pmu
Well-known
Ok, it got me thinking because of that toilet -thread... The last year or so I have not being doing much this "street photography" stuff because I have a dilemma concerning the subject. Like we all know there is this spontaneous street shooting style where you don't ask permissions and then there is this other style where you take the contact to the person beforehand and then shoot. Well, I myself don't actually shoot people -- I like to shoot situations with people. So that rules out asking permissions beforehand because after that the situation is long gone...
But the problem; I don't actually like to publish images with random people so that they can be recognized... Even if the situation was harmless, I still don't like the idea publishing image without permission. I don't want to have my face on the net or exhibition without my permission. Yes, that could be still OK, but I wouldn't like it. Sometimes I tried this "shoot first, ask later" approach but it was too uncomfortable to explain why did I take that shot...and very often the change to ask permission was not possible (because of things happening fast etc.).
So for the past year or so I have been shooting this kind of "anonymous" street stuff -- you can't recognize persons involved. With other stuff I shoot projects and always have permissions to shoot and therefore I can get very close to the subject and can publish photos without thinking if this is "cool" or not.
Anyone having similiar experiences/problems?
Attached one "anonymous" street photo.
But the problem; I don't actually like to publish images with random people so that they can be recognized... Even if the situation was harmless, I still don't like the idea publishing image without permission. I don't want to have my face on the net or exhibition without my permission. Yes, that could be still OK, but I wouldn't like it. Sometimes I tried this "shoot first, ask later" approach but it was too uncomfortable to explain why did I take that shot...and very often the change to ask permission was not possible (because of things happening fast etc.).
So for the past year or so I have been shooting this kind of "anonymous" street stuff -- you can't recognize persons involved. With other stuff I shoot projects and always have permissions to shoot and therefore I can get very close to the subject and can publish photos without thinking if this is "cool" or not.
Anyone having similiar experiences/problems?
Attached one "anonymous" street photo.
Attachments
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R
RML
Guest
I used to have but no longer. I mostly shoot something different than "traditional" street, so that takes care of many situations. And if I do shoot someone in a recognisable way than so be it. I have set myself a standard and that's if it were me in the photo, would I mind being depicted in that way. If the answer is that I wouldn't mind then I post it. I know, it's not a water tight criterium but it's better than nothing.
pesphoto
Veteran
actually it's the way I prefer to shoot "street" photography most of the time.
Usualy when I do go in close I shoot fast and from the hip so the subject has no idea or time to react. Just the way I like to do it.
Usualy when I do go in close I shoot fast and from the hip so the subject has no idea or time to react. Just the way I like to do it.
mtbbrian
RF's ROCK!andFilm RULES!!
I was just out doing some photography at an "anti war" rally.
And I made a "portrait" of younger guy, and he was all for me making a photograph of him. At one point I even asked to look back at me, he had no problem with me photographing him.
I never asked his name or anything I just went about my business.
Of all the times I have gone out in public to do photography I have never felt in danger, I have been in a few spots where I was little uncomforatble.
I think what it comes down to is that you need to know the limits of your comfort.
There's nothing wrong with being anonymous, I think the photograph you posted is an interesting look at your world. Thanks for posting it.
Brian
And I made a "portrait" of younger guy, and he was all for me making a photograph of him. At one point I even asked to look back at me, he had no problem with me photographing him.
I never asked his name or anything I just went about my business.
Of all the times I have gone out in public to do photography I have never felt in danger, I have been in a few spots where I was little uncomforatble.
I think what it comes down to is that you need to know the limits of your comfort.
There's nothing wrong with being anonymous, I think the photograph you posted is an interesting look at your world. Thanks for posting it.
Brian
petri... why don't you wanna publish peoples faces? (i assume faces, since that's what most people are recognized by), what is it about the situation that makes it problematic? your own shyness?, or are you just being considerate? i think most places you don't have to ask permission (in a public place), but i have the feeling that in most western countries people are getting more and more camera aware, and unwilling to participate in such a publicity... actually, just curious as to why it is a prob for you..?? (cause it's a crying shame, a waste of talent)
40oz
...
I don't have a problem photographing people. More than once, the subjects engaged me in pleasant conversation after realizing they had been photographed.
It's sad that one assumes the worst of their fellows without ever experiencing such.
