There is something I love about photographing places where nothing particularly remarkable is supposed to happen.
At the Counter was made on Kodak Tri-X 400, inside a camera shop, during one of those completely ordinary transactions that most of us would walk past without a second thought. A customer waits at the counter while the person serving him concentrates on whatever is in her hands. There is no grand event, no perfect pose and no obvious climax. It is simply a fraction of everyday life.
And that is exactly why I like it.
The photograph is dominated by darkness. The customer’s back almost disappears into the shadows, while the counter and the person behind it sit within a much brighter rectangle of light. It creates the feeling that we are looking into a small stage from somewhere outside it.
Tri-X suits scenes like this beautifully. The grain doesn’t try to disguise itself, and the deep blacks aren’t necessarily something that need to be rescued. Instead, they become part of the photograph. The texture, contrast and slight roughness make the image feel less clinical and more like a memory.
There is also something wonderfully appropriate about shooting film inside a camera shop. In an age when photography is increasingly about resolution, autofocus systems, computational processing and specifications, Tri-X strips everything back. Light, shadow, timing and the decision to press the shutter.
Nothing in this photograph needed to be spectacular.
The gesture of the hands, the man’s glasses catching the light, the old shop counter, the computer screen and the darkness surrounding them were enough.
For me, this is what street photography is often about: noticing the ordinary before it disappears.
Not every photograph needs to explain itself. Sometimes it just needs to make you stop and look.
Photograph: At the Counter
Film: Kodak Tri-X 400
Genre: Street / documentary photography
