ยฉ Martin Parr
Juxtaposition Is Not Enough
Juxtaposition has become one of the most commonly used formulas in street photography. It is taught everywhere, searched for everywhere, repeated everywhere. And precisely for this reason, it has lost strength. Not because it is wrong, but because it is often used as a shortcut to avoid truly looking at what is happening in front of the camera.
When it works, juxtaposition is not a visual joke. It is not meant to provoke an immediate smile. It brings two elements into relation and creates tension, a contradiction that remains open. It doesnโt make the photographer look smarter; it makes the scene more complex. Everything else is just effect.
The problem begins when visual coincidence replaces observation. When, for example, a billboard becomes the real subject and the person serves only to confirm a ready-made message, the photographer discovers nothing. They wait for reality to align with a pre-constructed idea. It is not a gaze, it is a verification. It is not photography, it is a shortcut.
There is a clear difference between observing and waiting. Strong juxtaposition comes from time spent in a place, from understanding how it is crossed, from constant attention to what happens there. When the moment arrives, it is not luck. It is a consequence. Weak juxtaposition, on the other hand, comes from waiting in front of a โcleverโ element, hoping that someone will pass at the right moment. Patience mistaken for vision.
One question helps clarify everything: would this photograph still work without its most obvious element? If you remove the text, the graphic trick, the easy irony, does anything remain? If the answer is no, then the juxtaposition added nothing. It merely held up a fragile image.
Perhaps the real problem is that easy juxtaposition works. It is immediate and easy to read. But for this very reason, it often leaves no trace. Used well, instead, it does not simplify reality, it makes it harder to read. And it asks for something simple, but uncomfortable. Look more. Wait less. And accept that not everything needs to work immediately.
Marco Savarese
Editor-in-Chief
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marco Savarese
Marco Savarese is Editor-in-Chief at Eyeshot, the independent publisher he founded in Italy in 2018. He spends most of his year reading portfolios, judging the Open Call, and editing the magazine catalogue. The reading desk is open, and he takes one-to-one Professional Reviews from photographers working seriously on long-term projects.
Who Finishes Your Photograph
NOTE #210. A photo isn’t finished until it survives to where people see it. Paul Strand chose hand photogravure for Photographs of Mexico so the printed copy kept the tonal weight of his prints. Protect the tone to the end, or the worst medium decides for you.
What the Dark Does
NOTE #209. A face lost in shadow reads as underexposed, a defect to fix. Gordon Willis kept Brando’s eyes in the dark in The Godfather and held it against the studio. Before you rescue a shadow, ask what it does; if you can say it, you decided it.
The Place After
NOTE #208. Of a huge event, often only an ordinary place is left. In On This Site (1996) Joel Sternfeld photographed fifty banal American places where violence happened, each with a line of text. Photograph the aftermath, and let the line do the work.
The Photo Made Together
NOTE #206. Street photography teaches you to steal people; there’s another way. In Malick Sidibรฉ’s Bamako studio the youth chose how to be seen. Before you take someone, ask how they’d want to look, and make the photo together.
Write Your Own Rules
NOTE #205. The thing that improves you most isn’t a new camera, it’s a short list of your own faults. Tony Ray-Jones kept a notebook of orders to himself and it shaped Martin Parr. Write your three rules and keep them in your pocket.
Watch the Master Work
NOTE #204. You don’t learn from a master’s finished prints, you learn from watching them work. In 1962 Joel Meyerowitz watched Robert Frank shoot, quit his job that day, and picked up a camera. Watch the body, not the result.
The Work Before the Name
NOTE #203. The worth of a photo and the worth of the byline are two different things. Koudelka shot the 1968 Prague invasion anonymously as ‘P.P.’ and revealed it sixteen years later. Photograph what must be photographed even when no one will know it was you.
The Subject You Run From
NOTE #202. The strongest subject you have is the one you’d rather not photograph. Ishiuchi Miyako went back to Yokosuka, the occupied base town she was taught to fear, and made it her life’s work. Point the camera where it’s uncomfortable.