Ducky
Well-known
We have threads about blacking out cameras. There was a thread aboout a hip-holster for stealth shooting. There has been a lot of advice about such things and it's lost on me. Why??
I see, here and on street photog sites, shots of butts, boobs, old men on benches etc. All done with sneaky cameras.
I don't understand the value here, what do you do with these photos except post them so others can comment.
I'm serious, where is the value?:bang:
I see, here and on street photog sites, shots of butts, boobs, old men on benches etc. All done with sneaky cameras.
I don't understand the value here, what do you do with these photos except post them so others can comment.
I'm serious, where is the value?:bang:
M. Valdemar
Well-known
You need photos of streets, for example, when you want to paint a line down the middle of one, or if you get lost.
Some people make a career out of shooting streets.
Some people make a career out of shooting streets.
M. Valdemar
Well-known
PS: 99% of street photography is just the shots made to pass the time, because the photographer was too chicken to take the photo of the hot girl head on.
Every "street" photographer has photos of easy targets like bums, street musicians, blind people, slobs asleep on the bench, drug addled/drunk persons and the BACKS of pretty girls.
The best "street photographers" are not afraid to take the photo of the girl they really wanted.
Every "street" photographer has photos of easy targets like bums, street musicians, blind people, slobs asleep on the bench, drug addled/drunk persons and the BACKS of pretty girls.
The best "street photographers" are not afraid to take the photo of the girl they really wanted.
M. Valdemar
Well-known
Here is my esteemed contribution towards advancing the art of "street photography":
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Think of the King's Road or the corner of Haight and Ashbury in the late 1960s. Or an Indian railway station. Or a street party/village fair. Or the rabid consumerism of Pier 41 in San Francisco. Or kids playing baseball in a dead-end alley in NYC...
That's the sort of thing that street photographers try to capture. Many fail, all the time. A few succeed, though not always. If you don't play, you can't win.
Cheers,
R.
That's the sort of thing that street photographers try to capture. Many fail, all the time. A few succeed, though not always. If you don't play, you can't win.
Cheers,
R.
Rafael
Mandlerian
M. Valdemar
Well-known
Here is the correct use of "street photography":
V
varjag
Guest
The value is in the Google stock.Ducky said:
You mix up everything in a pile as if all that multitude of street photographers do is equal or even on same theme, and it is hardly everyone who shoot from the hip or "sneakily".
M. Valdemar
Well-known
On the other hand, what's the "value" in anything?
You take pictures because you like to take pictures.
You take pictures because you like to take pictures.
sirius
Well-known
M. Valdemar said:
Yeah, that's me some days...If yours was an honest question and not a way of complaining about all the people who take bum shots. etc...then you can find the answer by looking at the masters rather than the beginners: Winogrand, Cartier Bresson, Erwitt...or the many modern masters (there are some great images and site links on this page: Hardcorestreetphotography ).
If you are complaining about beginner street photography, get over it. We're all doing our best.
M. Valdemar
Well-known
Hey, did I miss something juicy? Pompous Windbag?? Pinhead Asshole!!??
Where's the search button, I must not have gotten the memo!
Where's the search button, I must not have gotten the memo!
T
Todd.Hanz
Guest
I always say never shoot people from behind...but sometimes the backside of people are more interesting than the front:
Todd
Todd
mhv
Registered User
Street photography is dead. It's a figment in the imagination of rich fourtysomething white men who invested in expensive rangefinder equipment while caressing the hope of being the next HCB or Doisneau, or whatnont. It's also a figment in the imagination of enthusiast twentysomethings who got their first K1000. It's also a figment in the imagination of the thirtysomething who got his first DSLR and is looking for a quick way to make it useful, because he bought the tool before thinking about the applications. His résumé usually contains pictures of kids, flowers, and previous girlfriends.
It's about people who think that a sneaky shot, whether it's from the front or from the back, still reveals something new about reality.
The problem is that "street photo" never existed. People took pictures of things for various reasons: documentary, commercial, editorial, war reporting, etc. But in the realm of hobby, you need taglines for style and content, so when you're aping the particular style and content of Doisneau and HCB, you're a "street photographer."
But Doisneau and HCB were not "street photographers." They were photographers. HCB stopped taking pictures in the last few years of his life because he couldn't stand, among other things, seeing his approach everywhere in the hands of everyone.
So yes, yes, someone will say "But what about the work of XYZ! He is young, brilliant, original, and street-savvy as well!" Well exactly. He's who he is and you're not. The fact that he does "street" is irrelevant.
In my opinion, William Eggleston is as much a "street photographer" than any of the usual darlings because it so happens that most of his photos were taken in a street. Yet he looks nothing like Winogrand, nothing like HCB, nothing like Doisneau. That's because he's a photographer, not a guy with too much time and no ideas about his hobby.
Sorry for all the bitterness, it's just easier to articulate a point by cranking the amp at 11...
It's about people who think that a sneaky shot, whether it's from the front or from the back, still reveals something new about reality.
The problem is that "street photo" never existed. People took pictures of things for various reasons: documentary, commercial, editorial, war reporting, etc. But in the realm of hobby, you need taglines for style and content, so when you're aping the particular style and content of Doisneau and HCB, you're a "street photographer."
But Doisneau and HCB were not "street photographers." They were photographers. HCB stopped taking pictures in the last few years of his life because he couldn't stand, among other things, seeing his approach everywhere in the hands of everyone.
So yes, yes, someone will say "But what about the work of XYZ! He is young, brilliant, original, and street-savvy as well!" Well exactly. He's who he is and you're not. The fact that he does "street" is irrelevant.
