Curious — What defines a perfect street shot for you?

[Dogman]

I like a nice gritty, grainy, under/overexposed, somewhat out-of-focus photo with a tilted horizon and blown-out highlights. With heart and soul.



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[Darthfeeble]

Something happening that tells a story or provoke a story in your mind.

 

[peterm1]

I can only speak my own work. People just in a street setting too often makes for an image that is a bit boring, I find - unless something else is going on too. This is the most frequently made mistake I have made in street photography, especially early on, but is one which I now try to avoid or to least cull out and take no further in my workflow. Mostly for me these days I find that what I like is something that has a touch of mystery - shadows and light, distortions, blur, movement or at least a pleasing composition which captures or at least infers a certain feeling. What that feeling is, is the question - I also like those feelings to be a little indeterminate so the viewer can project their own feelings, memories, desires etc. onto the image. For me it's not so much about capturing a significant moment. It's more about the insignificant moments which interest me - provided the photo still "works" as an image. I have never been a "reportage" or documentary kind of photographer - the feeling I strive for something more artistic. That's enough for me. Whether others like this kind of street photography or a specific shot is up to them (although it is nice if they do) but I tend to capture images for myself.

All of the images below are cafe / restaurant scenes. This probably says something about me - images like this draw me because people in them are usually engrossed in their own "bubble" making it easier to take a candid shot. On the other hand if I inadvertently reveal myself making the image that is usually a negative for me. Why would I just want a photo of someone who is distracted from their "normal" behaviour by me attracting their attention, inadvertently or otherwise- that way I only have a picture of someone looking at me, which really does nothing and means nothing. Also, it affords the opportunity to do what I like - shoot thru windows where advantage can be gained from the resulting shadows, reflections and flares.

One of mine which I always have liked for the slight air of mystery conferred by the aforementioned shadows, flares and reflections which frame (and only partly reveal) the subjects. The fact that it is not terribly well focused does not matter too much - in fact it adds a kind of painterly element to it.

Through a Glass Darkly - Reprised by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

And one which I have always liked for not much more than the composition - for me the composition just works above all else. There is no doubt here, who the main subject is. All other people and all else are just context. But that context is important to the overall image as it creates a scene.

Cafe Study 45 by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

And finally, a scene which I feel captures the moment just as I would have liked it - the main subject looks up expressively, engaged in animated conversation with an unseen other person while those in the background also help set the scene while they are engaged in their own "stuff". A few reflections do not add much to the image in this case (a bit of character, perhaps) but neither do they really detract.

Morning Tea, Reflections, Shadows 2 by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

 

[dkreindler]

Untitled by Derek Kreindler, on Flickr

You know it when you see it...and you see it in your mind a split second before you hit the shutter.

 

[Darthfeeble]

I don't do much street stuff, up here in rural land it's just not something I'm comfortable with. That said this is one of my favorites that I have taken, more perhaps an environmental portrait but the scene evoked a story in my mind. Where's her dining partner, the somber look on her face makes me wonder if there was something dramatic involved.

 

[Archiver]

My preferences are for composition and geometry, and subject matter that tells a story. The common street shots of people walking are boring and lazy, as @DownUnder mentioned. Elliott Erwitt was the master of capturing and curating subjects that either tell stories or present amusing juxtapositions.

Mine:

G9 - You'll never leave me by Archiver, on Flickr

Features: centered composition, and intriguing subjects - she looks like she's gripping him as if she doesn't want him to escape, rather than touching him lovingly.

M9 - I Am Number Four by Archiver, on Flickr

Features: symmetrical composition, juxtaposition of three men in suits/jackets and one rebel without a jacket who has turned in a different direction. One of my favourite captures.

M9 - A bit of the old Daido by Archiver, on Flickr

Features: impressionistic blur, aesthetic appeal

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

I don't think there's any one reason for a street photograph to be "perfect," though there are a lot of little reasons why it can be imperfect. Also, street is such a varied genre that it can't be pinned down to one style or theme or subject matter.

I like narrative shots, with multiple people interacting with each other - such as a lot of the photos on the Hardcore Street Photography Flickr group. I also like the geometric shots if they're done right. A photo of a single subject can be great, especially if there's a good expression on their face, and the eyes can be seen (I like eye contact in a shot, especially if the subject hasn't registered they're being photographed yet).

I'd be happy to take any one of these examples! When I'm on the street, I treat it as improvisational. So, I'm not really focused on getting a particular kind of shot, but looking for opportunities and serendipity. It's not a super productive approach. But I enjoy it.

Agentlossing, I think you've summed it up perfectly! At least for me you have.

Additionally I'll just add that everyone has their own style of street photography and I try not to be critical of other peoples street photos. I'm sure what is boring for one person is exciting and interesting for another. I'll just leave it at that.

