Here’s a level-headed thought provoking response that I received from Alexander Hoyles:
“I think regardless of your status in relation to a place (be it tourist, local, employee, visitor, photographer) our brains are wired in such a way that we mostly take in only what we pay attention to, and the finer details only of that which we directly focus on - locals may see subtle difference between things that seems the same to outsiders, but outsiders can find points of interest in things which fade into the background for locals... The colour of streetlights in a city or municipal signage might be 'just how it is' and go unnoticed to a long time resident, but be a wonder to visitors. We often as photographers (especially those of us interested in the everyday and urban spaces) speak of liminality and the spaces between as though these are concrete features of a city/the urban environ globally, but in reality what is and isn't a liminal space has a lot to do with attention and consideration - to a person driving a daily commute, everything between home and work is simply 'The drive to work' and so all a non space, un/under examined - where as to those who walk that same route or live and work on it, it's is rich with detail. To the average museum visitor the exhibits are the focus and the building and spaces between display cases are ignored - however to a cleaner working in the building the spaces between are all that exist and the display cases contents ignored.”
Thank you Alexander for the insightful chat and inspiration to keep on reasoning with ourselves about what we capture and why we share.
Alexander had 2 accounts to follow on Instagram.
His portraits and still life work can found here https://www.instagram.com/alexander_hoyles/?hl=en
His street side observations can be found here https://www.instagram.com/reflected_repetition/?hl=en
His website: https://alexanderhoyles.com
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