On a Saturday morning i woke up and decided to quicky restock the house with food before the rain poured out and there’s one sweet place to go, the market.
A market is one of those places where life never pauses no matter the day, the weather or the mood of the world, people will always gather here for a whole lot of reasons but sole aim to survive. I captured this scene in black and white and it shows more than just a street full of people as it also holds layers of human stories happening all at once.
I stood at the corner half-hidden by the wooden stall in front of me while busy with my mind and just watching. A man was moving with a wheelbarrow stacked with yams, while a woman in spotless white walked with such calmness it almost felt unreal against the noise of the crowd. Each person seemed to have their own rhythm, problems, thoughts but yet somehow they all danced to the same music of the market.
Black and white strips away the distraction of color, leaving only the raw contrast of light and shadow. In that moment I noticed things I might have missed otherwise. I could see the hard lines of the electricity poles stretching into the sky the deep shadows under the umbrellas, the pile of rice and beans in the corner that tells of survival and trade. Without color, it feels timeless. This scene could have been yesterday, ten years ago or even decades past maybe I wouldn’t know if i didn’t take the pictures.
What I love most is how the photo shows both chaos and harmony. We can see how busy the market is, sometimes it gets more overwhelming but within it there is always order in the sense that people know where to go, what to do and who to find.
To some it’s just a place of trade. To others, it’s a lifeline but to me, through this lens it became a reminder that beauty doesn’t always need to be quiet or still, it can also live in noise, movement and the ordinary daily struggles of people.
Thanks for reading
Wealth Grammy