There is a philosophy that it is easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission. The fact is that as long as the photos have an artistic intent, the images are yours not the subjects.
It's sad that one assumes the worst of their fellows without ever experiencing such.
There is a philosophy that it is easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission. The fact is that as long as the photos have an artistic intent, the images are yours not the subjects.
OurManInTangier
An Undesirable
Pes - Great imags!
I don't think I have a hard and fast style, sometimes I take a fairly 'anonymous' street photo with a 'figure' rather than a recognisable person, at other times the image I foresee will demand that I show the person(s) in a more recognisable way. I will be as close to or as far from the subject as I deem it necessary for the benefit of the image aesthetic and nothing else.
I'm afraid I've become a bit hard-nosed over this issue and I never ask permission ( utterly pointless if you want to capture a moment ) before or after. I've lost so many good images by spending too long thinking should I or shouldn't I? Now I just do. I'm just quite brazen and in no way sneaky, I actually find that I 'fit in' more and fewer people notice me. I hope however that it can be said that my images maintain the honesty with which they were taken and do not try to distort the truth of the moment in which they were taken either.
I don't think I have a hard and fast style, sometimes I take a fairly 'anonymous' street photo with a 'figure' rather than a recognisable person, at other times the image I foresee will demand that I show the person(s) in a more recognisable way. I will be as close to or as far from the subject as I deem it necessary for the benefit of the image aesthetic and nothing else.
I'm afraid I've become a bit hard-nosed over this issue and I never ask permission ( utterly pointless if you want to capture a moment ) before or after. I've lost so many good images by spending too long thinking should I or shouldn't I? Now I just do. I'm just quite brazen and in no way sneaky, I actually find that I 'fit in' more and fewer people notice me. I hope however that it can be said that my images maintain the honesty with which they were taken and do not try to distort the truth of the moment in which they were taken either.
Attachments
pmu
Well-known
thorirv said:
Good question... To think of it, hmmm... I do have a lot of these images published with strangers faces, yes nothing wrong with it. I believe it depends on the situation how I feel about those photos: I always keep my camera visible, never hide it in anyway and in that way everyone knows that I am there to photograph -- then there is no problem in "street photos" with recognizable faces. Maybe they don't see me taking photos, but in my mind I think that I am not hiding anything, I'm not "stealing their faces".
But if the situation is sort of...how would I say this... just a random little moment somewhere and people don't know / notice my camera / realize being photographed (take the photo and walk away), that feels like I am maybe "stealing" something from them if I publish that photo...maybe ignoring their right not wanting to be photographed. I dunno, don't know how to explain this. It's a thin red line...
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"...maybe ignoring their right not wanting to be photographed."
there is a contradiction in there, the hard fact that in public people don't have a right not to be photographed, and the increasing (western) attitude demanding privacy, everywhere, even if they/we don't have any law-book to back up that demand. not that i don't understand your dilemma, i've had the excact same experience, and maybe that's why i stay away from people, mostly.
there is a contradiction in there, the hard fact that in public people don't have a right not to be photographed, and the increasing (western) attitude demanding privacy, everywhere, even if they/we don't have any law-book to back up that demand. not that i don't understand your dilemma, i've had the excact same experience, and maybe that's why i stay away from people, mostly.
R
RML
Guest
The thing is... why can tourists take photos wherever they go without impunity and why can't I? I just pretend to be a tourist and shoot whatever I feel like. I just act dumb if someone shouts at me, pretending not to have heard or understood them. 
yeah, but you better point your camera in a touristic manner then. the public is quick to notice if you don't fit the profile
jan normandale
Film is the other way
Street photography is different from shooting people in the street. I don't have a problem with either. If you don't want to shoot a 50mm 'up close and personal' then don't. I think you are wanting to "slot or categorize" your photography for other peoples understanding and convenience. Don't bother. Just tell people that you shoot "urban street-scapes with people" in them. It's clearly not street photography and it does help define what your style is which isn't street photography based on the images in this thread.
I'm not commenting on your shots, I like them. What I'm getting at is I think you seem to want to 'find a way to define what you are doing' and that's my suggested response. I shoot street because it's easier living in the downtown of a large urban city. I also shoot some of the style images you show here. If you don't figure the category description I suggested works, come up with a new one. Who knows you might be the person to categorize a fresh new "genre"
Keep shooting.
