Downtown Alley on Film, Revisited

Over these past several months, as I’ve written here several times before, I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from the work of Saul Leiter. His technique of shooting through tight spaces to highlight a subject in the distance has prompted me to look for similar photographic opportunities when I’m out and about with my camera.

Late last month, I was having a close look at a narrow alley that I’ve worked in the past. It’s a favorite spot of mine, one that transforms quite dramatically in different light. After having made an educated judgment call about what my exposure settings should be, I framed up a shot that I thought at the time might be more mediocre than not.

A split second before I pressed the shutter button, two pedestrians who were walking on the opposite end of the alley caught my eye. I waited another split second before firing the shutter.

I didn’t know if I succeeded with capturing them on film until I got my negatives back from the developing lab last week. To my delight, there they were almost perfectly framed at the other end of that narrow slit between buildings.

I feel lucky when I can get shots like this, all the more so when I manage to do it on film.