I’m about two weeks removed from an awkward interaction of being called out for taking a street photograph. In the moment, it was tense, stressful and unnecessary. However, for the record, it is not illegal to photograph public life. There are no privacy rules when you’re in public. Hence the business of paparazzi and journalism. It protects the right to document and archive. However, the real question is, how moral are you when taking street photographs? What’s the artistic intent?
The goal of a street photographer is to catch that moment whether its funny, sad, chaotic, colorful or weird. Over the past 60+ years, there have been a handful of photographers that have made this style/genre famous. In the early days, it was all about contrasty, black & white photos of shadows and street landscapes. Then it was about “documenting American life” or life from wherever the photographer was from. Then it became about storytelling and voyeurism. Then about symmetry and color. Now, all these styles and aesthetics have become the new gold standard in terms of what makes a good street photograph.
The two extremes of street photography that best demonstrates the very best and the very worst of this genre are Vivian Maier and Bruce Gilden. Vivian gave us beautiful, black & white, romanticized shots of a nostalgic time gone by while Bruce gives us hard, aggressive, New York City in your face, rude, and harsh photographs. Today, most street photographers find themselves between these two styles.
Tatiana Hopper recently gave one of her best academic breakdowns of Gilden’s work. Tatiana has done a great job with her YouTube channel breaking down the work of photography icons of the 100 years.
Typically, street photography happens in big cities where people live their day to day lives on the street. These people can become the main characters in the compositions of photographers depending on the scene, how good the light is or how well they’re dressed. Bill Cunningham is probably best known as the “Mr. Rogers” of street photography. His niche was primarily fashion and what people were wearing on the streets of NYC. He was beloved by all and respected by everyone who knew his work. People posed and stopped for him because of the reverence he gave his subjects.
Scott Schuman, better known as the “Sartorialist”, took the proverbial baton from Bill and created his own take on street fashion and became an international icon himself. I would say my style and aesthetic has been influenced by these two the most. Some would say fashion and good looking people are “low hanging fruit” for street photography but I say “when it’s good, it’s too good to pass up”.
There’s an entire list of photographers that I’ve left out simply because there isn’t enough time to mention them but I want to say that it’s okay to be influenced by all the different types of styles and cherry pick the nuances of each to use as your own. This is how we create the bottomless gumbo of creativity.
Paulie B. has done a great job with his YouTube channel by interviewing the community of street photographers that are currently on the street everyday. This was an excellent interview that touches on a lot of the topics amongst the community.
The Wrong Side of the Lens recently just came out of nowhere with an incredible 20 video documentary series of street photographers. Similar to what Paulie B. is doing but more dramatic and raw. These are definitely a must watch.
Below are some of my own street photos. These aren’t my street fashion shots that I’ve been capturing recently but more of a candid series. I’ll write a separate blog about the street fashion shots.
Some street photographers are trying their best to be as inconspicuous as possible. Not because their doing something wrong but because they don’t want to to disrupt the scene. Their goal is to capture life as it plays out while they assume the role of a fly on the wall. Some street photographers feel like it cheapens the art if they play a role in affecting the scene. Then there are street photographers that will ask and interact with their subjects to get the exact photo they envisioned. As a result, there lots of varying schools of thoughts and approaches when it comes to street photography. My rule is simply…have fun, be creative and be respceftul.