Are street photography images inherently more interesting because of locale?

[gb hill]

For me it's more about the human element than location. Location filled with people helps a bunch I admit for good street photography.

 

[airfrogusmc]

I tend to search out relationship like foreground/background visual relationships. Repeating shapes. Relating things in reflections and shadow to the subject or foreground. It's trying to see those relationships and capturing those things in a fraction of a second that keeps me going put as often as possible. It's always new and never the same. You make a right turn and you see nothing all day. You turn left and you can't stop going from one moment to the next. It's that unpredictable chaos and the motivation to try and make some visual sense out of those moments that I love about it.

 

[Lauffray]

I think the exotic can be a trap, maybe we're just attracted to novelty.
If I lived in a denser/different city, my excitement and output would probably plateau after a few years living there.

I wonder whether one can "exhaust" the scene in one's hometown, whether my city isn't too fit for this kind of exercise (density, weather, light) or am I just being photographically lazy.

 

[rluka]

I think the exotic can be a trap, maybe we're just attracted to novelty.

I'm a walking dead who need new stimulations to feel alive :0

Frankly, if the happening and drama is considered equal for sake of the discussion, foreign places (or even just B&W, because I live my daily life in full colour) can look far more interesting with less effort. Even shots in the same city looks more interesting if it's taken in places rarely visited.
For the same reason I always give negative "balancing points" when considering to like or not street photo taken abroad in local photography community's Facebook groups. Doesn't feel fair for the local shots without it 😀

 

[thegman]

I think the exotic can be a trap, maybe we're just attracted to novelty.
If I lived in a denser/different city, my excitement and output would probably plateau after a few years living there.

I wonder whether one can "exhaust" the scene in one's hometown, whether my city isn't too fit for this kind of exercise (density, weather, light) or am I just being photographically lazy.

I think it depends on what you're doing.

If you're shooting for your own entertainment, then shooting in the same place all the time, I can't imagine how that could not get a bit boring.

If you're shooting to sell your work, only your customers can tell you if you've exhausted it really.

If you're focusing on people, then you're unlikely to run out of people, even in a small town.

If you're focusing scenes where people are just part of the scene, might start to get a bit old.

If you're being lazy or just commited to one type of photography, only you can know that really. I do think that laziness is more common than commitment and hard work though, but maybe that's just my misanthropy showing through.

 

[van_d]

For me, I actually prefer street photographs from places I'm more familiar with because I can understand the context of the photograph within its geographical construct better. I also prefer it because "exotic" street photography feels a bit cliche sometimes, depending on where we're talking about, and because there really isn't much Canadian street photography out there, so it's a nice surprise to find.

So yes, in a way, a photo can be made more interesting because of the locale, but overall, good street photography is good street photography, whether it is from Encino or Bangkok.

 

[Richard G]

Somewhere else may be fascinating and beautiful and that's why you went there.

Somewhere else is different and you pay more attention.

Somewhere else is not home. You are not on call, can't drive your son to football or be late for a meeting.

Many European cities have very narrow streets and following Capa's advice to get in close is not hard.

Somewhere else may have lots of others with cameras so your path is smoothed, somewhat.

If you are tall with blond hair amongst smaller dark haired people of a different race, you then will be noticed, and may be constantly approached to buy things or be measured for a suit. That does rather kill street photography. My one small camera in the hand relaxed lope was useless for blending in under these circumstances.

But I prefer shooting near home and work and my favourite street in my city.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

More interesting is not an absolute: people perceive or feel differently.
In my case I don't care at all about the place, but about feelings... Those can be equally found in the nearest street I perfectly know, or in distant, exotic, unknown places to me.
I don't feel travelling can help for better street photography. And I enjoy travelling.
Cheers,
Juan

 

[Richard G]

Good point Juan. But the emotion is sometimes heightened by the new, or the beautiful. Or there can be an initial and potentially unrelieved frustration. I am no longer thinking of street photography per se. A new place is sometimes overwhelming, untameable. I am knocked off balance. When I find my bearings and take the sort of shot that is particular to my long standing habits and see similar sorts of things to what interests me at home, then I have a a feeling of relief. I feel that I have acquired some balance, that I have gone past the superficial of the new place.

