Street Layering

Street layering is not the same as depth of field. It is not bokeh. It is not one sharp subject against a blurred background. Street layering is two or more distinct things happening simultaneously at different distances — all of them in the frame, all of them contributing to the picture.

Foreground: a woman reading a menu. Mid-ground: a man pointing at something out of frame. Background: a bus with an advertisement that ironically comments on both of them. That is a layered street photograph. Each plane adds meaning. Remove any one of them and the picture loses something.