Share: Rural Street Photography

[melanieylang]

Undertaking street photography in a rural area can be a challenge, but I've just come across the 'rural street photography' of Lakes District photographer Kate Kirkwood on another forum. I couldn't find a current forum thread that covers this, so maybe you'd like to contribute your rural street photographs here.

 

[melanieylang]

I'll start off with this sculpted street scene, photographed through a gallery window of a small country town in rural Victoria, Australia. After I took it, I noticed how the man's head reflected in the window appears masked, as is the man's in the sculpture.

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[coaltrain]

To me the terms “street” and “rural” are conflicting terms. At least in my rural area there are roads. Streets are found in towns and cities.

As far as rural road photography all you are going to see are landscapes scenes.

 

[Panolyman]

I think Melanie has been lead by one of the sections on Kate Kirkwood's website entitled:
Kairos - Street Photography.
There's a weird cross-over going on in that section with some rural shots and then stuff on what looks like subway trains. Living in a very rural area myself, I've never seen any hoardings for Louis Vuitton for instance .
Her whole website is definitely rural-based (she's based on a farm) so I do wonder where the cross-over of genres comes in.

And having g**gled Kairos, apparently it means similar to Cartier-Bresson's "The decisive moment".
So, maybe that's where she's picked up the "street" term.
Confused? Yep, me too.

 

[melanieylang]

To me the terms “street” and “rural” are conflicting terms. At least in my rural area there are roads. Streets are found in towns and cities.

As far as rural road photography all you are going to see are landscapes scenes.

I think Melanie has been lead by one of the sections on Kate Kirkwood's website entitled:
Kairos - Street Photography.
There's a weird cross-over going on in that section with some rural shots and then stuff on what looks like subway trains. Living in a very rural area myself, I've never seen any hoardings for Louis Vuitton for instance .
Her whole website is definitely rural-based (she's based on a farm) so I do wonder where the cross-over of genres comes in.

And having g**gled Kairos, apparently it means similar to Cartier-Bresson's "The decisive moment".
So, maybe that's where she's picked up the "street" term.
Confused? Yep, me too.

You both got me thinking more about this idea. Maybe rural street photography isn't as limited as you think - say you see something peculiar happening or left at the side of a country road which might fit the theme; or you see someone passing by on a farm track (maybe it's your co-worker on the farm you work, or the contractors coming to get in the harvest); tiny rural villages have a very different 'street' scene from cities, and it's almost impossible to be anonymous unless you're passing through, but they can be the source of wonderful photos. Like most people, I take my own local environs completely for granted, but maybe there are plenty of sharable images to be gleaned.

I just have to go make some

 

[melanieylang]

This might not be what you'd think of as a street scene, but then again...there's a 'street' and a 'local' using it, and someone who took a photo

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[melanieylang]

Tow-truck goals in a sleepy Victorian town in a farming community, population around 300.

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[Avondale87]

This might not be what you'd think of as a street scene, but then again...there's a 'street' and a 'local' using it, and someone who took a photo
View attachment 865283

Fantastic Aussie scene

I could find several rural streets around here that would match this scene.
And they're called street, not road, are windy gravel, sandy tracks.

Here we have rural towns that really aren't towns, just a collection of houses, with an odd street or two.
I would have thought other parts of the world would be similar, but probably not so.

 

[coaltrain]

You both got me thinking more about this idea. Maybe rural street photography isn't as limited as you think - say you see something peculiar happening or left at the side of a country road which might fit the theme; or you see someone passing by on a farm track (maybe it's your co-worker on the farm you work, or the contractors coming to get in the harvest); tiny rural villages have a very different 'street' scene from cities, and it's almost impossible to be anonymous unless you're passing through, but they can be the source of wonderful photos. Like most people, I take my own local environs completely for granted, but maybe there are plenty of sharable images to be gleaned.

I just have to go make some

I see your point - thanks!

I also take my immediate area for granted. I’ve lived here for 28 years and struggle to find something I feel would be an interesting photo. That comes from looking at the same scene for 10,000 days in a row.

Rural towns can be interesting. But around here they are all basically the same. About 1/2 to 1 mile long, 3/4 of the buildings abandoned - and all with 1 or 2 traffic lights. But again that’s all I see when I go somewhere. Someone who’s never been there would probably find it interesting.

