Shot on my trusty Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens, this image captures a quiet moment in the heart of Kyiv — Kontraktova Square in the old Podil district. Camera settings: ƒ/2.8, 50mm, 1/160 sec, ISO 640.
I’ve always been drawn to reflections. Puddles after rain are like ready-made canvases on the street — flipping the world, bending perspective, turning the everyday into something strange and dreamlike.
Here, the bright Ferris wheel at the fairground lights up the grey tarmac in greens and blues, its shape only visible in the water’s reflection. A pedestrian walks past, unaware of the small world captured below him. The faded autumn leaves, the cracked road markings, the washed-out glow of street lights — all bring texture and life to the scene.
I shot this during a trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, just before the war changed everything. The funfair was still running in Kontraktova Square, kids laughing, families wandering about, lovers holding hands under the big wheel. Looking back now, it feels like another lifetime — a city on the brink, caught in a quiet moment before the storm.
Street photography often reveals more than what’s obvious. A puddle becomes a window. A fairground wheel becomes a symbol. This image feels like a mix of joy and unease — colour and darkness blending, as Ukraine itself stood unknowingly on the edge of conflict. Check out a black and white Lightroom edit of the same photograph on my Flickr account here.
#kyivstreetphotography #ukrainephotography #reflectionsphotography #canon5dmarkiv #streetphotographer #ferriswheelphoto #puddlegram #travelstreetphotography #urbanreflections #documentaryphotography