Make pictures and be happy 🙂
Mike

 

[Archiver]

In the West street photography can be dangerous. In most Asian countries it is entirely still possible to do a lot of street photography - we have at least one poster on RFF who excels at this, the particular one I'm thinking of is in Japan - without the fear of being confronted by an irate subject who takes exception to having his image "stolen" as one angry subject once spat at me in Vancouver after I photographed him from what I considered was a respectable distance.

I wouldn't even have dignified that goober with a response.

This person then wanted money for "posing" which I realised was basically the reason for his posturing. I left hurriedly and did no more street-stalking that day or for that matter the rest of my vacation time in British Columbia.

Nothing like the combination of mental illness and blatant entitlement, eh.

Times are changing and now in many Asian countries many locals politely but firmly object to having their photos taken (which I consider as fair enough and if/when it happens I cease and desist). Now and then someone wants money from the tourist -as many tourists are now discovering, just about everyone in Bali is into this little fast-cash game).

I've only been waved away by people in Asia twice. Once was in Macau, where an elderly woman was sitting at the front of a house (?) in a well trafficked touristy area. She was probably sick of tourists taking photos of her outside her house! The other was young women in Japan dressed in maid outfits in Akihabara, touting for maid cafes. They didn't like it when I held up my M9, raising their arms in a cross and exclaiming, 'Dame!' @Yokosuka Mike has no doubt encountered this, haha!

So it seems the time may have come for us to rethink and redefine the purpose and the technique of our so-called street work, maybe to take a more documentary approach, which is what I now do.

IMO the 'best' street photography is of documentary and artistic nature.

 

[Archiver]

Now I'm curious. Does a photo need to be outdoors to be street photography? What about inside a gallery, museum, cafe, shopping centre? 'Street' photography is by its nature on or of the street, but the lines get blurred sometimes.

From the street but inside a bakery:

M9 - Plumcot Baker by Archiver, on Flickr

From the street but inside a shop:

M9 - Gotcha by Archiver, on Flickr

In an art gallery:

M9 - Spectral Statue by Archiver, on Flickr

 

[boojum]

Just as Justice Potter Stewart was unable to define pornography but able to identify it (I know it when I see it - Wikipedia) I find myself in the same place on "the perfect street shot." I would like to quibble about the real philosophical possibility of a "prefect street shot" but will not. I will say that like Stewart while I cannot define it I can identify it. What comes to mind immediately is the photo of the young fellow on the back of a large draught horse under an elevated rail line. Vivian Meier shot it. It is striking, it is singular, it is composed, it is artful, it is interesting. I have no idea of how it works or why it works but it sure gets my admiration.

If we knew what was "the perfect street shot" perhaps we would see more of them. They are difficult for mere mortals and probably an effort for the really gifted. It is the sorry situation that a few of us are better than the rest. Life is like that. But we can all get better and that is where hope lies. Otherwise we might just as well put the cameras up on a shelf and watch TV.

 

[raydm6]

We’ve been curating standout street visuals lately at Maps Studio (NYC-based) — and the variety is wild. But I’m really curious to hear what the community here values in a great street frame.

@Elizha, is this your website? Please share some "street visuals" examples 😎. I'm not seeing anything street related on your modeling website.

Maps Studios

New York Modeling Photography - Become a Model NYC

mapsstudio.nyc

I'm sure some of the guys here are dying to become models 🤣

 

[Archiver]

@Elizha, is this your website? Please share some "street visuals" examples 😎. I'm not seeing anything street related on your modeling website.

Maps Studios

New York Modeling Photography - Become a Model NYC

mapsstudio.nyc

I'm sure some of the guys here are dying to become models 🤣

Did we just get spammed by a NYC modeling website?? 😆

 

[peterm1]

Now I'm curious. Does a photo need to be outdoors to be street photography? What about inside a gallery, museum, cafe, shopping centre? 'Street' photography is by its nature on or of the street, but the lines get blurred sometimes.

From the street but inside a bakery:

M9 - Plumcot Baker by Archiver, on Flickr

From the street but inside a shop:

M9 - Gotcha by Archiver, on Flickr

In an art gallery:

M9 - Spectral Statue by Archiver, on Flickr

No. Most people define street photography loosely - by its style more than the location in which it is made. This means that the definition can be elusive. When is a "portrait' a "street portrait" for example? My own interpretation is that if it is candid and is taken of a stranger and is unposed it can qualify as "street". Similarly if made indoors in a gallery etc. I still regard it as being a "street photo" if it is of that mood and style - capturing people doing what people do. Mostly however I for one am not too fussed. A good photo is a good photo no matter whether you characterize it as a street photo or just a photo. I have many photos, for example of people at their trade in restaurants and cafes. I still regard them as legit. street photos.

 

[DownUnder]

Did we just get spammed by a NYC modeling website?? 😆

Maybe. I also had a look at this poster's web site, after all he did mention it (maybe by chance?) in his post. And had the same thoughts. A modelling agency (with two outlets no less!) into street photography, heh! That, also no street images...

