Dublin Ireland Street Portrait | Black and White Photography

Two Men Outside a Dublin Cafe in an Unscripted Street Moment

The expressions made the photograph.

I came across these two men sitting outside a Cafe Nero in Dublin, Ireland. They weren't posing for me. One leaned forward with a drink held between his hands while the other sat back against the bench, legs crossed. Both looked directly toward my camera with expressions that were difficult to read—and that ambiguity was exactly what interested me.

There is a lot happening around them. Reflections fill the cafe windows, advertisements hang behind the glass, tables and signs push into the edges of the frame, and another face appears unexpectedly in the reflection at the far right. Dublin is present everywhere, but the two men remain firmly at the center of the photograph.

I chose black and white because this image is really about people, expressions and the visual layers surrounding them. Without color, the dark jackets, brickwork, window reflections and cafe interior begin to work together rather than compete for attention.

Street photography often depends on noticing something before the moment changes. There was nothing spectacular happening here. No event. No performance. Just two men sitting outside a cafe in Dublin in 2019.

Yet their body language and direct looks give the photograph a tension I couldn't have arranged myself. I still don't know exactly what they were thinking when they noticed me.

That's part of why I like the photograph. It leaves the question unanswered.

© Dan Kosmayer, 2019