Huatulco, Mexico, 2010 | Basketball

- A photograph that looks like a painting of three boys playing basketball, silhouetted, in a mountain coffee farm near Huatulco, Mexico. From a series of street photography called Like Paintings.

Kyoto, Japan, 2011 | Sarah at Stairs 2

- A painting-like photograph of Sarah walking along the street of Ninen-Zaka in Kyoto, Japan, towards a walkway of stairs at night. From a series of photographs called Like Paintings at Alan Horsager | international street photography

Kyoto, Japan, 2011 | Man Walking with Bag

- Like paintings, a man walking along Ninen-Zaka in Kyoto, Japan, carrying a bag at night. Like Paintings at Alan Horsager | international street photography

Los Angeles, California, 2011 | First Street (Like Paintings)

- A couple walking along First Street at night in downtown los angeles (DTLA) in the rain carrying an umbrella. Part of the Like Paintings series at Alan Horsager | international street photography

Los Angeles, California, 2011 | 2 girls walking in Rain

- Two women walking in the rain in the Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, California. The photo looks like a painting. Like Paintings at Alan Horsager | international street photography

Tokyo, Japan, 2011 | Shibuya Crossing 1 (Like Paintings)

- Photographs like paintings, motion blur of feet moving through the busiest intersection in the world, Shibuya Crossing, in Tokyo, Japan. Like Paintings at Alan Horsager | international street photography

Tokyo, Japan, 2011 | Shibuya Crossing 7

- Painting-like figures moving through Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, Japan. From a series called Like Paintings at Alan Horsager | international street photography.

Tokyo, Japan, 2011 | Subway 1 (Like Paintings)

- A photo that looks like a painting of people riding the subway in Tokyo, Japan. Part of the photography series, Like Paintings, on Alan Horsager | international street photography.

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2012 | Walking in Copacabana

- A blurry, painting-like image of a man with a brimmed-hat walking through Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From a series called Like Paintings at Alan Horsager | international street photography.

Kyoto, Japan, 2011 | Couple (Like Paintings)

- A couple walking at night on the stairs of ninen-zaka in Kyoto, Japan. Part of the Like Paintings series from Alan Horsager | international street photography.

Prague, Czech Republic, 2012 | Waiting for the Tram 1 (Like Paintings)

- A photograph like a painting, a woman carrying an umbrella is waiting for the tram on a rainy day in Prague, Czech Republic. From a series called Like Paintings at Alan Horsager | international street photography.

Prague, Czech Republic, 2012 | Waiting for the Tram 2

- A painterly photograph of a man standing in the doorway, waiting for the rain to stop in Prague, Czech Republic. From a series called Like Paintings at Alan Horsager | international street photography.

Prague, Czech Republic, 2012 | Waiting for the Tram 6

- A man running in the rain past a taxi in Prague, Czech Republic. This photograph is part of a series entitled, Like Paintings. Alan Horsager | international street photography.

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Like paintings

I must admit that I am not a member of the ugly school. I have a great regard for certain notions of beauty even though to some it is an old fashioned idea. Some photographers think that by taking pictures of human misery, they are addressing a serious problem. I do not think that misery is more profound than happiness. -- Saul Leiter

A series of photographs - Like Paintings

Saul Leiter (a street photographer) and Jack Spencer (a fine art photographer) are two of my favorite photographers, and they both started off their artistic careers as painters. Although I like paintings, I, myself, couldn't paint myself into a corner. Saul Leiter is an American photographer and painter whose early color photography work of the 1940s and 1950s was an important contribution and innovation to what came to be The New York School style of photography. Jack Spencer is a self-taught American photographer and painter from Mississippi. He is most well known for his photographic series Native Soil, which look like paintings, that consisted of deep sepia tones combined with significant manipulation that he conducted in the darkroom. What they both have in common is that their photographs look strikingly like paintings.

I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream. -- Vincent van Gogh

This series of international street photographs that I titled, "Like Paintings", comes from shooting with a tilt-focus lens in mostly low-light or night conditions. In some the cases, I was shooting through rain-covered windows as I did with the images taken from the tram in Prague, Czech Republic. I particularly like shooting with longer shutter speeds, which provides interesting distortions that mimic the brush strokes like paintings. Please note that these images have been created without the use of post-production manipulation, and are images made in-camera in low-light situations. This comes from a process of experimentation with many photographs that brings together street photography with an essence of rich colors, all in an attempt to capture the realness of people.

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. -- Pablo Picasso