 

[Panolyman]

This might not be what you'd think of as a street scene, but then again...there's a 'street' and a 'local' using it, and someone who took a photo
View attachment 865283

That looks more like a kangaroo dual-carriageway to me, rather than a street.

 

[melanieylang]

I see your point - thanks!

I also take my immediate area for granted. I’ve lived here for 28 years and struggle to find something I feel would be an interesting photo. That comes from looking at the same scene for 10,000 days in a row.

Rural towns can be interesting. But around here they are all basically the same. About 1/2 to 1 mile long, 3/4 of the buildings abandoned - and all with 1 or 2 traffic lights. But again that’s all I see when I go somewhere. Someone who’s never been there would probably find it interesting.

See, what you describe sounds interesting to me! Abandoned buildings are intriguing to fresh eyes, especially with old advertising for things unfamiliar to us; the very small towns in Australia don't even have traffic lights (maybe a pedestrian crossing at most), and our traffic lights are probably different too. I find our area pretty dull, and kangaroos are always getting in our way, but I figure that people from other countries probably enjoy seeing this sort of thing.

 

[melanieylang]

Here's one from a tiny town in northeast Victoria called Devenish, part of the high country silo art trail:
https://flic.kr/p/2g3Qf7x

 

[melanieylang]

Pink Panther at the gates to the village dump:
https://flic.kr/p/2d4LZbH

 

[melanieylang]

The railway station at a larger town in a sheep and grain farming area was a good spot for people watching:
https://flic.kr/p/2e4QKhF

 

[melanieylang]

Classic cars gather in the street for a festival in a border town with only a pub and a post office:
https://flic.kr/p/2bUSSu3 https://flic.kr/p/NeaHYn

 

[coaltrain]

See, what you describe sounds interesting to me! Abandoned buildings are intriguing to fresh eyes, especially with old advertising for things unfamiliar to us; the very small towns in Australia don't even have traffic lights (maybe a pedestrian crossing at most), and our traffic lights are probably different too. I find our area pretty dull, and kangaroos are always getting in our way, but I figure that people from other countries probably enjoy seeing this sort of thing.

This may not be a good example of Australia buy my wife and I are watching McLeod’s Daughters right now which is supposedly in South Australia. What I like most watching this show is the landscape and the one rural town they go to. Also I think all the cars with pickup beds is just so weird but neat.

Maybe to someone who has lived there are their lives it’s just bleak landscape. But to me it is very interesting. So I see your point!

 

[CD77]

To me the terms “street” and “rural” are conflicting terms. At least in my rural area there are roads. Streets are found in towns and cities.

As far as rural road photography all you are going to see are landscapes scenes.

My take on ‘Rural Street Photography’ would be the street photography style but in rural settings. I usually post photos that fit this description in the 'The Real Street Thread II' thread but have always felt they don't quite fit. Here are a few examples of my take on 'Rural Street Photography'...

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[melanieylang]

This may not be a good example of Australia buy my wife and I are watching McLeod’s Daughters right now which is supposedly in South Australia. What I like most watching this show is the landscape and the one rural town they go to. Also I think all the cars with pickup beds is just so weird but neat.

Maybe to someone who has lived there are their lives it’s just bleak landscape. But to me it is very interesting. So I see your point!

As a matter of fact, I used to live near where McLeod's Daughters was shot; the scenery is typical of much of mid-north South Australia.

A 'coupe utility' is different from a pickup, as it was originally intended to have the comfort of a car so was modelled on car bodies - the Chevrolet Elcamino and Ford Ranchero are gorgeous examples from the US market. I don't have any utes in my modest car collection, but my man has two registered utes, two more he's working on, and lots more just hanging around the farm!

Here's a photo with rolling shutter of a dual cab utility driving past on the street of my village, population 100.
https://flic.kr/p/283U951

 

[melanieylang]

My take on ‘Rural Street Photography’ would be the street photography style but in rural settings. I usually post photos that fit this description in the 'The Real Street Thread II' thread but have always felt they don't quite fit. Here are a few examples of my take on 'Rural Street Photography'...
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Great selection! I think that's very much in the spirit of RSP.

 

[PacNWMike]

What's the difference between this thread and the The Rural Living Image Thread ?