The art of street photography is where a photographer goes out into the world to capture slice-of-life, everyday people going about their business. In their photos, you’re likely to find glimpses of real people and real life, unpretentious, unvarnished, and most of all, familiar.

Yet as we all know, real, everyday life can get pretty weird. Photographer Jack Simon knows this very well, and he has the ability to tease out the strangest and most surreal from everyday life.

While they show fairly simple scenes, the way Simon’s images are shot makes you pause and question what is happening.

By seeking out the perfect opportunities for his images, Simon manages to turn these everyday happenings into strange, dreamlike scenes that seem to tell some unknown story. They do tell unknown stories, of course, but the strange details Simon includes in his photos make them seem more fantastical than they likely are.

“I enjoy the hunt for that moment of mystery, surprise, and humor in my everyday life,” Simon says.

“I seek unplanned and unposed images that hint to a larger story, like a publicity still from some forgotten movie.”

The photos and the stories of the people in them take on another level of complexity when you consider that Simon has a keen eye for human drama and emotion. Besides being a photographer, Simon has also worked as a psychiatrist for the past 40 years, so spotting the emotions and characters behind his anonymous subjects might inform how he chooses and puts his shots together.

Simon’s shots remind us that no matter how dull or oppressive life might seem, there’s always a fresh, unique way to look at it and see all the strangeness and beauty you’ve been missing. The world is a more colorful place than you might remember, and it’s just a question of relearning how and where to look.

(via Ufunk)

You can see more of Simon’s photography on his website, as well as on Flickr.