Well, Russ, as you well know, if a street shot rests its case on a sign only, then it's a failure and I think that might be Peter's significant point, but on the other hand, sometimes, a poster, an advert, a visual background, a thing completely ephemeral, can lend context and humour. For me, it's all about irony and the ridiculous situation we find ourselves in - the human condition with a bit of humour to taste.
For example, look at the much maligned Martin Parr - love him or hate him, accuse him of being exploitive, but in the end, he has a tender eye for the mundane, the ridiculous and, well, lets face it, the human condition. His subjects could be any of us.
All the great photographers- war, portraits, street, so on and so forth - they share the same instinct. When they put the camera to their eye, the truly great ones share a common goal - they seek the soul.
