St. Petersburg: street photography part 1

December 3, 2020

First series of street photography in St. Petersburg. I’ve been there about 5 days in February 2020, the exact time the covid arrived in Europe. I travelled in that period of the year to photograph Russia covered in snow, but unfortunately I didn’t find snow… Saint Petersburg was the last part of my 2 weeks trip in Russia. Few months ago I’ve posted also a travel blog with photos taken with smartphone from Moscow to St. Petersburg; you can find links below at the end of the page. This is a first small series of random street shots taken in St. Petersburg, post-produced in bw and colors. Some photos posted here were taken inside the museum (the famous Ermitage), a perfect place for street photography (humour/surreal).

St. Petersburg street photography – 1

Let’s start this street photography in St. Petersburg series with a classic, lovers!

This picture below is an example of a funny moment of street photography in museum (the famous Ermitage). Probably I could follow this man finding a better background than this but I was in late that day.

I like the following photo for perspective, multi-layers composition, eye to camera, a nice foreground (the two girls) that introduce to the funny/surreal moment in the background. I like also that persons are looking in opposite directions (inside and outside the frames) creating tension. This is an example of good shot (in my opinion) that doesn’t work well in social like instagram. In fact this photo posted as a small thumbnail is less interesting; there are too much elements and details, no so good for quick view in small screen on Instagram and Facebook.

Another surreal/funny moment captured in the museum.

I’ve taken this shot in front of Kazan Cathedral, the biggest and most important church of the city. It is inspired to san Pietro Basilica in Rome. I like the triangular composition, hand gestures and surreal impression given by half face of woman in the foreground.

Light, one of the most important aspect in photography. I’ve taken this picture along Neva river. It was late morning or probably early afternoon. Light was awesome and I started to photograph people using the fishing technique. I’m happy to photograph this woman in the exact moment she closed her eyes, it creates a kind of magic.