Street Photography is a visual equivalent of eavesdropping and it has fascinated photographers since the earliest days. With Capital Letters, it’s now a stand-alone genre, and of increasing interest to amateurs because of the ease of shooting on smart phones and compact cameras, and the fun of watching and waiting or just snapping on the wing. Of all the blooming photography competitions at the moment, Street Photography is a favourite category but it has to be said that it’s not as easy as it sounds and raises plenty of clichéd, corny and sheer boring images as well as those that get through to the finals.
There’s no better way to kill time in a railway station than to watch people and in all of London’s main terminals, St Pancras Terminal is the most exciting – and international. I immediately fell for Nick Board’s image because of its clever blend of compositional elements and the presence of the running man. Nick exploits the angles, perspectives and different layers which divide the frame into sections, each differently focussed and running at different angles along the receding perspective until they end abruptly at the brick wall where tiny figures are congregated. The sharply focussed side panel containing blue rivets creates a curved vertical frame, while the arcing roof closes the scene protectively – and introduces a whiff of Constructivism. Along the left side, the different lighting at each storey add interest, with the lowest making a decorative pattern of the semi-circular curves of the arches.
The blurred human figure racing away from the camera stands for everything associated with catching trains: speed, time and anxiety. To remove it from the frame would lose the drama altogether and become just another station photograph. If St Pancras needs a selling image, this is it.
