“Composition,” they’ll tell you. “Leading lines, rule of thirds, texture, shape.” For the most part, they are right. For the most part.

While all these things are utilized to craft a photo, they are not inherently necessary. A good photo is a good photo regardless of form and composition; sometimes a deliberately framed shot will be subservient to a spontaneous one.

This photo, taken on the 2013 DHS Marching Band Nationals trip, is the epitome of spontaneity. Walking down the cold and crowded New York City streets from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum to the John’s of Time Square pizzeria, I paused for but a brief moment, leveled my camera, took the shot, and then kept on walking. The whole affair took no more than five seconds.

Not even a modicum of thought was put into the shot I took; I didn’t even take a light reading and opted to adjust my camera’s settings based off my (at the time) insufficient intuition.

And yet, among all of the photos I had taken that weekend, this one was the best. In but a fleeting moment I managed to capture a tumultuous city scene.

The photo possesses enough subject matter for the eyes to feast on for quite some time: the ‘50s era theater sign that glows, spelling out “MichelleWilliams – Blackbird,” the blurred head of a hasty passerby that slides along the bottom fringe, the variance in architecture that allows for a certain cultural contrast, and the tree that splits up the foreground and canopies the scene in unfocused leaves.

A trifle bit overexposed, the photo could benefit from some post-editing in the darkroom.

Despite disobeying most of the generic composition rules, it is still a well crafted photo. It manages to capture the feel of the city, and the chaotic subject matter in and of itself is what gives the photo its appeal.