I'm not commenting on your shots, I like them. What I'm getting at is I think you seem to want to 'find a way to define what you are doing' and that's my suggested response. I shoot street because it's easier living in the downtown of a large urban city. I also shoot some of the style images you show here. If you don't figure the category description I suggested works, come up with a new one. Who knows you might be the person to categorize a fresh new "genre"
Keep shooting.
"Street photography is different from shooting people in the street. I don't have a problem with either. If you don't want to shoot a 50mm 'up close and personal' then don't. I think you are wanting to "slot or categorize" your photography for other peoples understanding and convenience. Don't bother. Just tell people that you shoot "urban street-scapes with people" in them. It's clearly not street photography and it does help define what your style is which isn't street photography based on the images in this thread."
i must admit that i didn't understand much of the above paragraph. is there a clear difference between "street photography", "people in the street", "urban streetscapes"...???
guess i have it easy, managed to decide (for myself) that everything is landscape...
i must admit that i didn't understand much of the above paragraph. is there a clear difference between "street photography", "people in the street", "urban streetscapes"...???
guess i have it easy, managed to decide (for myself) that everything is landscape...
pesphoto
Veteran
i decided quite a while ago not to classify anything I shoot. It is what it is basically. If a scene in front of me interests me I shoot it, I don't like to limit myself by calling myself a "------" photographer.
back alley
IMAGES
i'm the opposite in that i like to limit myself and call myself a street shooter.
that doesn't mean i wont photograph kids or friends or trees etc but that i most often shoot street.
that doesn't mean i wont photograph kids or friends or trees etc but that i most often shoot street.
MadMan2k
Well-known
When I shoot street, I just try to depict the scene as I see it, including the architecture, sometimes the sky, sometimes details on the ground, and the people if there are any.
I enjoy just looking at a scene worth photographing, so after I've enjoyed it and found the best way to depict it with a picture, then I take a few.
I usually try to emphasise something and make all my photos have a subject, or a point, and with street the subject is usually the entire scene, composed the way I think it will be most effective.
My subjects are rarely just the people, because I find *most* (not all) pictures of people going about their daily life boring, and not worth printing and framing, which is usually my ultimate goal. I do shoot events sometimes, and although I'll probably never frame those, I do focus more on the people in those shots.
I enjoy just looking at a scene worth photographing, so after I've enjoyed it and found the best way to depict it with a picture, then I take a few.
I usually try to emphasise something and make all my photos have a subject, or a point, and with street the subject is usually the entire scene, composed the way I think it will be most effective.
My subjects are rarely just the people, because I find *most* (not all) pictures of people going about their daily life boring, and not worth printing and framing, which is usually my ultimate goal. I do shoot events sometimes, and although I'll probably never frame those, I do focus more on the people in those shots.
BillBingham2
Registered User
Two different thoughts.
First, I look at Street Shooting more as a style of taking the pictures rather than limiting yourself to what you are shooting. Be it streets, a College campus, a block party, beach party or a demonstration, in my mind, it’s how you approach finding your images and capturing them. You might be walking through the Ontario Science Center in Toronto, around the Commons in Boston, by the beach in Santa Monica or down the Grand Canyon. You are looking for shadows, things juxtaposed, patterns, things that most people would miss.
Second, asking people to take their picture. I look at it as there are some people who by culture or religion do not want their pictures take. I respect them, no questions asked, it’s a line I do not cross. You need to know where you are taking pictures, out of respect for the people and places you are visiting as well as your own safety. Other than that, I beg forgiveness (have done it several times) and stop when asked to.
B2 (;->
First, I look at Street Shooting more as a style of taking the pictures rather than limiting yourself to what you are shooting. Be it streets, a College campus, a block party, beach party or a demonstration, in my mind, it’s how you approach finding your images and capturing them. You might be walking through the Ontario Science Center in Toronto, around the Commons in Boston, by the beach in Santa Monica or down the Grand Canyon. You are looking for shadows, things juxtaposed, patterns, things that most people would miss.
Second, asking people to take their picture. I look at it as there are some people who by culture or religion do not want their pictures take. I respect them, no questions asked, it’s a line I do not cross. You need to know where you are taking pictures, out of respect for the people and places you are visiting as well as your own safety. Other than that, I beg forgiveness (have done it several times) and stop when asked to.
B2 (;->