The Taxi Driver and Dealing with Failure

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The Taxi Driver

I was walking down the road in Manchester chasing the light. Not a cloud in the sky as wonderful golden rays shone through the streets. I was very excited, and to be honest a little bit panicked despite the beautiful evening - I was desperate not to miss the opportunity to capture this special light.

The problem was that there wasn’t much footfall where I happened to be, so I had the choice to either quickly move on or stay where I was and try to make something of the environment. The sun was fading fast and the shadows creeping in by the minute making my decision for me, so I stayed put rather than carry on flapping trying to find a better location which might not exist.

That’s when I noticed the car, a brand new shiny sedan, perfect to use as a reflective surface to add depth and layering to a composition. I speed-walked over to the car - now all I needed was a subject.

I spent a while trying out some compositions. I went to the front of the car, crouched down and got my camera close to the bonnet. I tried the car roof and the back lights, until I finally settled on a composition using the front window reflection.

The only person I’d seen for ages walked past and I fired off the image... which I completely messed up. I’d accidentally changed the shutter speed and the picture was a disaster.

And that’s when the car door opened and I absolutely shit myself. I tensed up waiting for a confrontation - I was so wrapped up in the moment and the light I didn’t think someone might be in the car behind the tinted glass.

Out the taxi driver popped and calmly asked what I was doing and if I was photographing him. I sheepishly explained I’m a street photographer, showed him some of my work and said that I was just using his car for the reflection.

We ended up chatting for ten minutes. Turns out he’d never heard of street photography before and it was a lot of fun to explain - I think there’s now a new convert. I then asked him about what it’s like being a taxi driver in Manchester which by the sounds of it certainly has its highs and lows. We exchanged Instagrams and he popped back into his car and drove off.

I’d calmed down by now but when I glanced across the road, I saw the light was gone.

In the moment I didn’t really care I missed the photo. In fact it made me realise that there was more to street photography than just the photographs - perhaps the process is just as important. Instead of taking a photo, I had a laugh with a stranger and I just enjoyed being there on the street.

Dealing With Failure

Street photography is so much about failure, we go out time and time again with our cameras but very rarely do we capture anything meaningful. Trying and failing helps us build resilience and it’s also how we learn. The key is accepting things will often not go our way; we’re not going to get an amazing photo every time we go out.

Finding beauty in the process and appreciating the other things about street photography we love, such as a wholesome interaction with a stranger, will give us the persistence to keep going even when we continuously fail. Ultimately this will lead to our improvement and eventually result in producing the work we want in the long run- we just need to keep showing up.