Depth of Field: Matt Stuart

Matt Stuart is a famous street photographer based in London. His work for me encapsulates exactly what I've grown to expect from the practice of street photographer. Not only does he have a unique eye for detail and situations, but also a dexterity for picking-up on minor details from the environment and composing shots where humans are seen to be forming a pun or play on words (well, whatever the visual equivalent is). Choosing a shallow depth of field often accentuates the decisions he makes.

Here we are given a soldier's eye view of his fellow soldiers by way of a shallow depth of field  focussing on said soldiers.

In this monochrome image, we are made quite aware which coffee shop its subject stands outside. Indeed, the fact that  Stuart focusses on the 'Costa' sign itself almost makes this the subject. Still, it wouldn't be half the image without the human element.

If depth of field allows photographers to do anything, it selects an object as a point of focus and highlights it to the viewer without taking it away from its overall context. This is why the technique works well in conveying something bizarre: in this we are to assume the construction worker has used a teaspoon to dig the hole he's stood in. Rationally, he will have used it to stir his tea, but the photographer is asking us to suspend disbelief.

I thought it rude not to include this shot (used on the front cover of the book, Street Photography Now). The image has everything: humour (a pigeon walks alongside humans), composition (the triangles of human legs and how different legs  are framed), perspective (shot almost from the view of a fellow pigeon) and of course depth of field (the pigeon is not actually the point of focus). Wonderful.