Wikipedia - People watching is the act of observing people and their interactions, usually without their knowledge. It involves picking up on idiosyncrasies to try to guess at another person's story.
For most of my life I have been an avid people watcher. My dad was an excellent instructor in the art of people watching. As a child I remember spending many Saturday afternoons sitting with him in our gold Galaxy 500, watching the folks on the sidewalks, and waiting while my mom was shopping. We would make up stories about the people passing by, and he taught me the importance of body language, people’s expressions, and watching how individuals interact with each other. The sidewalks were full of drama and comedy.
As a photographer, the transition from passively observing to photographing the passersby was a natural step. And now, with the availability of cell phone technology, almost every passerby is also a photographer. As I watch these photos being made, the staging, the angling of the phones, the shifting of the subject(s), I am fascinated by the seriousness, the intensity, and the joy produced in the act of making that perfect picture. Even when the perfect shot is achieved, so much is lost in the literal bigger picture. The scenery becomes incidental, the destination almost irrelevant.
I am most interested in capturing people photographing other people and, in many instances, photographing themselves. It is fascinating to observe the dynamic between the photographer and the human subject. To see how the subject reacts to having their picture taken and to see the contortions the photographer goes through to, again, get that “perfect” picture. And I find particularly interesting the whole new dynamic that is created when the photographer and subject become one and the same in the selfie.