If a "street photographer" shoots a picture inside a building..

[ptpdprinter]

Is there any other kind?

Apparently not.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Some people play golf or tennis and others spend their time trying to determine what is and what is not street photography. I wish them well.

 

[peterm1]

Wake me up when this thread turns to discussing which camera works best for street.

My answer to this is "Whatever camera that you happen to have with you". With the caveat..."So long as you know how to use it properly".

 

[colker]

Wake me up when this thread turns to discussing which camera works best for street.

The one in the hands of a photographer.

 

[RichC]

I think public photography is apt. It involves subjects not requiring model releases or copyright licences to record, because it is taken in public. Indoors can be public, but often is not. Outdoors is almost always public but sometimes is not. So when I think of street photography, I typically think public photography.

Actually, that's not bad...

"Street photography" and "candid photography" have baggage attached - some of it not looked on favourably in some quarters.

"Public" is a bit wide as that would include landscape photography. I photograph the streets but I'm only interested in the urban environment - people just get in my way: so, strictly I do "street photography" 'cos I photograph streets!

Perhaps "public urban portraiture"? <grin>

(Question: assuming street photography is documenting people in the urban landscape, what do you call exactly the same kind of photography when not in an urban setting, say on a busy hiking trail in a national park like Yellowstone?)

 

[colker]

Actually, that's not bad...

"Street photography" and "candid photography" have baggage attached - some of it not looked on favourably in some quarters.

"Public" is a bit wide as that would include landscape photography. I photograph the streets but I'm only interested in the urban environment - people just get in my way: so, strictly I do "street photography" 'cos I photograph streets!

Perhaps "public urban portraiture"? <grin>

(Question: assuming street photography is documenting people in the urban landscape, what do you call exactly the same kind of photography when not in an urban setting, say on a busy hiking trail in a national park like Yellowstone?)

Yes. We need more labels!

lol... (good stuff)

 

[colker]

Is there any other kind?

Poor Leica.

 

[goamules]

We have landscape photography for outdoor scenes of nature.
We have architectural photography for buildings.
We have portrait photography for studio close ups of faces.
We have war photography...and so on and so on.

Why is it "street photography" when you're not photographing streets? 99% of it is of people in various locations, parks, clubs, etc.

It should be called "Humanity Photography".

 

[colker]

We have landscape photography for outdoor scenes of nature.
We have architectural photography for buildings.
We have portrait photography for studio close ups of faces.
We have war photography...and so on and so on.

Why is it "street photography" when you're not photographing streets? 99% of it is of people in various locations, parks, clubs, etc.

It should be called "Humanity Photography".

Hmmm... good idea. Good call.

 

[ptpdprinter]

Hmmm... good idea. Good call.

Calling it by another name doesn't change its inherent nature. You are, of course, free to call it anything you want. Good luck with getting anyone to go along with you though. The term "street photography" has been generally accepted for decades, and is unlikely to change to suit some outlier based on muddled reasoning.

 

[presspass]

What about those of us who live in rural areas? We don't have streets; we have roads. There are no sidewalks, no street lights, and only two traffic lights, both in the only borough in 192 square miles. So what do we do? Is it road photography, cow and horse photography, or just whatever takes our fancy? If it's that, what do we call it?

 

[goamules]

Calling it by another name doesn't change its inherent nature. You are, of course, free to call it anything you want. Good luck with getting anyone to go along with you though. The term "street photography" has been generally accepted for decades, and is unlikely to change to suit some outlier based on muddled reasoning.

I'm not sure if you were calling my logic above "muddled" or something earlier in this thread. But I welcome you to clarify.

No, I didn't really mean for anyone to change the term. I'm just logically pointing out "street" photography isn't photographing streets. All the other names I listed are more intuitive. Not so much with "street photography".

 

[RichC]

What about those of us who live in rural areas? We don't have streets; we have roads. There are no sidewalks, no street lights, and only two traffic lights, both in the only borough in 192 square miles. So what do we do? Is it road photography, cow and horse photography, or just whatever takes our fancy? If it's that, what do we call it?

"Public non-urban photography"... :angel:

 

[goamules]

Presspass, exactly! It could have just as easily been called "City Photography" if it's things most think of: people doing things on sidewalks. But at a park? What if the park is having a concert? Isn't that "Concert Photography?" To most people, street photography means: unusual looking people, or Decisive Moments, done in heavily populated, urban areas.

 

[ptpdprinter]

Presspass, exactly! It could have just as easily been called "City Photography" if it's things most think of: people doing things on sidewalks. But at a park? What if the park is having a concert? Isn't that "Concert Photography?" To most people, street photography means: unusual looking people, or Decisive Moments, done in heavily populated, urban areas.

Street photography is a broad genre. City photography, sidewalk photography, park photography, and concert photography would be narrower genres, if they rise to the level of genres.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

"If crime fighters fight crime, and firefighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight?"
-George Carlin

A name is just a name. This fixation suggests some deeper issue. Go out and make some photographs.

Phil Forrest

 

[presspass]

Great idea, Phil. But I'm not sure I can handle the contempt if I don't categorize it properly. Maybe I'll create a new genre - photos I like.

 

[victoriapio]

Garry Winogrand used to hate being called a street photographer. He said, "I photograph life."

 

[sepiareverb]

If a "street photographer" shoots a picture inside a building and there is nobody there to hear it is it still bear5hit?

 

[Anti-Hero]

Labels are rarely affixed or controlled by the first person. If you make a photograph whose ultimate purpose is to be consumed, how can you expect to control the way people react to it?

Just get over it, yourself, and whatever your opinions are (because that's what they are ...opinions), and shoot more.