In this showcase series we feature the photography of Enrico Essl, a street photographer based in Linz, Austria.
Enrico gave us some background to this street photography series:
I had the idea to catch all the situations and faces I discovered behind glass panes on my daily walks on the streets. Also shop window dummies are supposed to play a major role, particularly regarding to the selections of the motives. It conveys the impression that they seem to communicate with passers-by, and with the world outside.
I also wanted to do the series in black and white, considering that I have done a lot of colour work in my previous street photography series.
There is a mixture of the static and artificial world displayed in shopping windows and the fast and busy street life. All pictures were taken in strong sunlight, through glass panes and with the help of a polarizing filter. It was my intention to do this work around noon-time of one could think it wouldn’t be the best time for taking photographs.
For me, however, this time of the day offers hard light and sharp contrasts, which result in strong reflections of the glass. I prefer this kind of light, because it characterises my way of photography in a certain way and gives it a special touch.
The pictures in this series were taken in Vienna, Linz and Salzburg with the Leica X1.
Many thanks to Enrico for speaking to Photophique. You can see more of his work at fotofactum.at or connect with him via Facebook.
Photophique has express permission to publish these images and Enrico Essl retains full copyright to all photographs featured in this showcase series.