The York Rise Street Party has been going on for as long as I can remember. From the age of four I have been attending and enjoying such a wonderful event. This was the first year that I attended as a photographer, which just made the event that much more exciting.
In previous blogs I have often spoken about my love for natural photography. Capturing people at their most relaxed and happiest has always been my biggest ambition with my photography, and what better event to do this at than the street party I grew up with. As a photographer all you ever want is to capture the memory in front of you, especially the ones people will quickly forget. On Sunday, I was able to do what I love so much in such an eased environment.
With everything being so chaotic these past two years due to the pandemic, the thought of being back in a mix of people that big can be both exhilarating and nerve wracking. For me, I couldn't wait to be back singing with Massaoke to Bohemian Rhapsody (my favourite song by the way) at the top of my lungs in a street full of mainly familiar faces, getting food at Monsoon like I do every year and supporting all the stalls that people have taken their time to make so wonderful.
It was so lovely to be able to walk around listening to music from various bands and artists while bumping into people I havent seen since before the pandemic. Seeing local businesses boom for a day after the two quiet and very tough years they must have had, was so satisfying. The best thing about the street party is watching everyone come together as a community. We often forget about each other in our day to day lives, and really only hear about the negative events happening in the area, so it was so beautiful to see everyone coming together to make the day as memorable as every year before.
I debated a lot about whether I wanted to play photographer for the day or whether I wanted to just enjoy it as I do every year. Asking people if I can take their photo, is something I very rarely do and I often miss out on such beautiful moments because of this. But this year I decided, with the support of my family, I was going to take control and speak to people about my business and capture those moments. I was going to self promote, because at the end of the day it is down to me to make my business as successful as it can be.
It turns out people are willing to support you if they can, everyone I asked to photograph was so supportive and helpful. From families to groups of friends, I couldn't believe how easy it was to go up and talk to them. If you are like me, and struggle to talk to people about your business, my advice to you would be to bite the bullet and go for it. I can honestly say once I had done it, I felt like I had really achieved something, whether I got any clients or followers out of it was another story. It really did feel like a huge achievement for me as a person as well as my business.
Although I didn't photograph all day, and gave myself some me time, I was so glad I decided to take my camera and capture this truly wonderful day. I got some amazing photos of people enjoying themselves and was able to gain such a confidence boost in just a few hours. Next year, I will definitely be taking my camera again, hoping to capture some more beautiful memories for us all to look back on.
Thanks for reading!
Lauren
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