I just returned from teaching in Prague, and experienced something I feel compelled to share with you. I often say that street photography is about being present, about noticing, about finding beauty in the everyday. That part IS true. But there’s another side to it that I don’t think I talk about enough.

We get so used to searching for the moment, so tuned into anticipation, that it can quietly turn into something else, something closer to obsession. And when that happens, we start missing the bigger picture. The sounds around us. The feeling of the air. The way a place actually breathes.

I was reminded of that the day before the workshop, when I was out walking alone with my camera, enjoying getting lost on purpose while chasing every shaft of light and interesting moment. I turned a corner and heard someone singing, an opera singer, practicing scales through an open window. In a city like Prague, it almost felt magical.

I stopped. Closed my eyes. And just listened.

There was no photo to take. No recording that would’ve done it justice. It was one of those moments that only exists if you’re fully there for it, when all your senses are awake and the camera just doesn’t belong.

It’s something I have to remind myself of regularly, especially when photography starts taking up a little too much space. It’s a thought I shared with a few photographer friends during the many conversations that happen on a workshop, all agreed that there are times when the camera needs to take a back seat. Like everything else, it’s about finding balance.

Have you experienced such moments?