Reflections on Absence and Presence Through the Lens of Street Photography

Abstract

This research is based on a personal photographic experience carried out over twenty years ago in the streets of a German city, using a manual camera, a fixed 50mm lens, and black-and-white film. The images presented here are not treated merely as temporal documents, but rather approached as a visual philosophical discourse that re-examines the relationship between human and space, between presence and absence, and between the visible and the invisible. The photography was conducted from a fixed single angle, with a lens that neither zooms in nor out, granting the images a visual neutrality that serves a faithful rendering of phenomena untainted by manipulation or embellishment. This visual neutrality allows the photograph to “think,” to become a meditation on time, and on the fragility of human existence as it intersects with the urban landscape. The study approaches the theme of street photography from a phenomenological visual perspective, exploring how a simple lens can reveal the complex nature of everyday life when seen outside the fast consumption of images. It also offers a subtle comparison between two distinct cultural environments without direct critique inviting reflection on how setting and openness shape the freedom to see and capture. Ultimately, this work offers an analytical reading of a selected set of images, treating photography as a form of “writing with light.” Not as a mere technical recording, but as an existential act embodying the notion that every image is a trace, and every trace is a temporary presence of an absence.