Moment: Edgar Corona

©Edgar Corona

Image and Text by Edgar Corona

Street is an interesting genre of photography because you are largely operating on instinct. In many instances you are reacting to split second moments where the Simplest of things can catch your eye such as what someone is wearing or spotting an interesting figure in the crowd. That split second decision of pressing the shutter is the difference between a good photo and a bad one.  The other side  of the coin in street photography looks a lot different. You are recreating a moment that hasn’t yet happened. You are trying to match what is happening in real time to what you are seeing in your mind. That is what triggered this photograph in particular.  The scene is quite simple, two men playing chess but the symmetry between the two men leaving the open space in the middle of the frame is what caught my eye. I sat across with them and engaged them in conversation  while keeping my eyes glued to that space in the middle, waiting for the right subject to pass by. A roll of film later and I found the perfect subject, dead center, perfectly filling the gap between my two chess players.  As street photographers we often hear about the decisive moment, a blink and you can miss it. The other side of the coin is we make those moments. Make scenes in your mind and try to recreate them. The scene might be as simple as two men playing chess but you work with what you have and work at it until your vision plays out through the lens.

To view more of Edgar’s work visit their instagram here.