In my opinion, William Eggleston is as much a "street photographer" than any of the usual darlings because it so happens that most of his photos were taken in a street. Yet he looks nothing like Winogrand, nothing like HCB, nothing like Doisneau. That's because he's a photographer, not a guy with too much time and no ideas about his hobby.
Sorry for all the bitterness, it's just easier to articulate a point by cranking the amp at 11...
T
Todd.Hanz
Guest
About the value thing, if you cannot see any value in street photography then shoot something else, like Macro. We all know there aren't enough good close upsof bees, stamen and other floral sexual organs floating around the web
Todd
Todd
mackigator
Well-known
http://www.in-public.com/
http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive...&SP=photographers_list&l1=0&XXAPXX=SubPanel10
Let's not judge a philosophy by its abuse - ala peepers and ass cams.
http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive...&SP=photographers_list&l1=0&XXAPXX=SubPanel10
Let's not judge a philosophy by its abuse - ala peepers and ass cams.
rogue_designer
Reciprocity Failure
Ducky said:
Sounds more like the question is what is the value of any amateur posting images for comment by other amateurs.
Not a specific indictment of "street" photography - regardless of how its defined.
So to answer that question. You have to ask is there value in receiving commentary and critique from peers as well as professionals? I believe there is.
Furthermore - does there *have* to be an intrinsic value in everything people do for enjoyment?
The serious PJ's and documentary photographers will contribute to history, the enthusiasts will also contribute to the background of information that will make up the final historical record. And every once in a long while. Someone (amateur or pro, it doesn't matter) will make an image that will change someones mind, viewpoint, or way of life.
That is enough to convince me that it's a valuable exercise on the whole. Even if you have to dig through a lot of hay to get to the needle you lost.
Ducky
Well-known
sirius said:
If yours was an honest question and not a way of complaining about all the people who take bum shots. etc...then you can find the answer by looking at the masters rather than the beginners: Winogrand, Cartier Bresson, Erwitt...or the many modern masters (there are some great images and site links on this page: Hardcorestreetphotography ).
If you are complaining about beginner street photography, get over it. We're all doing our best.
No, I leave the complaining to the whiners among us, and the name callers. I asked a question I was curious about, got some answers, some flack, some more street photos and one bum by a dumpster.
Just another day on RFF. . . .Macros? flowers, bugs, no thanks, I'll take butts and boobs and bums on benches.
jan normandale
Film is the other way
wow all the laundry is being laid out on the table for everyone to see ... this is just fantastic.. I'm lurvin' this thread, it's a hottie...
Ducky
Well-known
mhv said:
That's what I meant to say, thanks.
Pherdinand
the snow must go on
Dear Ducky.
Your question is very valid. Valid they are the harsh answers of M.Valdemar as well. Although not fully covering the truth. In fact, he is talking about street photographer wannabes only. Like himself, or myself, or many others.
I was in very much the same doubts some 3-4 years ago. I have not understood what's the point, beyond that "wasting time" idea.
But the fact is, street photography is not about bums, hot girls, street musicians, and not about streets. In my current understanding, street photography is about things happening with people on the street, lasting only for seconds, or fractions of seconds, that can be funny, moving, thought-provoking, thus interesting on a higher level than "just a hot chick from behind". The beauty of the gender is, you have to be at the right place in the right time, you have to NOTICE the things, and you have to be awake enough to quickly compose and snap a photo of it.
If all clicks together you can get images like the ones here:
http://www2.in-public.com/
My favourites there are Nick Turpin's and Nils Jorgensens' galleries, but the others are also quite interesting.
What is it good for?
Well, you certainly won't get rich of it. Maybe good for fame, if you manage to get good ones and enough people clap on the Net. Maybe good for ego if you manage to get some that please you so you can say Yes, i snapped it, yes, this is how it happened.
And when you reach a really high level you can display them in public and change the world a bit.
But the first "gain" of doing it is, you will start seeing more from our world, and enjoy the simple days more, just by looking around and noticing the interesting people, the funny coincidences, the unbelievable scenes that, one after the other, develop and disappear in front of all of us. What on earth can beat that?
Your question is very valid. Valid they are the harsh answers of M.Valdemar as well. Although not fully covering the truth. In fact, he is talking about street photographer wannabes only. Like himself, or myself, or many others.
I was in very much the same doubts some 3-4 years ago. I have not understood what's the point, beyond that "wasting time" idea.
But the fact is, street photography is not about bums, hot girls, street musicians, and not about streets. In my current understanding, street photography is about things happening with people on the street, lasting only for seconds, or fractions of seconds, that can be funny, moving, thought-provoking, thus interesting on a higher level than "just a hot chick from behind". The beauty of the gender is, you have to be at the right place in the right time, you have to NOTICE the things, and you have to be awake enough to quickly compose and snap a photo of it.
If all clicks together you can get images like the ones here:
http://www2.in-public.com/
My favourites there are Nick Turpin's and Nils Jorgensens' galleries, but the others are also quite interesting.
What is it good for?
Well, you certainly won't get rich of it. Maybe good for fame, if you manage to get good ones and enough people clap on the Net. Maybe good for ego if you manage to get some that please you so you can say Yes, i snapped it, yes, this is how it happened.
And when you reach a really high level you can display them in public
and change the world a bit.But the first "gain" of doing it is, you will start seeing more from our world, and enjoy the simple days more, just by looking around and noticing the interesting people, the funny coincidences, the unbelievable scenes that, one after the other, develop and disappear in front of all of us. What on earth can beat that?