Street photography on rainy days
Published: April 2, 2022
Updated: October 4, 2022
“I always like walking in the rain, so no one can see me crying.” – Charlie Chaplin
I used to listen to Joe Satriani when I was young. I am talking about fifteen (15) years ago now. One of his music was Crying. Back in those days I listened to that music wearing a headphone – the big ones from the brand called “creative “I believe. Noise cancellation wasn’t a thing back then. But even the slightest of disturbances could mean an entire wreckage of the bliss and hence the remedy was those headphones. Anyway, back to Satriani; his music Crying – was a longtime favorite of mine. As I was writing it, I still feel like I could hear some of those cords playing deep inside my ears. I still get goosebumps when I listen to it.
I have lots of fascinating memories of rain. It takes me back to my childhood, and I have lots of fun memories from childhood when it would be raining. Interestingly, raining in Australia is a bit different. It rains mostly during winter but the country where I grew up, it rains during the summer. And sometimes the heat would be so much that when there was a downpour, we used to go outdoors, take off all the extra clothing and get the rain drops fall all over us. No nudity of course. It’s on rooftops mind you. And one specialty of the rooftops was unlike the Victorian triangle shapes which are common in Australia, those were flat. And as such we would go to the top and enjoy the showers. And in villages this experience is kinda wild – you go to the front yard and let loose. You close your eyes and sit on the grass and listen to the pitter-patter everywhere. It’s surreal!
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.
My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.
During those monsoon rains sometimes, there were hailstorms and during those episodes the mangoes would fall from the tree and one of our missions in the morning would be to collect those mangoes in a sack waking up very early.
Those days are gone. I am far from a village. The city life which I embraced for almost twenty (20) years ago now to enter the rat race have left behind a trail of memories which are at odds with those of my childhood. So, today (on 29th March 2022) it was raining as I went to the CBD for my project. But it was mostly empty. The street intersections were glistened with the fresh rains.
The hustle and bustle of the people during the lunch time is not there today anymore. The buskers, the guitarists, the sales pitchers are all taking their time off as I am cruising around the street trying to get someone into my project.
I had a few chats here and there but “it’s rainy” “I have a meeting in five (5) minutes” “Sorry I am in a rush” were some of the most common excuses I came across today.
Couldn’t find anyone to get into.
With these weather conditions I am actually thinking of something else. Doing an unconventional approach like in a running train for instance. I always have difficulties to stay awake in a moving train so wondering if I should try to approach strangers on the train, or on ferries or even as ambitious as on a bus.
Train seems like the safest bet atm since there are many compartments which are not full of people so if I want to do a sales-pitch with a big smile on my face it probably won’t be that of a big deal. But that’s obviously some future plans. Right now, I am on the street, and this is my playground.
Here are some photos taken a few days back. It was early hours – could be around 6am in the morning – and because it was raining the sky was dark. And in the dark those gigantic structures proclaim their sovereignty standing erect piercing the darkness of the sky.
Sometimes nature presents itself with stunning majesty. I was on a top floor of an iconic building lately where I saw the wonderful cityscape just got dramatic due to the rain shortly beforehand. As the mist continued to get thicker over the next few minutes almost half of the tallest building became invisible. All these were happening only for an episode that lasted for about ten minutes in total.
My day is almost over. In the next few minutes with one more round around the city I would call it quits for the day and those fresh new plans flashing my mind are the takeaways. Along with my phone and camera, there is never a dull day even if it’s rainy and cold. Photography is bliss!
