What a Coincidence!

A woman with a ponytail walks past a light installation with an image of a woman with a ponytail. Coincidences like this one happen more commonly than you might think. And you can, to some degree, make sure that you can capture them.

I took the above photo from London’s Carnaby Street, looking along the start of Broadwick Street. I was waiting there. Maybe you can guess what I was waiting for. If you thought, “a woman with a ponytail” you’re absolutely right.

In fact, I was waiting for several young women with ponytails to pass that way, and quite a few did. It’s one of London’s oldest centres of fashion. A lot of women work there, and many still put their hair back while they’re working. And ponytails will probably never go out of fashion.

Most of the people who go down Carnaby Street are tourists, and they go to the end and then on to the next spot on their itinerary. Few turn off down Broadwick Street, and the ones who do tend to know the area and often work there. I think this young lady was one of those.

Juxtapositions of Coincidence

The term I used in my previous blog post about this kind of shot was ‘juxtapositions of coincidence’. It’s not necessarily how other people will refer to it; it’s just the way I think of the situation. And if you keep your eyes and brain open (always a good idea for a photographer) you’ll see that it happens a lot. Usually when you haven’t got a camera with you, or just as the situation changes too fast for you to grab a shot.

So, if you’re shooting street, the thing to do is to look out for situations in which these coincidences take place. Look for contexts or backgrounds that suggest a possible coincidence, and think about what kind of coincidence you might see there. Whenever you see a possible subject for a street shot, check out the background where that person or those people are standing, walking, or whatever. Look for anything with words on it that can give a context: posters, signs, street names, and so on. Look at other things in the background that can give or add context, such as the light installation I found just off Carnaby Street. And notice the behaviour of the subject; is there something in the background that somehow ‘echoes’ that behaviour? I’ll give a few real-world examples below.

Fresh Coat of Paint

This one was completely spontaneous. There was no time to notice the shop name and set things up in advance, with the camera already set up and focused, ready to go. I was on Monmouth Street, north of Seven Dials, when I spotted these two guys with their paintbrushes and ladders. Thinking it might make a good photo, I raised my camera – and stopped. The guy on the ladder was looking up towards the shop’s name sign and straight away the phrase ‘a fresh coat of paint’ came to me. I took the shot.

If you look at the shop window, you’ll probably notice the words ‘Petal Soft Skin’ and realise that the shop sells cosmetics, some types of which are sometimes jokingly referred to as ‘paint’. But, no matter; I coerced the meaning of ‘Fresh’ to fit with my theme. And the whole event was a reminder to look out for more coincidences.

Scalpers

This is a shop in Carnaby Street. It sells fashion. Why it’s called ‘Scalpers’, I have no idea. But it put an idea into my head. At first I waited opposite the shop doorway, camera ready, waiting for a bald man to exit the shop. A number of them did, and perhaps more than you might expect, but it was dark enough inside the shop, compared to the bright sunshine outside, that I didn’t see them until it was too late. Or they were with someone else, or someone else moved in the way. The usual.

If you stand in any one place for too long, people start to wonder why you’re there; especially if you keep looking in their direction. After a few people in the shop looked my way, I moved further along the street. A few minutes later, a bald guy walked towards the shop. I could have waited to see if he went in the shop, but I decided to change tactics: I’d get a shot of him in front of the shop with the sign visible in the background. Besides, there were people coming the other way and I didn’t want to lose another shot.

I tracked him with the camera and just as he was approaching the shop, another bald guy walked in from the right! I grabbed the shot there and then. Two for the price of one. It wasn’t my perfect coincidence shot as I’d imagined it would be, but it was good enough.

The main learning I took away from this one was that it’s often better to use burst mode. I tend to only take one shot of a subject, to cut down the hours of culling later on. But, for this kind of shot, it can often give you a better angle, a clearer shot, a sharper shot.

The Passing of Old Stripey

On London’s South Bank there was, and at the time of writing still is, a small building with horizontal black and white stripes along it. I’d already marked this as a possible ‘site of coincidence’ and was keeping my eyes open whenever I was near it. On this particular day I’d managed to get two photos of women wearing stripes – the traditional Breton top – walking in front of it. Neither were particularly good shots, though.

And then along came Old Stripey.

That isn’t his name, of course. If there’s one thing I could be remembered for in the future, it’s coming up with unique names (unique to my collection, that is) for all of the thousands of photos I’ve taken. But I just couldn’t think of a name for this one. But he was passing the striped building and for some reason my brain insisted on thinking about the word ‘passing’ as referring to death. And there was something that made this scene look as if the guy was some kind of ghost, and that the light from the striped building was somehow passing through him. So we have three meanings of the word ‘passing’, in one image.

Anyway, as far as I know, this guy isn’t dead. He’s just striped. He has been every time I’ve seen him, which is maybe a dozen times by now, over the years. He’s some kind of street performer of the ‘living statue’ persuasion. He just stands there and… stripes at everyone.

It was one of those coincidences you couldn’t anticipate. “Oh, look! A striped building. I bet someone with a striped face is going to walk in front of that sooner or later.” Having seen the guy before, I could possibly have guessed that he might pass this way. But I’ve seen him all over central London, not just on the South Bank. I could have waited there for years. But, thanks to him and fortunately for me, I didn’t have to.

I remember the ‘What the?!’ reaction the photo got on the photography forums. But what this shot leaves me with is the fact that, if ever I hear that the guy has died, I’ll fondly remember the passing of Old Stripey.

How does he do it?

I said at the top of this article, under the first photo, that to some degree you can make sure that you can get this kind of photo yourself. It just takes some preparation.

When you come across such a background, context, or situation, and you can think of the kinds of coincidence that could happen there but you don’t (yet) have a suitable subject, note it down. Tap it into your Notes app, make a voice memo, take a photo (plus another one with the name of the street, the shop, the sign, or whatever) – whatever it takes to keep a list of such opportunities. And look at it every now and again. You’re not only more likely to notice coincidences when they happen, but you’ll also find the same or similar coincidences in places you’ve just arrived at for the first time.

*I’m not the only one who gets this kind of coincidence shot. There are other photographers who get them time and time again, in situations where I would miss them. My two favourites are Matt Stuart in London and Jonathan Higbee in New York .

“It’s hard to believe in coincidence, but it’s even harder to believe in anything else.”
― John Green