New street technique

S

Sean Moran

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... well it's new to me, even if it may be old hat to some RFF members.

I've been using it during my visit to India.

If you walk around Delhi and you are of obvious Western appearance (like me) you will be hassled by vendors, touts, beggars and so forth (and why not? - they have a living to make and the equation [Western=rich-by-Indian-standards] is a reasonable rule of thumb). But, taking a leaf out of the touts' book, if you stand still, everyone will eventually come past you. They say that if you stand in front of Nelson's column for long enough, most of the people in England will walk by eventually. (Plus many vistors: how many RFF-ers have been in Trafalgar Square?) In Delhi, after a few minutes, you are no longer of interest to the stationary locals, so you will be ignored as an eccentric visitor as you photograph the situations which evolve in front of you.

The owner of a shop selling shawls, jewellery etc explained that his touts are like anglers - they watch the river and fish out the likely customers to land into his shop.

The technique I am describing is also like angling. You find a likely spot for your ambush - a spot that suits you because of the light and perhaps a bend in the street that slows people, vehicles and animals down - prefocus on a bit of litter, and wait patiently for someone or something, or a combination thereof, to move over it. This becomes your territory - psychologically - and it is thus easier to stop someone who merits more than a quick snap and have a chat as a prelude to one or two more considered photographs.

I don't know if I can transplant this newly-found technique back into my home-town of Belfast - the notion of ambush has different resonances there.

Cheers,

Sean

Off to Amritsar tomorrow - the site of the Golden Temple.
 
I think Magnum photographer Alex Webb uses this technique for his street shooting. He plants himself in a spot and waits.

On the other hand, I believe Garry Winogrand walked the streets he shot and lifted his camera and shot as he walked past. I think he used to rate his Tri-X at 1600 and shot at 1/1000 of a second at f16 to maximize DOF and freeze his subject (and himself).
 
I tried shooting from the chest succesfully. Hyperfocal, 35mm lens, and just snap away without ever bringing the camera to your eye. Got some excellent pics and no one bothered me. Stu
 
The technique Sean decribes is very usefull for phtojournalism. When there is a big event around and you have to get every information in one single picture, choose a location that shows where you are (any big landmark) and wait for someone that illustrates the event to walk by.
 
I just spent a few days using a mix of all three of the techniques described above; standing still and waiting (a few), high-speed/high-speed walk- and drive-by (a lot), and sneaky preset focus from crotch level (two or three). There's this shot of a bunch of girls in overcoats and boots hailing a cab on Manhattan's 1st or 2nd Avenue that I'm praying will be printable. Took it at trouser-pocket level, one-handed, camera pointed 90 degrees from where I was looking.

I guess I get my best street shots when I simply react appropriately to the opportunity. My biggest problem is my reaction time- it's glacial. But otherwise, there are no rules. And I always love hearing what tactics others employ.

And a day of street photography is, for me, always a stellar excuse for a long walk to a decent lunch. Feeds both brain and stomach.
 
I'm just uploading photos for my PAW (I'm behind about 2 years) and at least some of the photos here ( http://shardsofphotography2.blogspot.com/2003/07/paw-13-2004.html ) have been taken with the technique you describe. Indeed, people will look at you, and the neighbourhood kids will distract you quite a bit for some time, but since you are already there no-one is ever going to confront you. Besides, most Indians aren't very confrontational to begin with. And I haven't had any problem shooting either Muslim or Hindu, man or women, grown-up or child. The only one's I'd hesitate to shoot are police officers or the military.
 
back alley said:
what's a tout?

joe
Click to expand...

The guys who get paid to wander the streets, approach you, and usher you into the store of their employer. Some are free-lancers - they approach, make friends if they can, ask what you're looking for, and they always know "just the place" and direct you there. They are on many payrolls, usually on a per-body basis.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Touts make travelling to Turkey sometimes challenging, especially in Istanbul. The problem is that many people in Turkey are extremely hospitable--and they'll often go out of their way to welcome a traveller or offer help. Too many times I've had my tout-radar on and ended up being somewhat surly to someone who ends up being a totally nice person with no motives other than kindness and curiosity. I found it helps to get away from city centers and go to generally untouristed areas. In that case almost everyone approaching you is just good people (or people greatly in need economically--a harder thing to brush off than touts!)
 
In Delhi touts are aplenty. In Hyderabad, where in total I spent some 3-4 months, you'll find NONE. Tourists don't go to Hyderabad, only me, foreign students on grants, some business people and a US president, but that's it. :)
 
I can't fathom how you guys are shooting from the chest/waist on your 35mm lenses. I've been shooting like that with the CV 15mm and have only gotten marginal results. (framing-wise)
 
ywenz said:
I can't fathom how you guys are shooting from the chest/waist on your 35mm lenses. I've been shooting like that with the CV 15mm and have only gotten marginal results. (framing-wise)
Click to expand...

Zen and the law of averages. A conscious effort to point squarely. A willingness to swivel the eyeball over past the frame of the sunglasses until its optic nerve creaks from the strain. And years of pistol shooting, maybe, for some of us.

Most of my hip-shots come out framed pretty much as I imagined they would. They're not always interesting or well-executed, though. In fact, most of them are downright blah, aesthetically.

But once in a while...

Meh. Film is cheap.
 
ywenz said:
I can't fathom how you guys are shooting from the chest/waist on your 35mm lenses. I've been shooting like that with the CV 15mm and have only gotten marginal results. (framing-wise)
Click to expand...

The 15mm is going to squelch a whole lot more and look more yucky when you get it wrong. May in fact be more difficult than a 35. I don't find pointing reasonably accurately without looking particularly difficult. I have more trouble with guessing framing without looking. I get lots of chopped off heads, I've grown to quite like it. For that perhaps a 28mm would be better.

Thanks,
James
 
The first strategy mentioned was oftened used by HCB, I believe. The man jumping in over the puddle is one that comes to mind.

I'm not a big fan of hip-shooting and the like. If people are to be photographed, they deserve at least the courtesy of the photographer being open about their actions.
 
back alley said:
what's a tout?


joe
Click to expand...
Here in NYC when I was a kid they were called shleppers and plied their trade on the lower east side. They were paid by store owners to stand outside the store and pull customers in. "You lookin' for ha nice new coat; ve got da best rilly cheap,
come hin I show you". The profession continues in India albeit from a block or two away from th store. They really got to shlep.
Kurt M.
 
Sean Moran said:
... well it's new to me, even if it may be old hat to some RFF members.

I've been using it during my visit to India.

If you walk around Delhi and you are of obvious Western appearance (like me) you will be hassled by vendors, touts, beggars and so forth (and why not? - they have a living to make and the equation [Western=rich-by-Indian-standards]
It isn't any wonder. You look just like Tony Blair.
Kurt M.
Click to expand...
 
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