 

[Archiver]

As I look through my flickr contacts and groups, I notice that I tend to favour countries like Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. I've traveled to Hong Kong on several occasions and China and Japan once, and I just love the scenery, the streets, the landscapes and the 'look' of those places. Street photography from those countries appeals to me a lot more than from Western places. Nor am I particularly interested in Southeast Asian places like Thailand et al, or the Indian region, or wherever. I just seem to visually prefer Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, particularly for street.

 

[jsrockit]

If you have preconceived notions on what street photography is and what it should be, then you will search for that type of street photography. If your location does not match your preconceived notion, then you will be disappointed. However, if you keep an open mind, you will find something to photograph wherever you may be. If you are in Antarctica, you probably shouldn't be trying to make street photos... but I'm sure there is something else to photograph.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

In reality, they're probably not more interesting because of the location. However, what the location does is sets a context and, if you happen to have travelled from the other side of the planet (or even the other side of the country) the location can feel very alient / exotic / threatening / friendly and that is likely to add interest and influence your style of shooting.

 

[paulfish4570]

99 percent of street photography is abysmally boring, no matter where it is shot, no matter by whom.

ah, but the 1 percent, no matter where, no matter by whom ...

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

ah, but the 1 percent, no matter where, no matter by whom ...

Yep, that's REALLY boring. :angel:

 

[judsonzhao]

LoL, foreign places are inherent more appealing, human nature I guess..
My family moved to Shanghai last year, yes it's been great to shoot, no doubt, but I still find it's great to shoot in Philly, to me.

However, now I'm in Houston, couldn't say it's comparable to the above, lol

 

[adam satushek]

Thanks for this interesting conversation! I agree with much of what has been said.

I would not call myself a street photographer..but I think the question of the exotic applies to most types of photography. Personally, I like to travel, but my goal is rarely to show photos of a particular place. In fact I guess I strive for a timelessness as well as a placelessness when I shoot....but of course that is rarely possible. Any car, house, road sign, or even certain vegetation can describe a place and time. Most of my best photos have been taken within a mile of places I have lived, and I readily hang them next to photos from different countries. I actually find I have a much more difficut time making good work while traveling partly because I am too distracted by the exotic. I feel that my familiarity with the place I am living actually helps me to understand what is interesting/odd when I see it, and when I am traveling its harder to get past the newness.

All that being said, when I don't provide a location one of the first questions I usually get when someone is looking at my work is "where was this taken?" I like to think there are more interesting questions to ask and that it shouldn't matter...but I understand and answer the best I can.

 

[Hsg]

Try getting some interesting shots inside a shopping mall. Go and photograph your shopping mall and then travel to Cuba or some other exotic location, show the images to people and see which one they like.


Here in Toronto, most people think Queen St. is good for street photography, while in reality Queen St, is just another shopping mall with no roof, but essentially its the same artificial, lifeless and pretentious crap.

If a place does not have layers, history and culture, its photos are going to be boring, because any photographer with a half a brain knows which place has "life" and which place is "dead".

So, location is everything, the lucky street photographers can travel and can find those locations. But unfortunately all locations have been photographed, which means if you're going to Istanbul, don't try to fake Alex Webb.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

Here in Toronto, most people think Queen St. is good for street photography, while in reality Queen St, is just another shopping mall with no roof, but essentially its the same artificial, lifeless and pretentious crap.

Hmmmm... In my experience, people making statements like that just haven't looked closely enough to see what's actually there. Still, when they grow up, they sometimes realise that there's a lot more on their doorstep than they previously noticed. :angel:

 

[Hsg]

Hmmmm... In my experience, people making statements like that just haven't looked closely enough to see what's actually there. Still, when they grow up, they sometimes realise that there's a lot more on their doorstep than they previously noticed. :angel:

Internet is full of advice, and full of wisdom. Almost everyone "knows" what is the right thing to do. There is no shortage of people to second guess others and offer clever alternatives and different points of view.

But the fact is that those people are good at giving advice on the internet, if they actually had engaged reality in real life, they'd never tell someone else what to do.

A good photographer never tells someone else what to photograph, he can only speak about what he cannot photograph.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

A good photographer never tells someone else what to photograph, he can only speak about what he cannot photograph.

Well, if I ever meet a "good" photographer, I'll be sure to remind him of that 🙄