything. Plenty of other hobbies offer this; it could be horseback riding or whatever. I think everyone should have a hobby or passion that forces you to get away from it all. Preferably something outdoors.

With street photography, you get out in the sun and feel it on your skin. You get some vitamin D. You breathe the fresh air. You see life on the streets. Even the plants - you see the green on the leaves of the trees.

You get your steps in with street photography. There’s no better way, in my opinion. You can have plenty of other bad habits, but street photography actually forces you to have a lot of good, healthy habits, which is probably not something that comes to mind when you think of street photography.