is it possible these days to take a street photo where someone isn't on a cell phone?

Just about as possible as finding a well-written thread subject that doesn't require to click on it to figure out what the h311 they actually meant by it.

I mean, yeah, it's not common now, but it happens.
 
I think I understand Hjortsberg's frustrations, more from empathy than anything else. I'm not going to phrase this very elegantly, as I'm thinking about my Rollei issues, but cell/smart/mobile phones make people screw their faces up, and this focuses the viewers attention on them. The photographer, unless they're superhumanly observant and fast will find it almost impossible to communicate the intention of the scene they saw if there's some random gabbler gurning into a piece of plastic somewhere in it..... depending on the severity of the cell phone users facial gesticulations, the viewer could be fooled into thinking that this is the point of the image.... That's how I feel, but it's never really happened to me....
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
Just about as possible as finding a well-written thread subject that doesn't require to click on it to figure out what the h311 they actually meant by it.

I mean, yeah, it's not common now, but it happens.
Click to expand...

sorry to disappoint. no, really, I am sorry to disappoint you
 
Last edited:
The cellphone problem has plagued me for a long time.

cellphonesoldier.jpg
 
Hjortsberg said:
sorry to disappoint
Click to expand...

Actually, what I meant (if one re-reads what I posted, carefully), is that people now hardly do what you did (the subject is actually clear).

That aside, technology has changed the landscape rapidly. Today I saw the photo of an (older) guy with his iPad at a park where everybody else was otherwise enjoying a nice picnic lunch. I wanted to take a photo of the guy, with so many contrasts (usually you'd think the younger kids would be consumed by a new tech toy and the older guys would be disgusted by it) that it blew my mind. But I was already carrying my very own (and analog) picnic basket, loaded with water, wine, sandwiches, plates, etc., and quickly hunting for that place where they were selling ice cream cones (many kids had one, as well as the other young people -- we were actually all enjoying a nice tech-free day, where the old guy was absorbed by his iPad).

So...'tis 2011. Cellphones will be considered the odd (and cancer-enducing) ear trumpets in about 50 years from now.

I'm sure 50 years ago some photographers complained of those silly people not wearing a hat.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
Actually, what I meant (if one re-reads what I posted, carefully), is that people now hardly do what you did (the subject is actually clear).

That aside, technology has changed the landscape rapidly. Today I saw the photo of an (older) guy with his iPad at a park where everybody else was otherwise enjoying a nice picnic lunch. I wanted to take a photo of the guy, with so many contrasts (usually you'd think the younger kids would be consumed by a new tech toy and the older guys would be disgusted by it) that it blew my mind. But I was already carrying my very own (and analog) picnic basket, loaded with water, wine, sandwiches, plates, etc., and quickly hunting for that place where they were selling ice cream cones (many kids had one, as well as the other young people -- we were actually all enjoying a nice tech-free day, where the old guy was absorbed by his iPad).

So...'tis 2011. Cellphones will be considered the odd (and cancer-enducing) ear trumpets in about 50 years from now.

I'm sure 50 years ago some photographers complained of those silly people not wearing a hat.
Click to expand...

you got a lot of cute girls on your flicker photos. I respect that.

That aside, sorry if i misread your post
 
the photograph I wanted to take but didn't have a camera with me would have been titled "Farming Today". There were 3 farmers standing in a farm yard about 6 yards apart from each other and all 3 of them holding a mobile phone to their ear yacking away. Made me laugh at the time.
 
The Other Line ( by Renda Writer )

I saw a man
Fishing
Off the side of the pier

Fishing for a fish
And then...
His cell phone rang

He picked it up
And began talking

Cell phone in one hand
Fishing pole in the other

And then...
The tip of his pole
Started bending

He got a bite

And then...

He said

To the person on the phone

'Let me call you back,
I've got someone on the other line'

<a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/renda-writer-the-other-line/" rel="nofollow">www.poemhunter.com/poem/renda-writer-the-other-line/</a>
 
Good topic and good question. And good thing that street photography is obtainable outside of cities. One sub essay of my Kodachrome book is called "iContact" and illustrates how as a society we are shifting from eye contact to iContact. Over the course of some five years, I saw more and more people looking down at a device as they texted, web browsed, etc.

And one day last year while on Wall Street, I watched two men on Blackberries collide with each other and nearly come to blows.

But in more rural areas or even smaller towns, people are less inclined to be on a device. I live in a small ski town. When we are in the peak season, Summer or Winter, we have more visitors and more people who are likely to be on devices. But in the off season, like now, hardly any of us locals are on a device and we all say hi, it's a great way to live.

So yes, you can still go places in the world that have people not always on a phone or device....thankfully...
 
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