You can make a considerable effort with your clothes and still need somebody to point across the road.
That’s what this photograph brings to mind. Three people at a kerb, dressed rather more formally than most of the people who pass through my street photographs. A raised hand on the left, a bow tie in the middle and a long stride on the right.
Their clothes make me inclined to put them together. They could be part of the same occasion, or simply sharing a stretch of pavement. Either way, they’ve fallen into an arrangement I like: one gesturing, one standing, one moving on.
The central man is the easiest place to begin. His dark suit stands out against the pale wall, and he faces towards the camera with his arms at his sides. The sunglasses and bow tie give him quite a composed appearance. Around him, there’s more movement.
The woman’s hand is caught halfway through a gesture. It could accompany any number of things, but it adds something to the picture that a pair of hands held still wouldn’t. On the other side, the older man is well into his stride, with room ahead of him at the edge of the frame.
Nobody overlaps. Each posture is clear, and the horizontal bands of the wall run behind all three. It’s an orderly background for people doing slightly different things.
Formal clothes add to that effect. They suggest an occasion, while the pavement brings everything back to familiar business. There are still roads to cross and places to find. Dressing up doesn’t remove the possibility of arriving at the wrong entrance. It just means you’re better dressed when someone sends you round the corner.
Those parts of an occasion rarely get much attention. The photographs people expect tend to happen once everyone has arrived and knows where to stand. Outside, there’s more room for ordinary movements: a hand raised, a few steps ahead, a pause while something else gets sorted.
Here, those movements have become the picture. My eye travels from the gesture to the still figure, then follows the man walking right. The space between them gives each a turn without making the scene feel crowded.
I like that there’s no need to settle what’s happening. The clothes provide a little formality; the different postures keep it from feeling arranged.
Above them, the terrace has chairs, plants and a sign reading “NEST”. There’s somewhere to sit, at least.
Whether it’s where anyone meant to go is another matter.