Help me understand street photography

why even define it according to location? any kind of photo can be taken in a public place. does that mean everything that doesn't fit into other categories is "street photography"? the grab bag, the miscellany? what if such a photo is taken in a private place? this is why i think you can simply drop "street" and leave it at photography.
 
Other than some name calling I am glad I started this thread. It's the first of mine that ran over 6 posts.
Here's what I learned:
Shoot on the street if that's what you like (I do, incidently).
Shoot the family in front of the Lincoln memorial if that's what you like.
Shoot flowers if that's what you like.
Oh, by the way, I loved the pigeon shot.
People who take pictures of strangers and call them "dorks, etc" are odd.
Thanks, all, for the informative input.
 
I like to take pictures of doorways, so who am I to pontificate, but...

I think it's deceptively easy. Folks see powerful b&w images of the street and think, Hey, I've got a camera, and there are people out on the street, so I'll go take street photos, too. So we get a lot of odd b&w images of people doing more or less mundane things.

In addition, I think it's a decidely urban sport. No crowded streets, no street photos.

Nothing wrong with it, but I'm not sure why it gets so much hype.
 
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you write well, but your opinion is sad.

please, if you haven't clicked so already, look at the link that someone provided above... it really made me smile and aspire. but then again... opinions are like a'holes, everyone has one and they all stink.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/onthestreet/pool/page4/


mhv said:
Sorry for all the bitterness, it's just easier to articulate a point by cranking the amp at 11...
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M. Valdemar said:
Yes. obviously. They let ME in that night. Must have been a severe lapse with the door person.
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Just a little attempt at humor. I suppose I should be using more emoticons... :bang:
 
Sometimes I - can - really like a street without people...

Fontaine%20Bleau.jpg
 
NickTrop said:
By the way, and not to overstate the obvious... sweet lord the gal in that pic is (I would be a gentleman and say "lovely" but that would be less accurate than saying...) smokin' friggin hot. I love the pigeon too, but I can stop "scrolling up" to the pic of the loidy. :)
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Nick, the pigeon ain't meant to compete with the ... "distracting" attempt at street-photography :)
 
crawdiddy said:
You know, there are only a handful of working professional astronomers in the world. It's not a large workforce. And then there are lots of amateurs that pursue astronomy for the sheer pleasure of it. And most comets discovered these days are named for the amateur(s) that discovered them.

And really, finding a comet on a dark night, in the exact location where there was nothing visible the night before, is something like making a good street photograph. The odds are against it, but it's thrilling when it happens. And the truth is that most amateur astronomers and street photographers are in it for the process, not the end result. We're having a good time, and we don't believe it's all been done. And even if we did, we would still make photographs.
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Yep.

Amateurs play sports - there's not enough room for everyone in the national leagues. Many people drive cars - few are Fangio (or Schumacher). My wife likes to sew - never mind that there are professional garment workers giving their lives in sweatshops to make sure Wal-Mart is stocked. Lots of people write - few are published (blogs don't count).

I would argue that without the emulation of amateurs, and the implied admiration, there would be a lot fewer people who give two s**** what the professionals do - in any field.
 
Yet another Basque-centric image

Yet another Basque-centric image

Pitxu said:
I think about real street photopraphy as documentary work. Maybe not really of great importance now, but it will be invaluable for future reference or for different cultures.
Look at this shot of kids coming out of school. Is it like this in Texas, or Africa, or Australia ? It probably wont stay like this here for too much longer either.

View attachment 54279
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No, it is NOT like that in Texas. Looks Basque to me! You do manage to find subjects that don't look like they could be just anywhere. Makes me want to capture some local color here (Texas).

Oh, btw, I like your new avatar, comrade. Is it an homage to Jan Normandale?
 
Pitxu said:
Is this not street photography then ?
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Well, don't take it as an offense, but in my view, it is not.
There's nothing happening on that image.I see nothing, i think nothing, i feel nothing.
Why did you take it?and why did you put it up here? what was the intention?
 
Street Photography is just Photography.. only the studio is the World.
I do it because I like it... not because I wanna be somebody else, even if one could admire their works.
Shot for yourself not for other unless you get paid by them (and even that...)!
 
Pitxu said:
Then you must be brain dead.
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Bah. You just wrote above that this picture must be taken into context with another picture. Why would you think I would have divined this myself by looking at the picture alone?

And pray, mister, do you really believe that you are the salvation of "street photography" with a single photograph?

I make worse shots than what you did. But I never pretended otherwise.
 
I always considered 'street' to be generally the photography of the human animal out in public and therefore quite important.

In regards to photographing beautiful women. Why not document male leering with a camera? Winogrand's photographs of women, for example, seem much more interesting to me than the typical female portraits, nudes, etc. I like the ones where the women are starring right back at the camera with that look as if they wnt to knock his lights out.
 
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