Lately, I’ve been thinking less about individual photographs and more about what they are becoming together.
Not a greatest-hits collection. Not a loose archive. But a body of work—15 to 20 images—that holds together with intention, restraint, and a clear point of view.
That shift in thinking didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s an extension of ideas I’ve been circling for years: the difference between surface and substance, between reacting and seeing, between making pictures and building meaning. I explored that tension directly in Selfies vs. Self-Portraits: What’s the Real Difference? and later expanded on it in How to Build a LIFE Magazine Photo Essay, focusing on sequence and narrative. An abstract street portfolio asks those same questions—but quietly, and without the safety net of literal storytelling.
Influence Is Not Imitation
I’ve been drawn to the abstract street work of Olga Karlovac for some time. Not because I want to replicate her visual language, but because her work demonstrates something I value deeply: clarity of intent.
Her photographs aren’t about clever blur or aesthetic tricks. They’re about atmosphere, movement, and the emotional residue of being in a place. People appear as traces. The city feels transient. Nothing shouts for attention.
That’s the alignment I care about.
Influence, for me, has always been about permission, not prescription. Garry Winogrand’s use of the 28mm lens didn’t teach me how to frame—it taught me how to commit (Garry Winogrand and His 28mm Lens). In the same way, Karlovac’s work reinforces the idea that abstraction can still be grounded, human, and honest.
Why Abstract Street, and Why Now
My photography moves through phases of proximity and distance. Tight street portraits (Faces of Toronto) gave way to broader observational work. Walking the city (Why Walking the City Is Essential to My Urban Photography Practice) became less about destinations and more about awareness.
Abstract street photography feels like a natural extension of that evolution.
When the light goes flat, when the moment refuses to resolve, when description feels inadequate—I’ve learned to lean into abstraction rather than force clarity (ICM in Street Photography: When the Light Goes Flat, I Go Abstract). This isn’t an escape from discipline; it’s a refinement of it.
The same situational awareness that governs my more literal street work (Situational Awareness and the Photographer’s Eye) applies here—only the output is quieter, less declarative.
Thinking in Sequences, Not Singles
A portfolio of 15 to 20 images demands a different mindset than daily shooting. Each photograph has to earn its place, not by being impressive on its own, but by contributing to the whole.
This is something I learned while learning about portfolio construction (The Art of Creating a Portfolio – Study Notes & Plan). Strong bodies of work rely on:
- visual consistency without repetition
- emotional pacing
- restraint in editing
In abstract street photography, this becomes even more critical. One image can feel poetic; twenty can feel indulgent if the rules aren’t clear.
For this project, the rules matter:
- figures remain anonymous
- motion is intentional, not decorative
- edges and tonality must support the frame’s emotional weight
- nothing exists merely to “look interesting”
These constraints aren’t limiting—they’re clarifying, they remove hesitation from the process.
Presence Over Performance
One thing I’m actively avoiding is spectacle.
This isn’t about chasing chaos, exaggerating blur, or producing “abstract” images for their own sake. The work I’m drawn to—both in others and in myself—comes from being present, not from performing for the frame.
Abstract street photography asks the same thing: patience, awareness, and the willingness to let meaning emerge rather than be imposed.
What This Body of Work Is (and Isn’t)
This portfolio will not be an attempt to redefine street photography.
It’s not a departure from documentary values.
And it’s certainly not an imitation of anyone else’s voice.
It is an exploration of:
- movement as narrative
- light as structure
- people as presence, a sign of life rather than subjects
If successful, the images will feel connected not because they look alike, but because they were made from the same internal position.
That, ultimately, is the goal I’ve been working toward across projects, posts, and years of walking the city: a body of work that reflects how I see, not just what I see.
Fifteen to twenty images.
One sustained conversation.
Aligned with influence—but unmistakably my own.