Street photography works well if there is a shop window with a difference. The window displays are good to photograph and also make for fun interactions with people as they pass by. I have photographed scenes like this several times before. Selfridges has superb window dressing and is one of my favourite places to visit. At other times, something as ordinary as a chair positioned in the wrong place, such as outside a tube station, can provide a good focal point for watching people passing by.
On my travels in London, I enjoy taking the double-decker bus and looking out at the street scenes below. I saw this shop window on Haymarket from the number 139 bus on my way to Pall Mall. Luckily, I was working for the British Dental Association whose offices are nearby, so at lunchtime I went back to photograph the shop windows.
Dover Street Market is a multi-retailer selling high-fashion products. The name comes from the original location in Mayfair, although the present store is on the Haymarket, along which the 139 bus passes. The windows contain large white spheres that fill the space. Each window has one of these spheres and they look wonderfully surreal.
I stood in front of the windows and recorded people’s movements with my iPhone. The windows themselves created the storytelling. People were distracted by their phones or simply walking through London refusing to acknowledge those around them. This made for great street photography.
There are some interesting subjects and their activity adds to the surreal mood of the photographs. The window dressers, often called visual merchandisers, at Dover Street Market are exceptionally talented.
