Much of "street" and documentary photography today is wedded to a particular aesthetic, one that shows (or makes believe to show) the gruesome underbelly, as it were, of "life on the streets". Editors and critics laud the efforts of photographers who show us the very extreme of the bizarre, the final frontier of grotesque and forgotten humanity. The locus classicus of this aesthetic, at least in photography, is certainly Jacob Riis, and then Dorothea Lange, Paul Strand, Walker Evans, and countless others. I wonder whether we might return to a more serious consideration of the beautiful things of humanity, a celebration of life that occurs just as truly and intensely as the "unseen" populations, moments that elicit, not pity but joy. Can it be that our collective vision has become such that we do not notice the sheer exuberance of ebullient souls singing the songs of their selves, to quote Whitman, all around us?

[BigDave]

Yes, sometimes I think with all the negative being pushed at us, A- we become used to it and it makes us numb to it, B- We are not taking in those wonderful joys that are experienced everyday, that probably happen more! Catching such moments can actually be harder, and we try to keep them private for some reason. But Joy is part of life too, share the moments!

Regards,
BD

[alamo5000]

I have done something sort of similar to this before although I took a different route. Although I do (when I have the chance) take totally random shots, but for something like this I tend to scout out a good location even if for nothing else but having good light. Once you find the good light and a good scene it's just a waiting game. Eventually someone comes by and 'snap'.... things work out. I've even done it on a tripod. Get everything framed up and when someone steps on the mark... click. However I do find that burst mode sometimes does help in some situations.

You can do it with manual lenses that way. It both is and isn't random.