Another oopsie for me was his "suggestion" that we post our street images in this thread. As a few have done, and good work they are too. That comment may have been well-intended and it may be my innate cynicism at work again, but I'm old enough to have been taken a fair few times by seemingly pleasant persons with hidden agendas.

I did think of "suggesting" to the OP that he should maybe clarify some of the points he mentioned in his post.

At any rate, this thread while enjoyable and so far positive, does have a faint smell (if entirely by a passing suggestion in the original post) of advertorialism, in a sort of by-the-way way. You know, free advertising and all that...

Maybe the OP would care to comment on our collective thoughts??

 

[Godfrey]

One other point I'll make is to look at others work or watch videos like the below.

video not available...in Los Angeles, USA

The documentary movie "Everybody Street' is available in the USA streaming from Amazon Prime Video with a trial subscription to DOX, free of charge. You can also buy it on Blu-Ray or DVD.

G

 

[38Deardorff]

"I like a nice gritty, grainy, under/overexposed, somewhat out-of-focus photo with a tilted horizon and blown-out highlights. With heart and soul."
-Dogman

Indeed but when every shot is like that, it no longer makes an impression on me.
Even the straight horizon, people-too-close street shots that I wouldn't print, or would delete from a memory card..... my mind says "what's the point?"

 

[agentlossing]

"I like a nice gritty, grainy, under/overexposed, somewhat out-of-focus photo with a tilted horizon and blown-out highlights. With heart and soul."
-Dogman

Indeed but when every shot is like that, it no longer makes an impression on me.
Even the straight horizon, people too close street shots that I wouldn't print, or would delete from a memory card..... my mind says "what's the point?"

Oh, there's another point. The value of an individual street photography image, versus a series of images. What works as a standalone doesn't always work in a series, and vice versa. I actually think that is why I grow less enthusiastic (occasionally) about HCB's street photos. They are masterful standalone, but the way the images are often grouped aren't a proper series, but a collection of his "best," and they don't harmonize that way. They hit the same notes too often. Even if they're masterful notes, there needs to be variety, ebb and flow, harmony.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Did we just get spammed by a NYC modeling website?? 😆

It was fishy from get go, but it triggered valuable talk.

 

[Godfrey]

The documentary movie "Everybody Street' is available in the USA streaming from Amazon Prime Video with a trial subscription to DOX, free of charge. You can also buy it on Blu-Ray or DVD.

Just a status note: My DVD copy of Everybody Street just arrived and is being ripped so I can watch it at my leisure with my iPad. 😀

G

 

[DownUnder]

My preferences are for composition and geometry, and subject matter that tells a story. The common street shots of people walking are boring and lazy, as @DownUnder mentioned. Elliott Erwitt was the master of capturing and curating subjects that either tell stories or present amusing juxtapositions.

Mine:

G9 - You'll never leave me by Archiver, on Flickr

Features: centered composition, and intriguing subjects - she looks like she's gripping him as if she doesn't want him to escape, rather than touching him lovingly.

M9 - I Am Number Four by Archiver, on Flickr

Features: symmetrical composition, juxtaposition of three men in suits/jackets and one rebel without a jacket who has turned in a different direction. One of my favourite captures.

M9 - A bit of the old Daido by Archiver, on Flickr

Features: impressionistic blur, aesthetic appeal

These three images tell stories. The middle one especially. I too like this one most.

I see - Three salarymen (aka office slaves) at a train station somewhere inJapan (Tokyo?), rushing to or from their work offices or appointments. The man at the right is younger, casually dressed. A student, a visitor, the son of a wealthy family so freed from the paid slavery of office drudgery? We will never know. He has a bag,or a laptop, so he could be an artist or photographer. Or a call centre or customer service worker. Why is he looking away? Therein lies the inherent mystery. in this image? Deliberate, or entirely coincidence. We will never know.

The location suggests an overall message - the basic alienation between people in an impersonal big city setting.

The first image - young love and ambition. The setting is luxurious (it's in Melbourne, I know the buildings in the background). A young couple, dressed in modern style, especially her. The action of her right hand suggests love, intimacy, hope. But he doesn't seem to be responding. Is this deliberate? Young Aussie men can be hesitant to show emotion as he seems to be, in public. So mystery here.

The third image - this one is more elusive. Who are these three (I had second and third looks, and I see four) young women? Geishas? Unlikely, a profession traditionally the preserve of older women, guardians of a long-standing traditional art of a past age. So younger. Going to - where? A ceremony, an entertainment, a temple? Again, we will never know. The blur deepens, heightens the mystery.

Three subjects worthy of W. Somerset Maugham, an acknowledged master of simisuchar literary suspense. Or visually, HCB, WG, Elliot Erwitt, Hitchcock...